Really disappointed. Like the only good thing on the dvd is "What Sarah Said" disappointed.
Maybe im just a jerk but I registered on this forum to express just how one dimentional and uninspired the majority of these videos were.

Marching Bands of Manhatten was alright, but only by reading the explanation by the director did I completely rid myself of the notion that the man was huffing something from the bags and hallucinating. I guess I wasn't deep enough initially.

Soul Meets Body is an absolute disaster. The concept is incredibly creative and has lots of potential. It's chaotic unpredictable in an innovative way. And yet it fails miserably at life, as the only mildly interesting things contained in it are the transitions from one miniscule detail of one image into the main focus of another.

The video for Summer Skin brings a great new perspective into the song, and yet becomes boring after about 40 seconds when you realize the entire video is just going to be kids acting out office jobs. For the entire video. The end is supposed to be climactic, and yet falls short.

Different names: The video concept offers large potential to accompany a really really powerful song, and yet I think falls short just as Summer skin does. Same idea, same images, same style, whole song. There is little meaning that I see, and the director states that he wants to try really hard at syncing up the kids to the song - and yet doesn't really do it well at all in some parts.

I will follow you into the dark: Awesome. Beautiful. Thank you.

Your heart is an empty room: Not that the song comes with a label that says THIS MUST BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY, but this video inhibits me from taking it or the video itself seriously at all. I dislike the style of animation, and the video was boring, but at least attempted to have a complex direction and something to do with the song.

Crooked Teeth - Everyone pray to your chosen diety right now and thank them for the original video not being chosen for this song. The original choice was basically a rip of off Peter Gabriel's video for "Sledgehammer", and featured every member of the band staring at the camera with extra creepy facial expressions. Thank you for not putting that on the DVD. As for the new one, I think it's fairly decent, it's creative and new. It's interesting and keeps your attention, which is more than some of the other videos can say for themselves. I don't love it, but I really don't mind this one, and that works for it being accompanied by my least favorite song on the album.

What sarah said: Absolutely ridiculous, if anything belonged on this DVD it is this video. It should have just been released alone, and I would have been happy. I think it's absolutely beautiful.

Brothers on a hotel bed - My expectations for something incredible may have been set a little high because of how beautiful this song is, but I don't think it's wrong of me to say I was let down. Seemingly no concept at all, but at least the scenery was calming and nice. Still, extremely generic.

Stable song - Decent concept, still boring. Boring, boring, boring. There is something about the video quality that I recognize from Postal Service's video for "Such Great Heights", it just kind of throws me off. It looks too plastic-y, too perfect in a strange way. Could just be me.

Jealousy rides with me: didn't care for the song as much, but it was nice to hear something new. The video was refreshingly coherent and intriguing. And even though some of us may have seen the ending coming, you know it was still cool. It was only decent, but I'll still put this up there with the 2 other videos that should have been made at all (what sarah said, I will follow you into the dark).

Talking like turnstiles: No. Just no. I don't even feel like writing anything for this.


I guess that's the end of my personal review. I'm really let down by this. If people hate me here, I'm alright with that. Death Cab is my favorite band, but I registered on this forum so that I could post my frustrations with the release of this DVD. Comments?

Did you see the other thread that's called 'is anyone else....'? Are you special? I didn't read all that up there, was it interesting?

no it wasnt
just post in the other thread

Yes I saw the thread called 'is anyone else...?'.
Yes I am special.
Yes it was interesting.

*sigh* no one wants to be my friend

quote:

Originally posted by della:
While I do respect your opinions though I disagree with them for the most part, I absolutely cannot let you call Autumn de Wilde a "he" without saying anything about it.

Apologies, didn't realize that. This is a discussion board, let's discuss. What don't you agree with?

Now, I'm not a scientist, but I think she doesn't agree with your point of view. You should possibly ask her why.

Is anyone else dissapointed with this review ? I think it was one dimensional and uninspired. Really, put some effort into it.

quote:

Originally posted by SuperJames:
Is anyone else dissapointed with this review ? I think it was one dimensional and uninspired. Really, put some effort into it.

Haha. Owned.
Anyway, I thought I put some decent effort into it, im really really sorry you guys didnt like it

So if you guys disagree with me so much, then tell me why. Tell me what I said that was so so far off from your perceptions of the project. I would never try to say that I could do better, because I know that I couldnt. I simply think that as a project from which I expected an incredible supportive experience to this album, it failed save for a few videos. It failed miserably in that respect.

Someone, anyone at all, tell me what and why they actually liked the video for Soul Meets Body. I'll admit, I was harsh on some of the videos, probably because I was disappointed on the whole. But honestly, anyone tell me one thing that was so good about this video it deserved to even be made. Conceptually, it sounds utterly enticing. Visually, I had to put forth effort to watch it the whole way through.

you kinda moted death cab for cutie's very irrelevant related videos. so. since it is d-cab forums. all the xhardxcorex gibbard fans' d-cab alert goes on when someone even insults the band's videos...

>: |
grr.

i realize i trashed most of the videos, but I'm a hardcore ben gibbard fan too, thats why I'm so disappointed in all of this.

who's gen bibbard?

quote:

The video for Summer Skin brings a great new perspective into the song, and yet becomes boring after about 40 seconds when you realize the entire video is just going to be kids acting out office jobs. For the entire video. The end is supposed to be climactic, and yet falls short.

Oh, I like the Summer Skin video. I think it's sweet.

quote:

Originally posted by della:
Okay, I don't like the Soul Meets Body video either. I haven't bothered to rewatch it, because for me it's like watching someone else's badly made home videos of Thanksgiving. I liked Solen's director's statement, though. It was much more entertaining.

I'm not going to go through all the videos, but since you wanted some of the things I disagreed with, I'll go through a few:

Summer Skin: I agree with you about the new perspective, but it didn't get boring for me. It's a music video, so I'm not necessarily expecting an entire mini-plot like the one that was in Marching Bands. I also love kids, so watching the video for me was a mixture of joy, because the kids acting out the office jobs were cute, you know? But also of sadness, because they were kids doing these horrible office jobs in the middle of the playground, and they were so lost in the monotony that is an office job that they didn't see the playground around them. I relate to that feeling sometimes, of acting out my mundane life without taking the time to stop and look up and enjoy the beauty and fun and life all around me. So I enjoyed the concept and I thought the video was well done.

You Heart is an Empty Room: I like the animation for the most part, though I think the complete lack of color made it feel a bit unfinished. I didn't think the video was boring and I like the way the "plot" was executed. There were cute touches that probably affected me more than they did you simply because I'm a girl. Examples would be the times he thinks of his girlfriend when he picks up the fingerpuppets or lies down under the tree and wishes/pretends his girlfriend were there. I also liked seeing a different style video than a lot of the others, so I appreciated having this unique animation in the midst of several videos.

Stable Song: I admit I'm probably a little biased because this was Aaron's video. However, again, I did not find it boring at all. I agree with you about the quality (you said it's similar to the Such Great Heights quality), that was one of the first things I noticed. But I think it adds to the video, it's fitting. These kids are living in the shelter trying to pretend that everything is okay. And again, this one played on my love for kids. I felt empathetic for the kids. Living in a bomb shelter would be isolated enough, but these kids feel so alone that they isolate themselves from each other to expel their frustration. I think the monologue at the end added to the video, and when the little boy tries the television at the end and no picture comes through, it further reinforces the image of isolation. I think the video's concept was clear and well executed.

Well put, thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by woodlebert:
who's gen bibbard?

Ben Gibbard is the lead singer of Death Cab.

Jimbo, I actually agree with you. Although I think the concept for directions is rather interesting, I think the videos felt short. I was incredibly disappointed with Soul Meets Body, but I did LOVE 3 videos - What Sarah Said, I Will Follow You Into the Dark, and Someday You Will be Loved.

It's good to express your opinion and it's great to critique your favorite band's work. That's why this is a discussion forum.