In his bathroom?!

So I did some research. This is the video for Missile by IAMX. A beautiful ballad off the IAMX debut, Kiss and Swallow, released in 2004. IAMX is the brainchild of my all-time favourite person in any creative industry ever, Chris Corner. Corner is a delightful young fellow, who began his career in 90s trip-hop band Sneaker Pimps, producing and recording one of the greatest debut albums ever written in his wardrobe, apparently. Two and a half albums later, Sneaker Pimps split and Corner set his imagination loose into the world with the sexiest thing ever created on a synth.
His dramatic stage persona and delectable lyrics and endearingly shy manner offstage have captured the hearts of not millions, but many, and his occasionally manic but mainly beautiful cult following have stuck with him for the last six years, and now eagerly await the fourth IAMX studio album, Volatile Times, which is set to be released in March 2011. Currently, I'm plotting a trip to Berlin to see yet another live show. I suggest you do too.

Anyway. There's some background, here's what I have to say about this particular moment in music video history.
The video has the effect of being shot in black and white with the colours hand-painted on, as filmmakers of old may have done, however, this is not how this was filmed. The effect is achieved through the combination of a very low saturation when filming, a black and white set, and the actors (Corner and Sue Denim of electro-punk duo Robots in Disguise) made-up to look very pale, and very bright colours used for the things that the director intends to highlight.

(I couldn't find out who directed this- the information used to be lurking around somewhere but the relatively low profile of IAMX means that all the carefully collected notes on the fan-made Wikipedia were deleted last year, in an effort to cleanse the site of false information. Understandable, but very bloody annoying. I did my best to find out- the most interesting response was James Cook's- a close aquaintance of the impossible-to-contact Corner, he used to play guitar live for the band and now lives with Chris in a rennovated GDR factory in Berlin. Anyway. He told me that Chris came up with the idea, and Sue Denim filmed it in his bathroom, and he was there - but I think he was talking about the other version of the video, which seems more feasibly filmed in a bathroom with only two people present. A pity, but I did manage to convince James to book a show in Bournemouth so I can see him again, so it's all good really.)

So, yes, first we have the pink. The pink socks on Sue, the pink lipstick, the pink hat, the pink outfit. It's very effective and atmospheric.
What I like about this video again is the simplicity of the setting. It seems crowded and busy because every moment the camera moves subtley, the frames move quickly into each other, and most importantly, everything is close up. The black and white intention gives reason for lighting to be used to its full potential here, and really, it is.

What seems to be key to the atmosphere of the video is its teasing nature - nothing is ever seen for too long, but everything is well-enough hinted at. Although I'm not sure I intend to create anything so overtly sexual for my own video (if anything I can't imagine other artists being able to pull something like this off without giving the wrong impression entirely) I think this borderline-explicit manner of reference is key.
To say more about the content, the storyline- this is another video that challenges convention, just about. You could say that the fact that the female appears to be the one in control, the S&M style of it all could push it towards just another male fantasy acted out, and let's face it, Denim could easily be described as a seductive figure here.

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I saved this much as a draft a while ago and am now coming back to it. Representation is what I want to look at here.

Ways in which this video is regressive in terms of gender stereotypes:
1. Sue's eyes are censored, for some of it. Covering up parts of womens' bodies - especially their faces - has been an issue for sympathizers of feminists in the past, and I must say that looking at a collection of places where this occurs really highlights what a problem and testament to the bad taste of the perpetuators of these prehistoric ideas, but I'll continue this in the section about progressiveness.
2. The feminine figure is the focus of the video. Things associated with her are central parts. (The silhouette, the shadow of the shoe)
3. This could be seen as a completely blatent realisation of an average male sexual fantasy, and the implications in every scene are obvious.

Ways in which the video is progressive in terms of gender stereotypes:
1. I don't know how much this counts for, but context. Context is essential, here. Followers of Chris Corner will know that he's quite an outspoken sympathiser to feminists, he has, in fact, labelled himself a feminist in the past. Throughout his career he has found playing with gender roles an absolutely integral part of his image and ideologies, and his un-affirmable sexual orientation has long since been the topic of much debate in interviews and in the fan community. His lyrics are concerned primarily with ideas of fluid gender and sexuality, which I suppose is the reason I've never, before now, looked at this video as in any way regressive. This is why it's quite hard for me to figure this out.
2. Secondly: the male figure is in the same make up as the female. Like in The Drowners, there are moments where you don't know who is who.
3. The male figure is not in control. The male is portrayed as the victim, even though he appears to be enjoying it.
4. The red dress worn by Denim here has much more frequently been seen worn by Corner.

Adding up all of these factors leaves me absolutely confused, and I honestly couldn't say what perspective this video has beyond the obvious. Although I am entirely opposed to the objectification of women, I don't find this video at all to be encouraging that idea. I think the male is as much objectified as the female here.
As well as this, it's hard to say, from a female perspective, how the average male would respond to this video. I wonder how many people would be drawn immediately to Sue Denim in this? I wonder how the portrayed sexuality here would come across to someone who was not a fan of the band.
I have shown this video to people unfamiliar with the music, but their main response was that it was altogether too weird, most people finding themselves objecting to the man wearing make-up. I think I've been desensitized to images of men wearing make-up. It is times like this that I find it completely impossible to empathise with most people- this is clearly a shortcoming when attempting an analysis like this. This is clearly an obstacle when studying Media.

One day I'll write an entry that doesn't dissolve into lamentations over the human condition, I promise.

Over and out.

P.S. I definitely had my fingers crossed while making that promise, as on second thoughts, I highly doubt that will ever happen. I need a change of career path to save the world the trauma of being accidentally exposed to this particular variety of absolute rubbish.