Tuesday, September 22, 2009

YiR'09: The Blog's Musical Review, Part 2.

So keeping up with the 2009 Review, up next is are the categories for Best Video from a Group or Duo, Best Female/Male Videos, Outstanding Direction and 2009 Video of the Year.

BEST VIDEO FROM A GROUP OR DUO


"WRONG" PERFORMED BY DEPECHE MODE
Directed by Patrick Daughters (UK, 2009)
Runnerups: "Happy Up Here" by Royksopp; "For What It's Worth"
by Placebo; "La Fila del Cine" by Auro y CLEMT.

So Depeche Mode's video for "Wrong" was stricking, we got that. But the real power behind the amazing directing of Patrick Daughters is the focus outside the band for the visuals of this video, placing the Basildon trio in the backseat of sorts for this one, and yet the video plays out wonderfully with the band getting its cameo during the intermediate part of the recording.

BEST MALE VIDEO





"VUELVO" PERFORMED BY BETO CUEVAS
Directed by Alberto Cuevas Olmedo
Runnerups: "El Hombre Delgado..." by Enrique Bunbury; "I Know You 
Want Me" by Pitbull"; "Dime Si Lo Ves" by Pavel Núñez.

El minifilm de Beto Cuevas sale del primer sencillo de su debut como solista. El sonido, muy parecido a los últimos trabajos de La Ley, suena muy diferente a al resto del disco que tiene un tono mas pausado que este sencillo. No obstante el mismo cuenta con buena energía y, en mi opinión, cuenta ocn el tono comercial necesario para quedarse en la memoria de la gente. El video cuenta con una buena dirección artistica y en defintiv cuenta con una estética bastante bien cuidada.

BEST FEMALE VIDEO


"WOMANIZER" PERFORMED BY BRITNEY SPEARS
Directed by Joseph Kahn (USA, 2008).
Runnerups: "Single Ladies" by Beyonce; "The Fear" by 
Lily Allen;  "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga; "Sober" by P!nk.

The stetics of the video show it high above the rest of the competition. Britney, or more so her father, has a very clear idea of the tunes of her songs and how the ideas should pan out on video. Given that Britney isn't in her best, we'll credit her crew for a very well defined storyboard, very complex scenes and a killer coreographer.

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION
IN A MUSIC VIDEO

REUBEN SUTHERLAND FOR "HAPPY UP HERE"
AS PERFORMED BY ROYKSOPP (NORWAY, 2009)
Runnerups: Tabaré Blanchard for "La Fila del Cine"; Patrick Daughters 
for "Wrong"; and Edouard Sallier for "El Hombre Delgado...".

The principal achivement in the video for "Happy Up Here", besides the concept, is the fact that it mixes very well live action scenes, CGI and excellent cinematography to achieve a well thought idea that would have been an absoute dissaster if only on paper. However, the end result shows a very detail-oriented effort to produce an excelent tribute to a vintage video game, while providing graphics to a great tune by the norwegan duo.

2009 VIDEO OF THE YEAR

"WRONG" PERFORMED BY DEPECHE MODE
DIRECTED BY PATRICK DAUGHTERS (UK, 2009)
FROM THE ALBUM "SOUNDS OF THE UNIVERSE"
Runnerups: "Dime Si Lo Ves" by Pavel Núñez; "Happy Up Here" by Royksopp;
"La Fila Del Cine" by Auro y CLEMT; and "El Hombre Delgado..." by Enrique Bunbury.

Its hard to choose between the two front runners, Wrong (The Winner) and Happy Up Here, as both videos have been well achieved products, however, the edgier, more original concept developed throughout Wrong, brings to mind Depeche Mode's contributions to the development of videos in time. The innovative elements and the raw images that depict a man in his tragic final 4 minutes, goes to show that even in death, art can be found.

Tomorrow I'll be reviewing the Recording Categories, with Alternative Urban, Pop, and Rock Music Performance Awards.

Ehl.