Adam's Pointless Guide to Music Video on the Web. Adam needs a life.

So I've got this music video obsession going that I'm adamantly denying is an obsession. Seriously. Just because I've stayed up 'til 3 a.m. on four of the last five nights scoping them out and rafaela has fully perfected her oh-Christ-on-a-cracker-now-what? look whenever I shout, "Hey! C'm'ere and look at this!" does not mean that I'm obsessed.

Okay, fine, I'm obsessed. I've always loved music video as an art form, but have long been frustrated by the fact that in general it's impossible to just go out and watch the videos you want to see, the way you could with, say, a movie on videocassette. One was always beholden to the TV networks to determine what you see when; all too often, this would mean seeing a jaw-droppingly good video once or twice, and then never ever seeing it again.

To which I say, thank holy Hannah for the Internet. (That and Palm Pictures, whom I want to kiss dead on the lips for volumes 1 through 7 of the Directors Label DVDs. Bless you folks!) Since I've been hitting the vid pretty heavily lately, I thought I'd pass on some of the sites I've been visiting (for the both of you who actually share my not-to-be-called-an-obsession).

Note: Videos I especially admire at each site will be preceded by the "Recommended:" label.

First up is a big one, which you might have spotted in Entertainment Weekly recently: http://videos.antville.org/ is an open-source blog for the sole purpose of posting links to music videos on the Web. It's that simple, but it works becuase the people who frequent it by and large are fans, too, and ones with unusually good taste. Essential.

Next are a few clearing houses for videos: Sputnik7 is a decent source for somewhat-grainy Video on Demand, be that video short-form film, anime, or stuff of the musical promo variety.
Recommended: "Naked as We Came," Iron and Wine (dir: Sam Beam); "Flat Beat," Mr. Oizo (dir: Quentin Dupieux), "On," Aphex Twin (dir: Martin Wallace & Jarvis Cocker), "From Your Mouth," God Lives Underwater (dir: Roman Coppola)
'Boards, on the other hand, is an industry online mag, with plenty of short film and vid, and enough commercials to choke an entire consumer culture.
Recommended: "Fell in Love With a Girl" and "The Hardest Button to Button," The White Stripes, natch (dir: GOD, a.k.a. Michel Gondry; seriously, I want to have this man's babies)

Now here's where it gets interesting. I'd been lamenting that the video-on-demand places were pretty selective about what you'd get to see, until I started prowling around the Music Video Database, a repository for all things video, including scads of info on directors, producers, and other technicians. The thing is, they also list each director's production company, which is where you'll really find the good stuff. There's a ton of them out there, and the links are all on the mvdbase, but here's some notable ones:
The Directors Bureau: Home to Roman and Sofia Coppola, Melodie McDaniel and the avant-weird Shynola. Recommended: "Playground Love," Air (dir: Roman Coppola)
Oil Factory: Dom and Nic, Sophie Muller, Jamie Thraves, Grant Gee, Pedro Romhanyi... Yeah. We all should be so blessed. Recommended: "The Scientist," Coldplay; "Just," Radiohead (both dir: Jamie Thraves); "I'm Afraid of Americans," David Bowie w/ Trent Reznor; "Ava Adore," Smashing Pumpkins (but only the second half, dammit) (dir: Dom and Nic)
Academy Films: Gads, I was going to laundry-list this one for you, but now the site isn't letting me in, and my memory fails me. Oh, well. I do recall that Jonathan Glazer and Walter Stern are over there, which is enough for me. Recommended: everything by Glazer; "Teardrop," Massive Attack; "Thursday's Child," David Bowie, perhaps my favorite video that no one's ever seen (both dir: Walter Stern)
Passion Pictures: Tim Hope, Tim Hope, Tim Hope. 'Nuff said. Recommended: "For My Culture," 1 Giant Step; "Trouble," Coldplay, quite possibly the most jaw-droppingly beautiful video ever made (both dir: Tim Hope)

In addition, some directors have their own Web sites, like Mark Romanek ( recommended: "Hurt," Johnny Cash; "El Scorcho," Weezer, the most underrated video ever) and Hammer and Tongs, a.k.a. Garth Jennings ( recommended: "Imitation of Life," R.E.M.; "Pumping on Your Stereo," Supergrass; "Coffee and TV," Blur). Take 'em and run.

Lastly but not leastly, an excellent fan site for Michel Gondry. Did I mention that he's God? Take that as blanket approval for just about everything he's touched, but especially Cibo Matto's "Sugar Water" and Björk's "Bachelorette." Oh, and "Star Guitar" and "Let Forever Be" by the Chemical Brothers. Oh, wait, and "Lucas With the Lid Off." And....

No! Run from the light! Don't.... AIEE!

This is not good. This is not, not, not good at all NaNoWriMo is fast approaching, and I'm trying to back away from it, the way you'd back away from an unshowered bearded man on the subway with mismatched shoes who's explaining to you why Steven Spielberg's going to hell. And I was all set to employ the ol' trusted (and usually true) alibi that "I ain't got no ideas," except that....

Well, see, I've got this Plot Bunny that I'm chasing down here, and....

*sigh* This never happens, okay? I don't get ideas for novels. I just don't. My last Plot Bunny was roughly four or five years ago, and that magnum opus is still allegedly "in progress," which means that every now and then I add another half a page to the twelve I've already managed to cough up. But last week I found myself bored at work with the holiest of holies (that would be an unopened pack of index cards), and just for the hell of it, I wrote on one card a brief description of a scene that I tried writing ages ago that never took shape. Then I wrote cards for the each of the characters in question, including the one who would be the narrator. Well, that's not quite a story, I thought; it's something that happens on the way to the story. Hm.

So, one more index card, labeled "Random Synapse Firings." Twelve lines on the card. I quickly filled eleven of them with little images and ideas that had moxie, just off the top of my head. I looked at them. First one word caught my eye, just one; I wrote it on the card for the narrator. Then one other word lunged for my attention; it reminded me of a character outline that rafaela had created once a couple of years ago, but didn't find a home for. I gave her a card of her own.

In the caverns of my brain, I threw her and the narrator into the same room together. And they had a lot to say to each other.

Fuck.

So now I've got about 25 cards and growing: scenes, themes, characters, other things to think about, at least one more Random Synapse Firings card (I've already applied about half of the first one). It's taking shape. And I'm waving the month of November, saying I'll miss it. *sigh* Dammit, dammit, dammit...

By the by: 1) Yes, I've gotten permission from rafaela to adopt the character in question. 2) Sorry for being vague on the specifics, but I don't want to burst the bubble just yet. I've talked myself out of more good ideas that way.

In short

1) Hate the head-spinny-things. Hate 'em. Don't like that they've returned.

2) Dear Postal Person who currently is holding onto rafaela's birthday present: Hurry it up, wouldja? Thanks.

3) Ooooookay, time to lay off the caffeine again....

4) Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls: God's little way of saying, "Of course you've room for dessert!"

5) Wendy's cheeseburgers: God's little way of saying, "No, actually, you don't."