Katarzyna Taras
Alchemy. About the Art of Cinematography
How to Film Music
The present cycle was opened with deliberations about the issue: “what are the good images?". As far as a feature film or a documentary are concerned, everything is clear and fixed, since “good images only tell a story". If somebody is not satisfied with such explanation, he/she can still refer to a reflection, formulated by Grzegorz Kędzierski (the one that has been mentioned here several times, as it is very poetic and... catchy), about “cinematographers who dream the dream on the topic issued by a director".

But how to assess images in a music video? After all, a history is in a song - of course if we deal with a song with lyrics. (For even a mentioned name creates narration). Thus, if one factor tells a story - the other shouldn't do it, although I do have in my mind a vivid memory of one such music video, in which we can both see and hear the same: he loves her, she doesn't love him, she chose another man, who is a scoundrel, whereas the first one is sensitive, tender... Yet the expectations which the abovementioned piece didn't meet can be the result of at least the fact that I belong to the generation which expected something more from music videos. An idea. I am indeed aware that interesting way of filming a band or a vocalist can also constitute a challenge for a cinematographer (and can look really ravishing) but I still hope for something more from music videos. At least a punch-line.

"Kingdom"
I ignored the answer to the questions: “What does it mean that images in a music video are good?", given by a befriended vocalist, for it was difficult to react differently to the opinion that “these are not the images which are important, but the number of copies sold". Two befriended music journalists, representing two different generations, decided that: the older one - filming music is like “dancing of architecture"; the younger one - it's not about images but about whether, where and when the music video is broadcasted; how many people watch it; and how many views it has.

Maybe assessing a music video is a bit like assessing an etude? Because the creators of both genres, due to time (an etude) and formal (a music video) limitations, can achieve the desired effect mostly by means of a metaphor, may rather suggest than visualize, also a counterpoint will be welcome, and even more desirable - misleading a viewer. After watching the first student etude (in my life), I had an impression that I encountered a form which is more difficult than a feature-length production, for it is indeed more difficult to tell about someone in 15 minutes, it is harder to convince viewers of character's choices as the acting recedes into the background (at least theoretically, because I know such an etude in which the character talks for 15 minutes but in such a way! And how he is filmed!).

"Wrong"
And there is also the case of fans, whose expectations shouldn't be ignored either, and who surely react as fervently as readers awaiting the adaptation of their beloved literary piece. (By the way, the evolution of such terms as “a fan", especially “a female fan", and “an idol" was presented the most beautifully - and almost transgenerationally - by Krzysztof Varga in his novel “Tequila", to which it is worth sending all those who suffer from punk-ostalgy, particularly painful in November. Maybe because Dr Martens boots are not suitable for this season of the year). After all, there are music videos which constitute a gallant bow towards fans. And I absolutely don't mean cunning marketing strategies but a beautiful gesture of friendship and appreciation of one's passion.

The challenge of assessing “what do good images in a music video mean?" has to be managed by this year's jury of one of the competitions of the Plus Camerimage festival, because since 2008 one of the festival sections is the music videos competition. Therefore, maybe the issue of “good images" in a music video will be clarified when we remind who and for what was awarded in previous editions? In 2008 “Kingdom" by Dave Gahan was acknowledged as the best production (and there is nothing surprising in it), in 2009 the best images were noticed in “Wrong" by Depeche Mode (Shawn Kim was their author), last year the work of Grieg Fraser was awarded, namely “The Space Between" by How to Destroy Angels, and appreciated - as can be read in the jury's explication - for the fact that “everything looks as it sounds". Thus, no metaphor, counterpoint, punch-line, because it is all about “ideal synthesis", which, in this case, didn't turn out to be boring or predictable, but instead strongly inspired by David Lynch's cinema.

"The Space Between"
Or maybe while contemplating the topic of “what good images in a music video mean", it is worth using the hint formulated by one of the authors of good images to, among others, such music videos as “T-Time" by Smolik, “Today You Love Me, Tomorrow You Hate Me" (“Dzisiaj mnie kochasz, jutro nienawidzisz") by Sweet Noise or “ (“Zbiera mi się") by Wojciech Waglewski, namely Tomek Augustynek, who said that: “Good images in a music video are like illustrations in a book which do not necessarily present the content of the book but the way a drawer perceives it".