In this Discussion
- Aleatory November 2010
- autumnraina October 2010
- beckysioux November 2010
- BeverlEy November 2010
- ChristelAdina January 2011
- DJRose November 2010
- jamdkoff November 2010
- jedi_grrlie November 2010
- laydeejol November 2010
- nalunas September 2010
- okgononsense January 2011
- pastelbleu November 2010
- PinkMuffin October 2010
- Snack_Cakes September 2010
- soccerkeeper6 November 2010
- squashedbanana November 2010
- Sunnyside October 2010
- Tempe Arizona November 2010
- tiff124 September 2010
- ugh November 2010
- violetchaos364 November 2010
- Will October 2010
Comments
I love it! It reminds me so much of something that would have been on Sesame Street waaaaaaayyyy back when I was little.
And holy shit that's a lot of time spent by the toaster.
It's not exactly the same, but the animation aspect brings this old favorite to mind.
(I showed this to my son at the age of 3, thinking he would think it was awesome, but instead it scared the crap out of him)
Becky pretty much summed up my feelings, or lack of them, perfectly. I liked the fox and the fish playing guitars and the rest, meh. Or, really, a more negative version of "meh". And I'm someone who enjoys "artsy-ness" and absurdity, and avant and many other experimental movements and expressions. I've studied surrealism a bit, (and I've studied Magritte, but that's because of Paul McCartney, mostly). I've also seen toast as a platform for various media before, including this sort of animation. I can even see some of the likely inspiration in the images we see.
However, though no one expects an OK Go video to literally reflect a song or its lyrics at this point, this just doesn't fit "Last Leaf" for me at all. I also will not be viewing this repeatedly.
While I think it really is a very, very pretty video, I must admit I'm kinda on Becky's side of this...it just doesn't feel like OK Go at all? I commend the boys on stepping out and doing this whole creative project thing, but I feel they've lost themselves in the process.
...i think i'd be happier if i knew they did the drawings or sth. or if somewhere along the way i saw their faces. iunno. i miz them already :( x
I'm kind of agreeing with the general consensus here. I waited and waited all day at school, then I come home, and…a little bit disappointed, actually. It's cool, the concept is neat, I can see that it must have been a b*tch to make, but it's not wowing me. I think the actual animations on the toast were really beautiful…but not awe-inspiring. I like the surrealism, and the obvious themes. The departure from "normal OK Go" is cool, but what makes their videos special is the "SWEET FANCY MOSES A WAREHOUSE SIZED RUBE GOLDBERG MACHINE" kind of wow-factor. Obviously that wouldn't have worked for LL, but I feel like they sort of missed the mark on this one. I think it's good that they aren't pigeon-holing themselves, like Jenny said, but….meh. That's all I have to say.
I mean, I didn't even repost it on my wall. That takes a lot when it comes to OK Go things.
Overall, I like the video. It's pretty, and artsy, and I love the song. However, I won't be buying it on iTunes like all the others.
EDIT: And I kind of find 'things coming out of eyes' a bit creepy. Like that one part near the beginning with the face, I was thinking "OH MY GOD THE BIRDS ARE COMING OUT OF THE EYES!"
And I think my like-meter is fluctuating every time I watch it. Sometimes it's 'wow this is really pretty and cool' and other times it's 'meh.'
EDIT EDIT: Also, the guy with the umbrella immediately makes me think of Tim.
I like the video because it's complex, as far as toast animation goes anyway, but it's simple because it's just toast. It's pretty and it's quirky. All in all, there has been more eye popping dramatic use of stop animation by other artists. But Ok Go are not "artists" they are musicians with an artist flare. I think it's important for Ok Go not to have to live up to an expectation or try to top an expectation continually or they will be in for major failure. Maybe it also works for me because I don't read as deeply into the song as many other fans do. However, I think the problem for other fans was the build-up to the video. Keeping the details a big mystery was an intriguing step but also the downfall for fans of this song who expected an explosion of awesomeness with their milktoast.
(Hey, Christel, my first attempt at critiquing. Wad'ya think? ;) )
Something else was nagging at me about the video and I finally figured it out. It reminds me so much of the animation used for "Origin of Love" from Hedwig and the Angry Inch. I did a quick search and found the song I'm speaking of on YouTube. Sorry for the quality, but you'll get the gist of it. Not gonna embed, but you can click here to get to it. FYI there are naked animated people in the vid. Nothing graphic, just wanted to caution those unfamiliar with Hedwig.
Also, I wanted to post my first three thoughts after seeing the video for the first time:
#1 Fox playing a guitar, HELLO!
#2 Everything coming out of the eyes is kinda creepy.
#3 Think they're gonna try to sell the old, moldy bread? j/k
I'm totally with you on the eye thing Aleatory. And really, what part of this video is going to end up in the MoAP (Mother of All Packages)? I know you can seal the toast, sort of, but how fragile will it be?
I still have a few more thoughts on the video, but I need to make them a bit more coherent before I post them.
I'm of the same opinion as you guys. My friend told me it came out and I was SO EXCITED to get home and watch it. But... it didn't impress me. It was what I was expecting but no more, which is what OK Go normally gives me. I had guessed that it would be animation/stop-motion with drawing on toast, but the awesome parts of an OK Go video are the huge ones you don't expect but just amaze you. There was nothing new and amazing in this video.
Plus, there was no THEM in this video. I miss my Damian and Andy. D:
For me, Last Leaf is the most beautiful love song I have ever had the honor to hear. Every time I listen to it (live or recorded), it brings tears to my eyes, and I have been anxiously awaiting this video.
Honestly, I have to say I liked its creativity, and the "artsy-ness" (thanks JennyHP
) felt peacefully sweet. I liked the animation, and I loved the simplicity of the "toast" theme. Overall the video brought beauty to the mundane, much like the poetry of Last Leaf does (for me). I have to admit, I missed having the guys in the video. Thankfully, we have the teasers from Samsung to fill a little bit of that void 
. There is a little part of me (like soccerkeeper6) that wishes it was a video of Damian alone with his guitar, but if they didn't want to go that route, this works ok for me.
Good grief, I missed the math required and lost my post?!?
. Wait, 11 + 8 is 19, isn't it? Hit a wrong button.
Anyway, I don't wanna try to re-write what I wrote, so I'll just say, take JennyHP and jamdkoff's entries and mush them together, and that's pretty much what I think.
So I've come by to start weighing in on this a few times and gotten sidetracked every time. I am squarely in the middle on this video.
Let's start with the positive: Wow, that's a LOT of bread. That was a huge undertaking, and incredibly creative. I'm generally not a visual art enthusiast, but I found the video to be very poignant. I got the symbolism. I thought the "being pushed over the edge" part was really nicely done.
The less than positive: I couldn't understand why I wasn't immediately in love with this video; I mean, I watched Liquid Television on MTV RELIGIOUSLY in the 90's. I love weird animation. And then I realized it. What I love about OK Go videos usually is that the wow factor is initially apparent. With this video, you have to watch it and *then* think about it. So with End Love, for example, you've got the choreography, you've got the colors, and you've got Orange Bill. And THEN you think "holy crap, they spent 19 hours shooting this to work out the time lapse." With TTSP the machine is bombastic and epic and really cool to watch, and THEN you think "holy crap, how hard was that to put together and make work reliably enough to film?" White Knuckles - Cute dogs and THEN "wow, it is *really* hard to train dogs that well." In these cases it's a double wow factor. Great on first consumption and then you get the second pow when you think about how much work went into it.
With this one, at first glance, it's a cartoon. A really cool, well animated, poignant cartoon, but it's a cartoon and I've seen a million of them. Even though you still get that pow afterwards when you think "HOLY CRAP THEY MADE HOW MANY PIECES OF TOAST?!" I'm still left wishing for more.
This is not to say, though, that I would've wanted a video of just Damian hanging out with an acoustic guitar to be the official video. If you want that, here. And here. AAAAnd Here. That search took me 10 minutes, tops, with interruptions. Although I kind of have a mental image of Damian standing in a field and the weather changing around him to reflect waiting in one spot for however long. But that too wouldn't be the OK Go trademark of "making cool shit" because it's been done a million times before.
Anyway, holy crap, they made how many pieces of toast? And then created a cartoon off of those pieces of toast? Holy effing shit that is amazing. And I am going to buy the vid off iTunes when it becomes available. Just because.
I really love reading all of the different thoughts on this... and that we all can agree to disagree so nicely.
And how appropriate that my math is 5+6=11 today...
not so unique-appears as though the idea for the last leaf video was already"taken" & posted 7/7/10
looks just like the Bread Art Project already on youtube
or search: early birds bread art on youtube
f/the real toast check out: breadartproject.com
I hate to say it, but...I'm underwhelmed. Although I realize the work that went into this, as with most of their videos, I just didn't feel this one. To me, it doesn't convey the emotion of the song. My $.02, for what it's worth.
But Holy Crap That's A Lot Of Toast!
Sorry but did you really have to post the exact same thing in two other places?
One thread that has nothing to do with Last Leaf and making a new thread (which really wasn't necessary since you posted it in here anyway).
The Bread Art Project looks just like computer animation...just a tad different to stop motion animation don't you think?
But anyway ideas are always being used/taken and even if OK Go did use that idea they have built on it and crafted it into their own thing just like they did when they got the idea to make a time-based Rube Goldberg Machine for a music video (TTSP) <- I'm referring to when people started saying "Oh but Fischli and Weiss already did that with 'The Way Things Go'".
It also doesn't mean that just because someone else has crafted something similar earlier it makes the uniqueness of this project defunct. Things are unique in their own way. Plus I'm sure that it took way more effort into making the Last Leaf video than the Bread Art Project.
Now spamming ain't good. *wags finger*
They are completely different - the bread art project isn't even real bread - just a drawing of bread to emphasize their message of hungry children. And yes, it is CG - not individual images literally burnt into ~2500 pieces of toast.
While I applaud the uniqueness, creativity, and effort of the video, I have to admit I watched it twice, probably won't watch it again, and enjoy the Samsung promo videos more. It wasn't bad by any means - beautiful animation. But it lacked THEM and their energy. In my opinion, there wasn't anything definitively "OK Go" about it. I look forward to their next video.
^This^
It feels more like a fan video than their video to me. I know that videos don't have to have the artist in the video, but it just doesn't feel right without OK Go actually in it. And I'm unsure just how much they contributed to the video other than buying the bread and setting up the camera. Were the concepts of the blowing trees, guitars growing from the ground, man being rained on under an umbrella, girl walking in wind, fox playing a guitar, etc. their ideas or the idea of the guy who did the animations?
I was thinking that if perhaps the toast was turned into a BLT at the end of the video and one or more of the boys ate said BLT, it would have been a bit better for me. I guess I'm just trying to incorporate them into the actual video for me to actually feel like it's theirs.
There's one more Samsung project vid coming, so hopefully, maybe, they will get into more of their direct contributions. Also, the boys may not have made such a big set up/deal about this simple vid if not that Samsung wanted it.
But, hey, it's stuff we can ask them if/when we have the opportunity to see them after a show! You know, being able to articulate sometime more than, 'DERRRP, Uh, I like the bass." (maybe that was just me?)
Blah blah blah go rain on someone else's parade. And I suppose the Bread Art Project stole their idea from this video, posted 22/6/2007.
This isn't necessarily a defence of the video. I've been pretty underwhelmed by all of the videos from 'Blue' so far, especially "White Knuckles." This isn't much better. The animation on this was pretty, but...whatever floats your boat, I guess. It's got to be hard to come up with a different video idea for each song on the record and then do it on a budget, but none of these, except for maybe TTSP and parts of "End Love," have appealed to me very much. It all feels somewhat gimmicky.
Anywho, not that I want to give you added attention, pastelbleu, whether you're simply a fan of the Bread Art Project or someone who's being paid by them, but here's your conversation so far:
pastelbleu: YOUR BAND SUCKS AND STOLE OUR IDEA!
Fangirls: *defensive fangirl mode* NO YOU SUCK AND LET ME TELL YOU WHY!
What you should have done instead:
pastelbleu: Oh hey, that looks a LOT like a video the Bread Art Project created to raise awareness about childhood hunger. They're pretty similar. You should all go watch that video, too, and help out.
Fangirls: Oh, wow, you're right. That's cool. Maybe we should raise awareness about the BAP, too.
See, by not being accusatory, you might have gotten some people here interested in your cause, but by being obnoxious and annoying and double-posting the same shit in two placese, you didn't. That's callled "spamming." Scram.
PS, re: Becky - I totes made the "Origin of Love" connection, too. I just posted about that on t1p!g last night, fo srs.
PPS: The song from that BAP video sucks.