These posts are going to serve as a counterpoint to my "Almost Not Quite" series. What makes these videos hit the mark? What qualifies them to be considered good by me? I think there are a variety of components. An interesting concept. It doesn't have to be a wholly original concept, so long as it is interesting and the director has put a unique spin on it. An engaging visual style, or rather a visual style that is able to get across the message the director is trying to convey. Also good editing. All of these things together should then tell a story or elicit a response from the viewer. To put it another way, when its good, really good, you just know.
The group "Angus and Julia Stone" are a brother/sister duo out of Australia that play folk-blue. Their video for their song "And the Boys", directed by Kiku Ohe, is just great. It shows the emotional turbulence that comes after a break up. We see through a series of quick cuts in the beginning of the video that the protagonist, played by Julia Stone, is in the midst of a deteriorating relationship. Eventually her significant other is gone, leaving her alone, lying on the floor. A fog settles into the room, obscuring the floor beneath Miss Stone. The fog dissipates to reveal changing landscapes below he floating form. Possibly to represent the introspective journey that accompanies a broken heart. This bit reminded me of the video for "And She Was" by the Talking Heads, but upon watching that video again, I realized they weren't as similar as I had remembered. But both do feature floating female protagonists soaring above the lands.
In "And the Boys" her floating travels end when she lands in a field of colorfully dressed dancers. She herself seems less sad, as if the grieving is over and she has found peace in her lover's absence at last.
Angus and Julia Stone
And the Boys
directed by Kiku Ohe
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