You Are Here

When we think of music videos today, we think of all of the videos shown on MTV of VH1 that cost thousands and thousands of dollars to make. Today we find that most music videos are cluttered with half naked women, hot cars, and a whole lotta bling. That is certainly not the case for Sam Bisbee’s music video for their song “You Are Here.” This music video is extremely low-budget, but very effective in telling its story.

As was pointed out in class, this video really was made with thousands of pictures using frame-by-frame animation. A new picture is shown for every beat in the song to create a dotted motion of the band members. What appeals to me about this animation is its real-life quality. The band members are all guys, probably in their 20’s, maybe college students like us. The animation simply shows them either playing the song with their instruments, or goofing off. The thing I noticed about this video is how effective the background can be in making a significant contribution to the story.

If you look at the stage, the background is actually larger than the area where all of the action is happening. There are only a few elements in the background. There is a gum wrapper, a penny, a nickel, and the corner of the table that everything is sitting on. It is not a perfectly clean or neat area. It looks like something that most college students may find in their dorm or at their house. It’s real and it’s something that most people can relate to. Let’s face it, not too many of us come home to a driveway with 15 sports/luxury vehicles, a hot tub full of perfectly sculpted bodies, and of course…a bottle of Crystal.