10 black and white clips that don't need Coloring
1. Subterranean Homesick Blues
The video clip for Subterranean Homesick Blues is considered one of the first video clips in the world. And since all the first things look natural according to custom, then this clip seems exactly like that. Young Bob Dylan casually and hurriedly goes through posters with selected words and phrases from the lyrics of the song on camera, which will become a common technique in the future, and in the background his colleagues – folk singer Bob Newvert and poet Allen Ginsberg - are talking about something of their own. In addition, there are intentional typos and puns on the posters, so instead of the correct spelling of the word ‘success’, ‘suckcess' is used. The video was shot in an alley near the Savoy Hotel in London, but there are also alternative versions, one was shot on the roof of the hotel, and the other in a park nearby
MTV and VH1 TV channels, as well as Rolling Stone magazine, recognized the video clip for the song Every Breath You Take as one of the best video clips of all time. The Police, accompanied by a string section and a piano, perform the song in a darkened ballroom, while at the same time a man washes a window in the background. As a curiosity, Sting does not play the bass guitar, but the double bass, thereby emphasizing his significant figure
The fabulous ballad My Valentine found the perfect visual embodiment in a very simple and sensual black-and-white video clip starring Natalie Portman and Johnny Depp. In the video, they translate the lyrics of the song into sign language. Johnny Depp even plays a guitar solo, but in fact the track was recorded with the participation of Eric Clapton. Interestingly, the video was directed by Sir Paul McCartney himself, and the idea belonged to his daughter, Stella.
Joni Mitchell & Peter Gabriel
The music video for Joni Mitchell and Peter Gabriel was shot by Anton Corbijn, known for his work with Depeche Mode and U2. Corbijn has always given music a vivid visual form, and this picture was no exception. The director managed to find the very secret place that Joni Mitchell tells Peter Gabriel about in the minimalistic scenery. Sitting at a table, they conduct their isolated dialogue from the world, and then go to look for paradise in a hut.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
The black-and-white and very contrasting video clip directed by Jonathan Glazer is full of the deepest human stories expressed in portrait photography, where in the dark the light draws wrinkles and tears on faces. Of course, the figure of Nick Cave himself comes to the fore, his monologue intended for everyone and a specific person. And although Nick Cave noted that the director's work causes depression, and should have caused melancholic optimism, nevertheless the picture formed into a single whole filled with meaning
6. Street Spirit (Fade Out)
The video clip for the song Street Spirit (Fade Out) was also shot by Jonathan Glazer, in many ways, he released a surreal picture in which the audience will have to find their meaning. Frame changes and strange gluing follow the lively and metaphorical lyrics of the song. Glazer created a separate city for the clip, in which the action unfolds against the background of trailers. And this city has its own well-established mechanism…
7. God Put a Smile upon Your Face
The bizarre video for the song God Put a Smile on Your Face draws a parallel with the radiohead video Just, so even in this field Coldplay cannot escape from annoying comparisons, but this is not accidental, since Jamie Travis became the director of both videos. The clip shows a vivid storyline: a businessman, played by British actor Paddy Considine, meets a barefoot stranger on the street. Soon after the fateful meeting, he is horrified to discover that he is beginning to disappear into thin air. According to the classics of the genre, the plot shots are mixed with staged ones, where Coldplay perform a song, and black in this space fits perfectly on white.
8. The Importance of Being Idle
The video clip for Oasis' "greatest pop song" is presented in the purely English genre of kitchen sink drama, which was popular in the 1950s and 1960s, reflecting the everyday reality of that time. That's why director Dawn Shadfort decided to shoot the video in black and white to recreate a bygone era and stylize it as a film. In addition, it was based on the script of the British film "Billy the Liar", based on the novel of the same name. For the video, the popular Welsh actor Rhys Evans was invited to play the role of Billy, exhausted by everyday life, who works in a funeral home. Billy doesn't want to live a boring life, but wants to have fun and be at ease, he invents tall tales – and so, he becomes a participant in the funeral procession, moreover, its main and direct participant, since he himself is being buried. Shadfort's funny and hilarious interpretation will not make you bored, as the director has never been better able to combine music and text with a visual picture.
Director Alex Takax shot not a video clip for alt-J, but an exciting short film made in black and white and set in the landscape scenery of the Mexican city of Real de Cators. The video shows a funeral procession. Residents of the city are carrying a coffin containing the body of a young girl. At sunset, they are replaced by her lover, who then has to carry the coffin himself. A young man is faced with bad weather and unforeseen circumstances and dies. But only in another world does love resurrect everything.…
It seems that the black-and-white clips are shot only for scenes with a funeral procession – this is the third video on a similar subject. But an exception can be made for Amy Winehouse, especially since the video clip does not bury a person, but the singer's heart. In addition, the black-and-white aesthetics perfectly match the words of the gloomy song and Amy herself, who through a storm of emotions expounds her drama about love and pours a handful of earth onto a miniature coffin. The video became prophetic for the singer; in 2011, Amy Winehouse died at the age of 27.
