When I was in high school, one of my favorite bands was "The White Stripes", I still love
them, of course.
But back then, I had never seen a band like them before.
Their unified color aesthetic, their mix of tender folk songs and guitar driven
rock masterpieces.
Every day on the way to school I'd play their albums over and over again, I just couldn't
get enough of them.
And then one day when watching Fuse...which was basically MTV after MTV stopped being
"music television", there was a little video for this song.
The video was directed by a French filmmaker named
Michel Gondry, you may know him from the film "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."
He has directed five music videos for The White Stripes, this being one of three that
I'm going to cover in this video.
Jack White has always been a fan of motifs in his music, from red-headed girls, to the
number three, as well as the concept of ghosts.
This idea seems to be represented in the music video, as old memories are projected onto
this house, as Jack walks through it, empty and falling apart.
This technique is really simple, and pretty self-explanatory, but it's a really creative
way of showing multiple images from different sequences within the same shot, all done in
camera.
Instead of using some sort of overlay effect, they filmed all of the scenes in the house
and then placed a projector wherever the camera originally stood, projecting the images from
the same perspective they were photographed from.
We're all familiar with how projectors work, and what their most common function is, so
I think to use it in this way is really clever, and creates this amazing effect that gives
a feeling of emptiness, and loneliness in the absence of the energy once present in
the house.
Reflected in the line "I didn't feel so bad 'til the sun went down, then I come home,
no one to wrap my arms around."
It's easy when shooting a music video to just film a band playing their instruments from
different angles and cut it all together, but it takes a lot more creativity to put
something like this together that tells a story, one that fits the mood of the song
presented, which this video does perfectly.
The next video I wanted to look at is for the song "Fell in Love With a Girl", also
featured on the album "White Blood Cells".
Probably one of the most iconic music videos ever filmed, using something almost every
one of us is familiar with, LEGOs.
Again, a really simple idea, but executed with great care and precision to sell the
effect.
About 50% of the video was real, stop motion animation using LEGO bricks, and the other
50% was shot in camera, and then made to look like LEGOs using computers.
A similar effect can be achieved in After Effects, using the "Mosaic" effect.
While I'm not sure what program they used for the actual video, Mosaic pretty much accomplishes
the same technique.
So, for the half that was done in computers this effect was applied directly to the footage,
with some tweaking to make the squares look like LEGO bricks, and in the half done with
stop motion, it was used for reference so the animators knew where to place each brick
when filming.
While we've all probably seen some form of stop motion animation using LEGOs before,
I've never seen anything else quite like this video.
It's funny, most directors would have been satisfied just using the raw camera footage,
but that's what makes Gondry special, he wants to take that next step, which is what makes
the video so memorable, and really shows off the power of his imagination.
Which I think comes into full effect in the music video for "The Denial Twist".
Featured on my personal favorite album of The White Stripes, "Get Behind Me Satan",
it has one of the most creative ideas I've ever seen in a music video.
I remember watching this as a teenager and just being completely mystified by the technique.
My first guess was just a creative use of a green screen, but they give you a little
glimpse as to how it was done at the end of the video.
When using a program like After Effects, there's a scale option, which at default is set to
"uniform scale", represented by this chain link symbol.
Meaning that when scaling an item up or down, the proportions stay the same, making the
image bigger or smaller as you drag the mouse.
When unchecking the "uniform scale" option, you can manipulate the scale of the X and
Y axis separate from one another.
Normally this isn't what you want, as it creates a warped image, but depending on the effect
you're trying to achieve, it can be a really useful tool to manipulate.
This is the underlying effect present throughout the video.
The sets and props were created to have a warped look that would later be corrected
by squeezing the video, until those same sets and props were at normal looking proportions.
So in post, all of the footage is compressed within the same guidelines, so that all of
the objects and sets fit the same uniform look, while Jack and Meg change in proportions
throughout.
Here's what it would look like without the compression.
So again, a very simple idea, just playing around with proportions.
But by manipulating it in interesting ways, filming it all in one take, gives it a one
of a kind feel that puts it at or very near the top of my list of favorite music videos.
These sorts of tools aren't hard to come by, obviously the elaborate set and props of The
Denial Twist probably cost a fair bit, but you could achieve a similar effect with cardboard
if you felt like it.
And that's what I love about his work, it has that immediate feeling of accessibility
that's lacking in a lot of major films, or music videos, where you can see the millions
of dollars that went into it.
A lot of the techniques employed by Gondry are simple in nature, which means they can
be accomplished by even novice filmmakers who have that spark of creativity.
Something like forced perspective for example, can either be used to make a child sized Jim
Carrey playing under a table.
Or it can make a hobbit sized Elijah Wood sharing a cup of tea with Ian McKellan.
And while these are some costly examples, these ideas really just rely on creating illusions
based on camera placement, which can be done in many different ways without costing a penny.
Honestly, I think the work of Michel Gondry should be required learning for anyone looking
to get into filmmaking that involves anything more than just filming actors talk to each
other.
Besides, there's a fun to challenging yourself by setting limitations, something Jack White
holds as his mantra.
That line has really stuck with me, what good can come from comfort?
Maybe some of you didn't like The Revenant, but you can't deny the power of its photography,
because it's not faked, they're not on a cozy warm soundstage playing pretend, they're in
the elements, dealing with extreme cold and wet, and the audience feels that.
It's the same reason why Apocalypse Now works so well.
And frankly I think is what's missing from The Hobbit films.
Obviously they expanded the book way too much, it could have worked as one 3 hour movie just
fine, but really, what's missing for me is that feeling.
Because all too often they're not on location, they're on set.
They're not in the elements, they're in a cozy warm soundstage, and an audience tends
to notice the lack of authenticity whether they can put their finger on it or not.
I'm realizing now this video kind of went on a tangent, but I think those concepts are
connected.
As an artist, you have to push yourself.
Don't be satisfied with the raw camera footage, go and turn it into Legos.
Learn techniques that other filmmakers are using, but don't copy them, employ them in
your own unique way.
Don't be afraid to work within limitations, see it as a challenge, and you'll never know
what might come from it.
Who knows, maybe you'll make the next indie hit like Clerks or The Blair Witch Project,
or you'll maybe you'll have the next massively popular sitcom like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
The point is, sometimes the greatest art can come from the simplest of ideas, don't be
intimidated by the monumental price tag of big Hollywood films, there will always be
a space for low budget films to break through, and now that we live in a time with places
like YouTube or Vimeo, there's never been a better time.
The biggest challenge you'll have is just getting people to watch, but that's a topic
I'm still struggling with myself, so I'll get back to you on that one.
But go out, get creative, have fun, and you might surprise yourself.
Thank you for watching my video, if you'd like to help me make more and better videos
you can head over to Patreon and pledge to basically leave a tip every time I upload.
You can give a dollar, or ten dollars, whatever you want, it really helps the channel out,
especially now that ads have really become unreliable, even for big channels.
So a huge thank you to everyone currently supporting me that way, every channel says
it but it's true, it does really help.
I also wanted to thank everyone who has and continues to support this channel in other
ways, anyone who's ever commented on, or liked or shared a video.
And to everyone who has subscribed, there are now over 10,000 of you and I'm honestly
having a tough time wrapping my head around that.
But thank you to everyone who has helped this channel get to where it is, I would have stopped
a long time ago without all of the incredible support you have given me.
So with that, I'm thinking of doing a Q and A video, so if anyone is interested in seeing
that then go ahead and leave a comment with any question you might have for me, I'll do
my best to get to everyone's, if not in the video at least as a response in the comments.
This episode I'd like to feature another channel like I did last time with Beyond the Frame
in my It's Always Sunny video.
Entertain the Elk is another up and coming video essay channel, he's been getting a lot
of traction lately so I wouldn't be surprised if you've already heard of him, but he makes
great videos about all sorts of different topics related to the visual arts, and you
should definitely check him out.
Thank you for watching, and I'll see you next time.