I can't believe I've written a hundred of these, so allow me to indulge myself by looking at the past, present and future of the Sound and Vision.
The Sound and Vision series started as a friendly conversation between me and fellow ScreenAnarchy-editor Ard Vijn. Ard and I knew each other through the Dutch film festival circuit, where we both were present a lot. We became colleagues later, both writing for the Dutch-language genre film magazine Schokkend Nieuws (which translates as "Shocking News"). During this time we started to have friendly conversations, mostly about film, and I told Ard about a side project I was working on.
As an autistic person, I tend to have special interests. And one of those interests, just for my own pleasure, had been compiling a list of music videos made by well known directors. I had, and still have, compiled a list of 400+ directors that is ever growing. Ard was stunned by the research work, especially when he found out about some really odd pairings of music videos and directors, like say, Lars von Trier directing the music video to Laid Back's Bakerman, or Stanley Donen having directed Lionel Richie's Dancing on the Ceiling. He urged me to do something more with this list. I had written a few articles of short copy about this list for the now defunct Dutch site Cine.nl, but Ard suggested a weekly editorial for ScreenAnarchy.
I was hesitant at first: most of the time I think the videos speak for themselves, and I could only provide short texts, I thought. It would not be a good read for the audience. It was only when Ard suggested that I could place the music video(s) in context of the entire film oeuvre of the director that something clicked for me. Suddenly I saw stories in my mind, and different angles to approach these music videos.
That brings us to the present of Sound and Vision, and I'm gonna give you a look behind the scenes. What does work on a Sound and Vision entail? Well, first of all, a lot of research. First I need to verify that this music video was in fact made by this particular director. That means in some cases I can't discuss some directors I would like to discuss. For example: Seth Gordon has apparently made a few music videos in the beginning of his career, but so far I haven't been able to confirm for sure which ones. I need to be 100% sure someone directed something to be able to write about it.
After confirming the music videos I will try to find articles about the background of the music video. Information is often scant, so I have to go on very little information, often. That also means I might watch some related movies of the director's work, that operate in a similar genre, or in the same time frame. After I connect some dots, I start writing and rewriting. Less is often more, so it's about finding the right angle for an article and sticking to it. For instance, the theme of ableism in the works of M. Night Shyamalan. Or the Frankenstein-obsession of Larry Fessenden. Or Paul Schrader's vision of Japan in Bob Dylan's Tight Connection to My Heart.
Sometimes it means that I've been working a long time on an article, and I need to scrap it or rework it, because the angle doesn't work. Or, like last week, when Polyphonic released a great video essay on the world's first music video (see below). The exact same music video I was wanting to discuss in a future article, and that I now need to rewrite and rework, as I don't want to put something out into the world with the same conclusions and angles as someone else did. And did well, I might add.
That brings us to the future: I have about 300 of these still to go, some from big name directors, some of them from lesser known names. But I would like to change it up from time to time. For instance, one of my proudest moments in Sound and Vision was the true crime angle I came up with for Jeremy Blake and Theresa Duncan, a bit of an outlier in form. I want to experiment more with that. I might, for instance, like to interview a director from time to time on their music video work. Hit me up, up and coming or well established directors!
And now, for some more self-indulgence, allow me to pick and deep-link my 5 personal favorite Sound And Visions:
5. Alex Proyas
I think I found a way to connect the dots between his music video work and film work in a matter that I'm really proud of, while at the same time spotlighting why Proyas is one of the medium's greats.
4. John Maybury
I am especially proud of some of the prose in this one, highlighting very different videos and hitting on similarities.
3. Rian Johnson
As much as a showcase for Rian Johnson's music videos, I saw this as a good effort to highlight a throughline through his work: his friendship to Mountain Goat's frontman John Darnielle.
2. Jeremy Blake and Theresa Duncan
The one where I broke the mold the most, and I like it for that.
1. Autumn De Wilde
My most personal Sound and Vision, so it has a special place in my heart.