Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #21
What’s both great and terrible about music videos is that, perhaps more than any other kind of moving picture, they are unbound by narrative. A video can be as literal or as abstract as you want, and have nothing or everything to do with the song — the point isn’t to create a coherent story, it’s simply to create a set of images that is striking and memorable. (Okay, I guess the real point is to sell records, but an iconic image can help a lot — sometimes it can even become just as famous as the song it supports.) Below, then, are a few stills that—like the best work of Cindy Sherman or Gregory Crewdson—the mind can spin an entire movie around. I encourage you to submit your own. Or better yet, use one of these to write a short story.
Radiohead, “Karma Police”
My Chemical Romance, “Helena”
Guns N’ Roses, “November Rain”
Beck, “Deadweight”
The Dead Weather, “Treat Me Like Your Mother”
