I just don't know WHAT to call it!

January 14, 2008 6:59 PM

What is the visual 'style' of this video called?

It's a youtube video of Tori Amos's "Tear in Your Hand" by some place called Chalkmark studios and someone called Symmetrian.

While I've always been a big Tori fan, this rendition of her song for some reason captivates me.

Is it Goth meets Steampunk?

Can someone tell me if this is a genre, or an art form, or just someone's disturbed mind? I find it compelling, and would like to explore the genre (if it indeed exists) further.

Here's the vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ81Snm45I8

posted by matty to media & arts (4 comments total)

Well, it's not so much a music video as it's a *fan* video made entirely of footage from Mirrormask. There might be a fancier way to put it (genre-wise), but the film is directed by Dave McKean, and it's based on the graphic novel he designed for Neil Gaiman. (And if you're a Tori Amos fan, you've heard plenty about him already - he's the "Neil" she often references). If you want too see more of what you saw in that video, you'll be glad to know that there's a website.
posted by moxiedoll at 7:18 PM on January 14

It reminds me of films like Big Fish, Pan's Labyrinth, Lemony Snicket's Series Of Unfortunate Events, and so on. I think key words are: gothic, expressionism, and magical realism.
posted by so_necessary at 7:46 PM on January 14

The visual style is very much McKean, but Mirrormask was his directoral debut, so there isn't much else in terms of video that he's done.

You may enjoy some of the comic books he's done with Gaiman (off the top of my head: Violent Cases, Signal to Noise, and the children's books The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish and The Wolves in the Walls).
posted by neckro23 at 9:06 PM on January 14

Also, see if you can track down a copy of the collection of his Sandman covers, which surprisingly appears to be out of print.
posted by jjg at 9:23 PM on January 14