FEATURE:
Midnight Cherries
IN THIS PHOTO: Taylor Swift/PHOTO CREDIT: Beth Garrabrant
The Music Short Film and Visual Albums
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I guess it has always been a thing…
IN THIS PHOTO: Billie Marten
but I am so pleased that music videos and albums are being visualised in different ways. I am going to come to short films that accompany albums. I wrote about it a while ago, but there have been new videos made for classics of the past by The Beach Boys and The Beatles. As the bands reissued albums and there was some retrospection, we got these very different videos. It hasn’t always been the way, but I think that videos for older songs help introduce them to a new generation. In The Beach Boys’ case, among the songs that had a video was Don’t Worry Baby. There was a story arc played out connecting a few legendary Beach Boys songs. For The Beatles, there have been a few new videos. They are tied to the album anniversary reissues. Recently, an animated video for Here, There and Everywhere (from Revolver) was uploaded. I think my favourite reimagined video is for I’m Only Sleeping. Another Revolver classic, you imagine and see these songs in new ways. I cannot include these videos in this feature as there is no space, but I would urge you to go to YouTube and watch them. A reason why I am leading with this, is that many classic albums are getting songs visualised. Maybe not released as singles before, it is fascinating seeing The White Stripes’ Elephant come to life. Animated videos might be easier, and I think you have more visual flexibility. As Elephant recently turned twenty, a series of songs were committed to video form. It is great, because it makes people aware of the album, and it gives artists and directors an opportunity to add their stamp to tracks. I think that the video is still such an important medium. There are more options now then there ever has been - and it is crucial that we not only make videos for new tracks, but for classic albums that are celebrating anniversaries and are back in the spotlight.
Extending the music video form, artists put out short films to accompany albums. I am not necessarily talking about visuals albums (Beyoncé is an artist who has done this), but maybe a story or concept set to a few songs from the album. I guess there is some overlap between a visual album and a short film. If a short film/film promoting an album is an E.P., the visual album is the full-length thing. Taylor Swift is an example of someone who has made and directed both. She put out an All Too Well: The Short Film. NME were among those who reported on a visual album concept for last year’s Midnights:
“Right before releasing her hotly awaited 10th album, ‘Midnights’, Taylor Swift revealed that she’s made a series of “music movies” for it that will feature Laura Dern, Haim and more.
The first part of the visual album – a video for the record’s third track, ‘Anti-Hero’ – will premiere at 8am ET (or 1pm BST). In the meantime, Swift shared a trailer for the ‘Midnights’ video series, confirming the inclusion of Dern, Laith Ashley, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, John Early and Mike Birbiglia, as well as all three Haim sisters, collaborator Jack Antonoff, makeup artist Pat McGrath and model Dita Von Teese.
The trailer was premiered earlier in the night on Amazon Prime Video, where it was aired during this week’s Thursday Night Football. Swift has since posted the trailer on her own social media platforms – have a look at it below:
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the ‘Midnights’ video series reunited Swift with cinematographer Rina Yang, with whom she collaborated last year on her short film All Too Well. In a statement published by THR, Swift said: “I love storytelling, I love songwriting, I love writing videos, I love directing them. And this was a really fun opportunity to work again with the cinematographer Rina Yang.”
Swift teased that the videos would dive into “the world of this record”, noting that she and Yang “wanted to challenge ourselves to do different things this time around”. The singer-songwriter continued: “I’m really proud of what we made and I really hope you like them. We worked with some amazing actors, which you’ll find out more about at the end of the teaser trailer.”
‘Midnights’ is Swift’s first visual album, after making her directorial debut with the All Too Well short – which will qualify for next year’s Oscars – last November. That film starred Sadie Sink (Stranger Things) and Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner), and after premiering it in Manhattan, Swift took it to New York’s Tribeca Film Festival, where she declared that “it would be fantastic to write and direct a feature”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kristen Stewart/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images
In the case of that album, I think there were a series of songs released as videos, whereas others had lyrics videos. It was a way of giving songs their own identity and visual feel. One reason why I love visual albums and short films is that it broadens the music video concept and goes into cinema. I like the idea of giving an album an accompanying short film. Whereas music videos can be brief and they are for individual songs, short films allow expansion and a thread to form. A couple of recent albums have had short films made about them. Among them is boygenius’ the record. Also, short films allow upcoming directors or unexpected sources to interact with an album and group/artist. Actress Kristen Stewart stepped behind the camera to direct boygenius – the film. Again, NME provide some details:
“Boygenius have shared a new short film directed by Kristen Stewart – you can watch it in full below.
The trio – comprising Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus – released the 14-minute The Film today (March 31) alongside their debut studio album, ‘The Record’. It comes after Stewart was touted to direct three of the band’s music videos.
Containing Boygenius’ first three singles from their LP (‘$20’, ‘Emily I’m Sorry’ and ‘True Blue’), the visuals begin with Dacus humming along to ‘The Record’ opener ‘Without You Without Them’ before Baker wakes up in a red race car bed.
Later, Bridgers takes the lead for the ‘Emily I’m Sorry’ part as she sings in a stadium while monster trucks drive around her. The musician’s bandmates then arrive on the scene. Dacus hands Bridgers two matches, with Baker lighting them.
The ‘True Blue’ section sees Dacus paint a room blue with help from the other two members of Boygenius. In the closing moments of The Film, the trio are seen lying under a duvet together as the camera pans away”.
I may miss out some examples, but there have been some terrific short films through the years. Another recent one that caught my eye was Billie Marten’s short film for her new album, Drop Cherries. I think this is the first of her four albums she has visualised this way. Directed by Joe Wheatley, it is more of as live gig concept. Something quite intimate but urgent, it differs from other short films. Objectives alter depending on the artist. For Billie Marten, the live-sounding and stripped-back approach mixes with something very natural and intimate. DIY provide more details:
“Billie Marten has blessed us with a new film, ‘Drop Cherries: The Film’, in support of her latest album ‘Drop Cherries’.
The live performance - which was directed by Joe Wheatley - was shot in one take in rural Nottinghamshire, and is now available to watch below.
Marten says about her latest record: “When I’m trying to write, the creative door is closed most of the time. When it briefly opens, I know I’ve stumbled across moments of true emotion and insight; they give no warning and are often unpredictable. I can’t force the process, something I’m realising more with each album. And that’s why I know that ‘Drop Cherries’ is a collection of songs expressing genuine intuitive feeling.
“I’m simply searching for clarity. I’m re-examining the same feelings I had when I first started writing: I feel different to others, so I’ll write about what that’s like and see if I can work out why that is.
“If I ever do, maybe I’ll stop writing”.
Visual albums are more expensive and harder to put together, but I do hope that we see more coming along. Taylor Swift’s Midnights might not have had all of its songs represented, but there was this ambition that desire to connect a personal visual style and film with music. I love standard videos, but I do feel there is something especially engaging about a short film or visual album. I might do another feature on the visual album but, as a few short films have been released lately tied to albums, I wanted to write about them. At a time when we still have so many teasers and tease regarding albums, it is nice to be able to sit back and enjoy something longer-form. Whether an artist perform a few songs from the album live, or there is a short film connecting tracks, it is an affective tool. You feel closer to the music and the artist at the same time. I am looking forward to seeing whether other artists follow in the footsteps of the likes of Billie Marten, and boygenius. It would be interesting to hear of short films that I have missed out on and should investigate. I think we will see more and more of them come about. The visual aspect of music is so important. Seeing artists create something like a short film is wonderful, and it can take an album…
PHOTO CREDIT: marymarkevich via freepik
TO a new level.