See the animated video for the modern holiday song we’ve been waiting for.
This vintage-feeling holiday video is a combined effort from Atlantic Records, Kristen Bell, Straight No Chaser, JASH, and songwriters Adam Schlesinger and David Javerbaum. The modern Christmas tune was later animated by Cuppa Coffee Studios. It’s another sign-o-the-times, don’t you think?
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Because no music video would be complete without a selfie with Santa.
Kim Kardashian attempted to break the Internet earlier this month when she allowed Paper Magazine to publish nude photos of her for their December “Break the Internet” issue. For at least three days — a century in Internet speak — her name was on the tip of every digital tongue across the web. But the conversation shifted swiftly and definitively on Friday, when for the second time in one year, Beyoncé practiced unorthodox proceedings and utilized social media’s democracy to drop a single and accompanying music video without providing context.
Since Friday, Beyoncé’s “7/11″ has garnered 26,382,089 views on YouTube, which is impressive but not unpredictable when considering the star’s clout. What is unique, however, is the actual video, which is effectively a three and a half minute selfie that appends a 15-word song, which will at best become a club hit and at worst, give your mother a headache.
She’s on a terrace, wearing knee pads, acting jovially in a sweatshirt that reads Kale across the front. She’s spinning in a chair and then she’s in a bathroom. She wears full-coverage granny panties with the same demure austerity that she does Givenchy couture (worn under a sweatshirt) and though she’s conceivably goofing off, sometimes with her friends-cum-back-up dancers, other times with a Christmas tree as her leading back-up dancer, the assumption is that whatever we’re seeing has been conceptualized deliberately and marketed for public consumption.
Here’s the thing, though: this semi-crude selfie video, when held up against the highly produced and incredibly styled videos that are typically indicative of a Beyonce production, could theoretically make a much larger statement about the way in which we consume digital entertainment.
Maybe in 2014, it’s no longer really about achieving the most beautiful, or rehearsed “shot” so much as it is making sure that your point is conveyed unflinchingly and clearly.
The video in question, which commanded parallel engagement and enthusiasm vis-a-vis it’s fancier siblings, seems like an old-school nod to creative substance (solid dance moves, a human necessity to connect with, or experience celebration) that is being propelled by the proliferation of technology in a way that is nostalgic but fundamentally only available to be tested as a result of progression. This video stands as an interesting case study on the topic of over-saturation and what that concentration leads to.
If it does, in fact, drive the generation of minimalism, does that mean we’re entering the age of modernist digital content?
Watch Full Video Here:
James Franco taking a selfie.
Photo: Paper Magazine
Paper Magazine must be really, really desperate for sales and internet traffic. The folks who recently brought you Kim Kardashian’s bare, greased-up backside in attempt to #BreakTheInternet have another celebrity surprise in store—it’s like they have gone down a ‘most searched names’ list on the internet and come up with well… the most obvious names. In the very same December issue, which hits newsstands today, you’ll find a 2015 calendar comprised of James Franco’s selfies, along with a note from the actor-turned-art-enthusiast, and a fast-fact sheet (Franco likes cats, spaghetti).
You may recall Franco’s other recent narcissistic foray, his universally derided show (for those who cared to weigh in), “New Film Stills,” at Pace Gallery in London inspired by Cindy Sherman’s seminal series “Untitled Film Stills,” and for which the actor comically and somewhat disrespectfully posed in the pictures à la Sherman (see “Why James Franco’s Cindy Sherman Homage at Pace is Not Just Bad But Offensive.”)
Each month of the calendar also features a unique “Instagram prompt” from Franco to readers, which means this thing has the potential to be clogging up your feed for a whole year to come. It is devious, diabolical, designed to basically trick search engine robots and trap viewers not clicking into the stories and images. Celebrity-link baiting is pretty common these days but an arty magazine engaging in this kind of desperate ploy feels, well, cheap.
On a scale of 1 to annoying, we would say this ranks high above the other two 2015 calendars we’ve profiled: naked artist pandas are not annoying at all (see “Artists Dress as Nude Pandas for Art F City Calendar”), and rubber-clad models are only slightly annoying (see “Steven Meisel Shoots Arty Nudes for Pirelli’s Provocative Annual Calendar”), but still far less terrible than Kim Kardashian’s Selfish book. But then, if the best thing that can be said about James Franco is that he’s less annoying than Kim Kardashian, that’s still not great.
If you can’t make it to a newsstand to pick up the new issue, Paper has made the whole 32-page Franco calendar available for download here.
Kisten Bell best known for the title character on the television series Veronica Mars and the voice of Princess Anna in the 2013 Disney animated film Frozen, the highest-grossing animated film of all time and Straight No Chaser (SNC) a professional a cappellagroup, which originated in 1996 at Indiana University, (in 2006 their 1998 video of “The 12 Days of Christmas,” gained widespread popularity and subsequently led to a five-album record deal with Atlantic Records in 2008) have teamed up to sing a rather charming and adorable Christmas song titled ‘Text Me Merry Christmas’
This obviously feeds the current culture that is the selfie and gadget frenzy, the video is uber cute, watch below
Olivia Muus, a designer and marketer based in Denmark, has created a series of fun and light-hearted photos of old portraits in art museums that make it look as if their subjects are taking selfies. Her series is the perfect marriage of historical art and everyone’s favorite modern reinterpretation of the portrait – the selfie.
Anyone can create these selfies, so we’d love to see you guys try! Before doing so, however, make sure that you’re allowed to take pictures and that you don’t use your camera’s flash.
Have you ever wonder what it would look like if well-known Disney characters took selfies? Probably not, but Italian artist Simona Bonafini has taken it upon herself to give you a pretty good idea with her “Selfie Fables” series and has pretty much nailed it.
Who do you think took the best #selfie?
More info: Behance
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