Holding On by Disclosure and the Evolution of Music Videos
Disclosure recently released a new short film in support of their song, Holding On, which features Gregory Porter on vocals. It’s a stunning song with a pulsating beat just like we’ve come to expect from Disclosure. Actually, Holding On is just Disclosure’s first release in a series of four videos and songs that together will make up a full short film. Unfortunately, we don’t know much about the complete story, yet, though. Holding On sets up an intriguing premise about a dystopian and not-so-distant future. We can also surmise the story is about a woman named Mariella. I’m looking forward to the rest of the story and even more the rest of the music.
But this release has caused me to wonder: What’s the difference between regular videos and the new spate of short films that everyone seems to be doing? Taylor Swift probably has had the highest profile short film/music video. Bad Blood is a story and features everyone and her father, basically all of Swift’s famous friends. Then Chance the Rapper co-directed a short film for Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment’s song, Sunday Candy. Both pieces tell a cohesive narrative, even if not a very complex one. So is a story the mark of a short film as opposed to a regular music video?
But if we think back to one of the most famous and first videos, we remember that Thriller was a story, and a damn good one, at that. There was a long and short version of the video.
So its interesting that artists are trying to distinguish themselves with something that’s actually nothing new just called something a bit more highbrow. Is calling your video a short film just about branding, something to say your work is more sophisticated than the rest? (It’s always about the branding, isn’t it?) Is it about saying it’s art?
Then again there are so many videos, like FKA twigs’ Pendulum, that are not narrative and that are real works of art.
The most recent example of a video that’s not called a short film but that is absolutely gorgeous and that, to me, qualifies as true art is Kendrick Lamar’s latest for Alright. It’s a dreamscape and completely hypnotizing.
In fact, I don’t think that music videos have changed a lot over the years. So perhaps this evolution (or is it a return?) portends some continued innovation, something where we have more videos like Thriller that sit alongside but separate from the music and exist as their own fully formed works that stand the test of time.
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