Video Rankings

Moderator: Moderators

Post Reply
User avatar
Way_Moby
Obsessed
Posts: 1414
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 9:19 pm
Location: Kansas
Contact:

Re: Video Rankings

Post by Way_Moby »

Elvis wrote:Why is George Michael singing?
Some of us thought it was Bono. :P
User avatar
HappyGilmore
Obsessed
Posts: 1892
Joined: Sun Oct 01, 2006 5:19 pm
Location: Philly

Re: Video Rankings

Post by HappyGilmore »

Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me is a great song. The video sucks. Worst video ever.
User avatar
Quab
Die-hard Fan
Posts: 456
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2008 4:01 am
Location: Alyson Hannigan

Re: Video Rankings

Post by Quab »

I like the SFTCTM video... I thought the concept (well not new) was a good one to use for the song.
Without evil there can be no good, so it must be good to evil sometimes...
Eyeeeeee Satan!
User avatar
NMRodo
Occasional
Posts: 206
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 7:43 am
Location: New York State

Re: Video Rankings

Post by NMRodo »

1. Perform This Way - Automatic winner for being live-action. Not Al's best video, but it's pretty enjoyable nonetheless.
2. Whatever You Like - This one is great. The animation is a little choppy, but all the Al references are awesome.
3. CNR - JibJab did a good job with this one. The whole thing is fun to watch. Loses points for missing a verse.
4. Party in the CIA - I like the animation style here, and that the protagonist looks a bit like Al. It reminds me of this cartoon that was on Nickelodeon a while back... The X's or something.
5. Another Tattoo - It's mostly a literal adaptation of the song, but Augenblick Studios is great. I don't like that the protagonist is pretty stiff through the whole thing.
6. Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me - It's not very eventful, but it's pretty creative by kinetic typography standards. I also like that the animator didn't find it necessary to alter every logo of every company ever... that just looks cheap.
7. If That Isn't Love - Looks like something pulled from YouTube. I like how some more jokes are tossed in during the chorus, though.
8. Skipper Dan - There's not much to this one... I really like Skipper Dan's tired, defeated expressions throughout the video.
9. Ringtone - Well, I don't recognize any of the characters except the celebrities. I also kind of hate the way they drew Al.
10. Craiglist - Live-action is great, but this video has absolutely nothing to it. Not a sight gag to be had.

Yup. That's all the videos. Nothing else.
The Sporkman
Addicted
Posts: 910
Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2003 8:29 pm
Location: Lincoln, Nebraska

Re: Video Rankings

Post by The Sporkman »

Koos Dekker makes kinetic typography videos. That's what he's know for, and that's what people pay him to do, because he's really good at it, and he's really creative. It's not fair to call the video lazy just because you don't like the style. The video is exactly what Al wanted. If he didn't want a typography video, he would have gone with a different animator.
User avatar
Killingsworth
Off The Deep End
Posts: 2912
Joined: Mon Jun 08, 2009 2:22 am

Re: Video Rankings

Post by Killingsworth »

Perform This Way - Overall, I was very pleased with the way this one turned out. Sure, he did pretty much what we all expected with certain lyrics after hearing them for two months but he tossed in a few new absurd sight gags here and there to make up for that. My only real complaint was that Al's head seemed too big for Vlada Gorbaneva's body and it made the super imposing effect look less convincing in some shots but I still would've rather seen that than Al's drag show.

CNR - Despite inexplicably skipping an entire verse, this video was also amazingly well done. The folks at JibJab really interpreted what lyrics they did perfectly and added in their own gags that were brilliantly funny and didn't stray too far from the song. They expertly captured the intensity of the song. I liked how even though a healthy portion of it was live action, it still allowed for more action heavy scenes and just general craziness.

TMZ - Yeah, this one was just laughably bad. Plympton is a great animator from what else I've seen, but this just made no sense at all and barely followed the song outside of one lyric. Plus, everything after Tom Kenny's voice over really brought the video to a screeching halt prematurely. I had no idea what Bill was going for with the giant pizza or the girl running from giant lips mocking her. If it was part of the "storyline", then it didn't really tie the video together all that well. I will admit the butt shot being sky written was a little funny and I did appreciate the attempted Harvey Levin caricature. I just hope the girl in the video wasn't meant to be a representation of Taylor Swift herself because that wold make it even creepier. Bill and Al's comic sensibilities are just like oil and water.

Skipper Dan - It may be a little slow toward the end of the song, but Divya has an interesting style and she knew how to bring out the brooding angst of the song and it's protagonist.

Craigslist - It did look stunning for something that was shot on a green screen in Liam Lynch's garage. The acid effects were well done, but maybe some of the stock footage could have been replaced with visual gags based more on specific lyrics from the song. Then again, that would sort of go against the "anachronistic" vibe Al was trying to establish, wouldn't it? Speaking of Al, he did have the Jim Morrison impression down perfectly here but he could've been a little less sedentary in the video (like he usually is when doing this song live in concert.

Party In The CIA - Like I said previously, Ghostbot was the perfect studio to animate this song what with their "eSurance" commercials being based around espionage and what not. Much like Skipper Dan, this video gets a little slow in places but the style compliments this song perfectly. I liked some of the action being timed to the beat of the song as well as the twist ending to the video where Al's fate seems to be left up to the viewer.

Ringtone - I was barely impressed. Nothing really jumped out at me with this one. It really didn't do much to enhance the song as the video also felt like one joke being repeated throughout. The dancing phones thing was kind of dumb, but I did like the scene with Al playing the guitar. "SuperNews" was a decent show while it lasted (from what little I'd seen of it anyway) and they had an interesting style as well, but for some reason it just didn't mesh well with Al's song. Also, a lot of the celebrity cameos in this video are dated and irrelevant a mere two years later (especially the "Hills" cast and Bin Laden, but I'm sure Al wasn't expecting that)

Another Tattoo - This was one of the better videos, even if I was a little disappointed to see that it looked less like "Superjail" and more like a cross between "Ugly Americans" and an old "Wonder Showzen" interstitial. Still, I guess you can only do so much with a song that's just under three minutes and Augenblick did great with Al's lyrics as well as inserting flashes from some of his own absurd tattoo designs. Also, I have to give him credit for making the only other parody video that attempts to emulate some of it's original counterpart.

If That Isn't Love - Even if it looked a little amateurish, this video really enhanced the song. Brian Frisk didn't just go down the beaten path with all of the lyrics. In fact, he was also good at adding his own gags that turned out enjoyable. Although I wasn't crazy about what he did with the chorus. I felt that made the video drag a bit, but other than that it was fun to watch.

Whatever You Like - Wow...this one was both visually dazzling and a bit creepy at the same time. I'm not surprised at all that this is what we saw in concert. Cris Shapan is possibly the best animator who worked on this album and I am a fan of his work here. Sure, some of his bits sort of strayed from the "financial hardships" theme of the song a bit but he definitely did the best job of visually enhancing what most perceived to be a mediocre parody. I liked all the very quick tiny background gags he inserted into every scene as well as references to Al's previous work. I especially liked Al made up as Larry David during the HBO lyric.

Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me - For a kinetic typography video, this was extremely well done. I'm sure we all wanted something more in terms of visuals and animation but this was pulled off quite well for what it was. It was fun and engaging to watch. Now that I think of it, I couldn't come up with a better way to compliment a song about email forwards.
Life is a bowl of three-legged salamanders swimming around in an infinite ocean of strawberry jello...
User avatar
joseyklein
Obsessed
Posts: 1657
Joined: Thu Sep 23, 2010 3:12 am
Location: Sultan, WA

Re: Video Rankings

Post by joseyklein »

NMRodo wrote:
Yup. That's all the videos. Nothing else.
You forgot about TMZ there fella... there's 11 videos out as of now. You only listed 10.
...our neighbors septic tank was the closest thing we had..
User avatar
RyanHippFTW
Off The Deep End
Posts: 2921
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2007 11:38 pm
Contact:

Re: Video Rankings

Post by RyanHippFTW »

Maybe he was making some sort of joke.
User avatar
Yankomaniac
Off The Deep End
Posts: 3621
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2011 3:50 am
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada \m/
Contact:

Re: Video Rankings

Post by Yankomaniac »

Ranking sucked.
What a racket they're makin', Jack, they keep me up at night playin' their electric guitars!!
User avatar
Mystik Tomato
Deliriously Dedicated
Posts: 8250
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2005 2:42 am
Awards: All of them.
Location: Squatter's Crog, Australia
Contact:

Re: Video Rankings

Post by Mystik Tomato »

RyanHippFTW wrote:Maybe he was making some sort of joke.
Jokes on a forum about Weird Al? Surely you jest!
Sever your leg, please. It's the greatest day.
Post Reply