One thing I hear a lot is people are bored of performance music videos. "Performance video" is almost a derogatory term, like store brand. The thing is, performance videos can be amazing videos, your artist just needs to be worthy of being looked at. Get a bunch of teenagers together in skinny jeans and t-shirts and they look like every other band - your performance video may bore viewers to tears. Get a rock band in there that look like a bunch of weirdos and you got yourself a music video.
There will be many Music Video Relapse posts about performance based music videos, but today we're watching one of my favorites, 2008's "Human" by The Killers, directed by Danny Drysdale.
The Killers are a Las Vegas band, and for their 2008 album Day & Age, they created a visual style along with the album that was evocative of the American desert west. This included album cover and supplemental art by Paul Normansell of the desert, and a suit jacket for Brandon Flowers with some feathers on the shoulders. So the video for "Human", the lead single off of the album, naturally took place in the desert where the Killers are in their natural element.
I don't think this video really has a concept, to be honest. There are some other elements, but the real draw is watching the Killers, who are one of those bands that are really fun to looka t. Brandon Flowers is a classic front man with showmanship to burn, and Dave Keuning is one odd looking guy and is dressed up like Jack Sparrow. The bassist, Mark Stoermer, is wearing an awesome bow tie and vest complete with sunglasses, looking pretty chill since he doesn't play bass until like 0:45 in this song. Ronnie Vannucci, Jr couldn't give a fuck, honestly. He looks like he is way too cool to be there, and maybe he is.
Perhaps most important element that completes the whole scene is everyone except Brandon Flowers has long hair - in 2008. Love or hate the Killers, they qualify fully as a band of rock weirdos.
This video has some really fantastic band shots. I love the pan across Mark Stoermer just standing there waiting for the part where he has to play bass. The camera crane and Brandon Flowers have an understanding with each other and that makes for some great shots as well. When the beat picks up Ronnie Vannucci, Jr manages to sneak in some great drummer moments, which are rare things in music videos. Additionally, the three band members coolness make up for Brandon Flowers feathers.
And like any good rock video, we have some weird shit thrown in there for good measure. Some animals are hanging around and they are fun to watch. There's TV monitors with the album cover and pictures of eagles on them. The band also does a move where they hold images of themselves by Paul Normansell up to their heads and switch them around.
There's also the gong that Ronnie Vannucci, Jr has in this video that you'll notice he doesn't use. That any other factors have led people to make comparisons to Pink Floyd's Live at Pompeii concert film which I think definitely had an influence. Not just with the gong, but also the cords lying around everywhere.
