The Color of Music Videos: Color Transforms

will.i.am. and Nicki Minaj have recently song and then filmed a music video called "Check It Out", which Housefield (our teacher) showed us in lecture the other day.  This video was not something I would normally watch considering my roommates and I do not pay for tv and thus I cannot watch the newest music videos on MTV, not to mention that I am not exactly a fan of this genre of music.  However, I found myself thoroughly enjoying the video and song so much that once it ended, I wished the clip would have gone on longer.  It was design at its finest!  The music video had Korean words, though after the clip was over, we were told to discuss it in small groups and everyone in our group thought it was Japanese... shows how little we know about language, sad if you ask me but that's a side note. There were so many interesting, eye catching colors, especially Nicki's make up.  It was almost like her face had turned into a doll made of candy.  The pinks are what caught my eye the most I think.  There was an interesting contrast between the black, robotic nature of the audience watching the performers and the performers themselves who were colorful and animated.  The typography that was used was sans-serif maybe to create a more modern look to the video, which keeps with the futuristic look that the costume designers were clearly going for.  To be honest, I was so engaged during the music video that I completely forgot what the song was about.  The music was no longer important, which is a decision the director must make.  The center of attention here was the image and the dance form that was taking place while the song seems to just add to the video, not the other way around.  After watching the clip, I instantly thought that this video was "Lady Gaga - esque" which made me realize what an impact Lady Gaga has made on our society today.  I wrote about her earlier in a different blog post but I still stick to my guns when I say that like her or not, she has changed the design of the music industry for good.  Now back to the video... I think it's very interesting that Korean Pop is becoming more famous in the US.  This shows how we are going more global and maybe the producers of this music video wanted to capture a wider audience such as the international crowd.  This is worldwide design conversation.  There is a lot of form vs. content going on in the song as well.  The background song to "Check It Out" is "Video Killed the Radio Star", a classic from the 1979, and this style of taking an old popular song and rapping over it can be heard in most of the chart toppers today.  While I do not really like this method of making music, it shows design as inspiration from without.  I really loved this music video and everyone should go watch it. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqky5B179nM