Music Video Production: 'Weapon of Choice' by Fatboy Slim

Where to start, ey? What a song, what a video and what an actor. Now these type of videos are my favourite videos, videos with a hidden narrative, where we are watching thinking, what an earth is going on? If you didn't think that whilst watching Christopher Walken dance about a grand hotel then I'm concerned, cause it was peculiar alright. These music videos are so effective in enticing a large audience, because we, as humans, are thrown off by things we don't expect, and this is just a perfect example of that. An awesome dance tune, with a middle aged man dancing around the halls in an almost, theatrical style, is so creative. I don't know about you, but I would just love to know more about the backstory to this narrative, who is he, what is he doing, why is he alone, is this his release of happiness or freedom? Call me crazy for delving so deep, it's just what I do - sorry.

The yellow tinted colour grading adds an older aesthetic to the video, going hand in hand with the hotel interior (and the choice of actor), it reflects programmes of the early 90s and for some strange reason makes me think of the original Home Alone. Don't ask why.

Christopher's choreography goes in time perfectly with the song, hitting every beat and also drawing in additional sounds to the song, such as the ring of the reception bell - this was a really nice touch. Isn't it funny that if we were to give a description of this song, it really would sound like the dullest music video of all time:

"Hey, what's this music video about"

"just some guy in a suit dancing in a hotel lobby"

"oh, nice"

And that is pretty much how it would unfold, but NEVER, underestimate the power of a music video driven by the unexpected - mark my word for it (and the 6 MTV MMA awards it won). The videography is simple, but effective, single handedly following the dancer around, sliding around on a dolly, capturing all angles. I like the corridor shots, with fast moving dolly shots, placing Christopher in total centre frame, we are drawn to each movement. Now I can't not talk about this video and not mention the infamous flying scene, as if the video wasn't strange enough, they still found time to place the actor on a giant rig hanging from some wires floating around like a madman. It's so clever, hilariously clever - what is he doing, is he dreaming or is he a super human? The video does use a double at points and they superimposed a Fatboy slim portrait, oh the wonders of post-production.

This video has to be in the top 10 of my all time favourites. Brilliantly shot, choreographed and performed. Go watch it.

Ash