Hyperballad
Rediscovering the quirky and experimental Icelandic beauty, Björk.
Hyperballad is one of my all-time favourite Björk tracks from her 1995 album, Post. A mix of a sweet (yet highly structured) melody and insidiously haunting lyrics, the accompanying film-clip was again directed by music video powerhouse Michel Gondry.
Never one to produce things ordinarily, the entire Hyperballad video and all the effects were shot on a single 400 ft roll of film, by multiple exposure and frame-accurate backwinding of the film strip. The graphics were shot as a series of secondary exposures using a TV monitor, and the flashing lights were created with an LED strip board, also exposed on the same piece of film. Extraordinarily, there was no post production or editing at all on this video, except the colour correction transfer to video. This was at the insistence, and under the technical direction of Gondry.
Described in 2007 by The New York Observer as “Still weird after all these years”, it’s a beautiful marriage for such a genre-transcendent musician who’s famously eccentric style and commitment to her artistry is reflected in that of Gondry.
…
I’m back at my cliff
Still throwing things off
I listen to the sounds they make
On their way down
I follow with my eyes ’til they crash
Imagine what my body would sound like
Slamming against those rocks
.
When it lands
Will my eyes
Be closed or open?
Responses ( 11 )
Little Black Book shared this comment on Aug 27 10 at 12:24 AMEver since I watched Dancer in the Dark I can’t look at Bjork the same way….
Briony shared this comment on Aug 27 10 at 1:26 AMWhat a great clip, I’ve never seen it before depsite really loving this song. Thanks for sharing, lovely to read the technical aspects of the clip too.
Briony
Sleekit shared this comment on Aug 27 10 at 11:16 AMI absolutely adore Bjork! I love her originality and presence, she kicks arse
She kills it live. So you get it I kinda like her too!
All is full of love is my all time favourite, I had a harpist play it at my wedding….I could go on but I have to get back to formatting Anal Reports
See ya
Sleekit x
selena shared this comment on Aug 27 10 at 11:32 AMLOVES. sure she wore a crazy dress that looked like a swan but she has made some of the most timeless songs ever.
xx
KittyCate shared this comment on Aug 27 10 at 7:36 PMBjork is one of my all-time favourite musicians, she has the most amazing voice. Hyperballad is such a gorgeous, gorgeous song, its on my currently iTunes playlist.
a stylized hysteria shared this comment on Aug 28 10 at 5:37 AMThis has always been my favorite Bjork song!
Liss shared this comment on Aug 28 10 at 8:54 PMyes!! this is one of my favourite song of hers too.
Liss shared this comment on Aug 28 10 at 8:57 PMPS. I found this link a while ago about the meanings of the song and video, just thought you might like it.
http://unit.bjork.com/specials/gh/SUB-02/index.htm
Miss Ghost shared this comment on Aug 29 10 at 3:18 AM@ Liss – Oh thank you, can’t wait to check this out when i get home!! xo
