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Thirty Frames Per Second: The Visionary Art of the Music Video
A detailed exploration of the worldwide cultural impact of music videos features hundreds of full-color illustrations and examines the artistic visions of such directors as Spike Jonze, Peter Care, and Mark Romanek, discussing their iconoclastic and trend-setting work. 12,500 first printing.
- GenresMusicArtNonfictionFilm
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 27, 2010
This was a good looking book. The layout and stills were good, making this a cool book to flip through. The (only) essay was also quite good, laying out the arguments for and against music videos quite well.
The problem is that there's only one essay. The rest of the book contains biographical sketches of notable music video directors and accompanying stills from some of their videos. This is a problem since the book is basically using one essay, director bios, and a bunch of stills to argue for the relevance and artistic value of music videos. Music videos are accused of always putting style before substance, and creating a youth culture with a shorter attention span (as explained in the essay). This book seems to be both of those things - a slick design that gives us a few stills from a few videos, and that's supposed to prove the artistic relevance of the form. Seems flashy and short, making this book much more fun to flip through than actually read; the director bios are nice, but not that useful in proving the value of the form. Nor are stills enough either; they can show a lot, but not all of the formal elements used in the video - it's rather reductive and void of explanation as to why these stills count as much more than style. Basically, the book largely caters to music video fans, who already know the videos highlighted by the book. Maybe this problem could be fixed by simply changing the title. As is, the title suggests more discussion and analysis of the form, but that isn't this book's intent.
Maybe I'm being too picky, but I feel the book wanted to be substantive, but then just slid back into being something you flip through really fast, without thinking too much about what you're looking at. It made me wanna see some of these videos (functioning then as advertising), but it does little to help me understand them.
The problem is that there's only one essay. The rest of the book contains biographical sketches of notable music video directors and accompanying stills from some of their videos. This is a problem since the book is basically using one essay, director bios, and a bunch of stills to argue for the relevance and artistic value of music videos. Music videos are accused of always putting style before substance, and creating a youth culture with a shorter attention span (as explained in the essay). This book seems to be both of those things - a slick design that gives us a few stills from a few videos, and that's supposed to prove the artistic relevance of the form. Seems flashy and short, making this book much more fun to flip through than actually read; the director bios are nice, but not that useful in proving the value of the form. Nor are stills enough either; they can show a lot, but not all of the formal elements used in the video - it's rather reductive and void of explanation as to why these stills count as much more than style. Basically, the book largely caters to music video fans, who already know the videos highlighted by the book. Maybe this problem could be fixed by simply changing the title. As is, the title suggests more discussion and analysis of the form, but that isn't this book's intent.
Maybe I'm being too picky, but I feel the book wanted to be substantive, but then just slid back into being something you flip through really fast, without thinking too much about what you're looking at. It made me wanna see some of these videos (functioning then as advertising), but it does little to help me understand them.
July 28, 2023
This is a nice-ish coffee-table book about about music videos and directors.
It starts with an interview with Michael Stipe about R.E.M.'s videos, then moves into an interesting 20-ish page introduction about the history of music videos. So far, so good.
From there it goes into the actual meat of the book, which apparently is a 1/2 page on each director, followed by 1-5 pages of beautiful full-color still frames from a selection of each director's videos. But it's just so... not worth it. I hate to say that; I hate to say that about any book. But it's true. I think I'd get as much (probably more) just by looking at the table of contents, then looking up each of those directors on Wikipedia. Yes, the pictures are striking so the book gets points for combining those images in one place, but ... meh. Read Wikipedia then watch the videos on YouTube full screen.
It starts with an interview with Michael Stipe about R.E.M.'s videos, then moves into an interesting 20-ish page introduction about the history of music videos. So far, so good.
From there it goes into the actual meat of the book, which apparently is a 1/2 page on each director, followed by 1-5 pages of beautiful full-color still frames from a selection of each director's videos. But it's just so... not worth it. I hate to say that; I hate to say that about any book. But it's true. I think I'd get as much (probably more) just by looking at the table of contents, then looking up each of those directors on Wikipedia. Yes, the pictures are striking so the book gets points for combining those images in one place, but ... meh. Read Wikipedia then watch the videos on YouTube full screen.
April 2, 2008
Music videos are often written off as simple advertising techniques, rather than the forays in film art and music that are seen in the gems compiled in this book.
If anything (or so the book argues), they are great experiments. When these videos came about, there were no rules or guidelines as to what a music video should be.. so directors often winged it, or, risked it, and created visual counterparts to express the emotions the music evoked. and it worked.
Ever since the popularity of these videos, modern advertising and film has often looked to music videos for sources of interesting ideas.. and the world of these arts just hasn't been the same, this book chronicles just that.
My only complaints would be that the book appears sparse after the introductory section, and more of a guide, sorted by video director( It might take some dissecting of your own to put all of the information together).
The wide pages, all covered with photos relevant to the director/video on the page, give a feeling of watching a movie, and the book verges on a nice artistic photography-book type piece in that sense.
If anything (or so the book argues), they are great experiments. When these videos came about, there were no rules or guidelines as to what a music video should be.. so directors often winged it, or, risked it, and created visual counterparts to express the emotions the music evoked. and it worked.
Ever since the popularity of these videos, modern advertising and film has often looked to music videos for sources of interesting ideas.. and the world of these arts just hasn't been the same, this book chronicles just that.
My only complaints would be that the book appears sparse after the introductory section, and more of a guide, sorted by video director( It might take some dissecting of your own to put all of the information together).
The wide pages, all covered with photos relevant to the director/video on the page, give a feeling of watching a movie, and the book verges on a nice artistic photography-book type piece in that sense.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews