I remember you mentioning you hated music videos on that podcast. I think back in the mtv era, the music videos were basically shot on phones by amateurs. Some of those best music videos are really bad visually :)
Today’s music video is TikTok and instagram. And the technical ability, as you say, to make a stellar video has increased 100x.
The point of the music video was to sell the record anyway I think, which yeah, that’s what social media does.
Thanks for reading, Josh! Totally agree with you that some of the best stuff is visually less polished
Even outside of music videos there's been this whole thing over the past year or so about the "Netflix look" and how films of the 2020s all look the same. Imo, one of the reasons is the absence of "texture" for lack of a better term. I don't mean literal texture/grain, but something less tangible — "friction" or "scrappiness", basically something akin to DIY.
I love Survivor, for example, and yeah, rule changes and casting preferences, etc, have changed the game for sure, but the fact that the show is 4k and cinematic (which looks amazing, i’m aware) sort of doesn’t fit the core of the concept. The rough around the edges, no frills, almost journalistic approach to the cinematography of the early seasons fits so much better. And i guess technological constraints are the reason why, to be fair!
Not sure how this turned into a Survivor post, but you catch my drift — as always, thanks for reading and commenting!
Makes sense! Yeah, this is kinda why I don't like streaming or posting video to YouTube. We started with the evolution of dance dance in 480i and now it's 4k video, multiple cameras -- just to do a video essay.
I remember you mentioning you hated music videos on that podcast. I think back in the mtv era, the music videos were basically shot on phones by amateurs. Some of those best music videos are really bad visually :)
Today’s music video is TikTok and instagram. And the technical ability, as you say, to make a stellar video has increased 100x.
The point of the music video was to sell the record anyway I think, which yeah, that’s what social media does.
Great newsletter! I’m enjoying these.
Thanks for reading, Josh! Totally agree with you that some of the best stuff is visually less polished
Even outside of music videos there's been this whole thing over the past year or so about the "Netflix look" and how films of the 2020s all look the same. Imo, one of the reasons is the absence of "texture" for lack of a better term. I don't mean literal texture/grain, but something less tangible — "friction" or "scrappiness", basically something akin to DIY.
I love Survivor, for example, and yeah, rule changes and casting preferences, etc, have changed the game for sure, but the fact that the show is 4k and cinematic (which looks amazing, i’m aware) sort of doesn’t fit the core of the concept. The rough around the edges, no frills, almost journalistic approach to the cinematography of the early seasons fits so much better. And i guess technological constraints are the reason why, to be fair!
Not sure how this turned into a Survivor post, but you catch my drift — as always, thanks for reading and commenting!
Makes sense! Yeah, this is kinda why I don't like streaming or posting video to YouTube. We started with the evolution of dance dance in 480i and now it's 4k video, multiple cameras -- just to do a video essay.
So I agree, let it die! :)