So exciting news – this week two friends and I secured a lease to our first ever home. We’re moving out!
Ok, ok, this has nothing to do with music video but I was so excited I wanted to shoehorn it in. A thought that came to mind was Rohan telling us about all the videos he managed to film in his lounge room through creative use of lighting, sets and camera angles. One that had us all really shocked was Swagger by Ayawatamaya:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg7b8ICs8sE
This video looks like it’s been filmed on a stage or in a studio, but Rohan said it was all done in his lounge room. Inspired by this creativity and my own new space to explore, I began to think about the importance of location in music video and thought I’d take a look at some more prominent music video settings.
1. Blank Space by Taylor Swift
Whether you’re a fan of it or not, it’s hard to deny that this is an astonishingly pretty video, not just in terms of the cinematography and lighting but in terms of the settings, costumes and props. The whole song is a bit of a self-parody on Taylor Swift’s part, so it’s pretty appropriate that she used a luxurious mansion as the setting and home for her larger-than-life protagonist. The real life Winfield Mansion in New York is worth USD$19 million.
2. Come Into my World by Kylie Minogue
We watched this video in class the other day as part of our focus on French director Michel Gondry. The video, which features multiple Kylies, was pretty revolutionary at the time and the buzzing activity of the video comes from all the extras scurrying about in the background at the intersection of Rue du Point du Jour and Rue de Solférino in Paris.
3. Telephone by Lady Gaga and Beyonce
I’ve always had pretty serious problems with this video, but there’s no denying that it has a vibrant art-pop tone that really catches your eye and draws you in. Again, this comes from pretty extensive set-dressing, but a big contribution comes from the setting of the retro diner that Gaga and Beyonce stop at. Unfortunately for us tourists but perhaps unsurprisingly, this is not a real diner but a movie set. About an hour out of Los Angeles, the Four Aces diner that seems to be in the middle of nowhere has supposedly hosted such celebrity guests as Brad Pitt, John Travolta, Jim Carrey and Jennifer Lopez.
(Shout out to Lewis Corner at Digital Spy whose article provided a lot of the information for this post: http://www.digitalspy.com/music/feature/a663126/9-awesome-pop-videos-surprising-real-life-locations-from-madonnas-like-a-prayer-to-the-spice-girls-wannabe/)