Brian Grant the elements of style - Record

By Alan Hecht

A rock video pioneer dissects the methods of his madness

What did Donna Summer see that impressed her?
She saw my showreel, which has clips like Peter Gabriel (Shock the Monkey), and Olivia's Physical. One of the things I seem to get to do a lot is women (laughter).

You're getting a reputation as a women's director.
I don't mind that at all. I happen to like women full stop for all the obvious reasons and for some of the not so obvious ones. I happen to enjoy their company a lot.

What are some of the not-so-obvious reasons?
Well, they're easier to deal with on a certain level. There isn't as much competition when you're surrounded by women. All of our producers are women and with a female producer you can scream at them, ask them to get you coffee and cry on their shoulders, which you can't do with a man. Well, I can't anyway. So there's a different sort of empathy with women. I've learned that the key to shooting women is that they're very much more concerned with what they look like. Much more. I mean, I did a Stevie Nicks video that nobody has seen. You're going to ask me about that and I'll gladly tell you.......

It's easier to deal with actors be-cause they can dial themselves into a part. Some rock stars do too, but not many.

Which ones?
Peter Gabriel's one of the best-he knows how to deliver. Olivia's very good. It depends on what you want in a film.

Is that something you'd like to see more often? Do you favor placing the emphasis on something other than the band if you don't have performers as skilled as Peter Gabriel?
Definitely. It's a question of trying to give the band a role that's sympathetic to their ability. They'll look much stronger if they do something they can really pull off. The trouble with a lot of videos is that there's too much ham acting. But it's a question of trying to deal with egos.

I think one of Russell Mulcahy's most effective pieces is Elton's Song, which doesn't have Elton John in it at all.
Brilliant. It's a proper film. What I've always said is that there are two different type of clips on MTV-films and videos. And it doesn't have anything to do with what they're shot on.

Could you define those differences?
Some people might say mini-movies rather than films. They're shorts. She Works Hard for the Money is one, whereas Olivia's Physical is a video. Pop Muzik, which I did years ago, was the archetypal video clip.

Would you say that video clips tend to feature artists singing on a video stage, where there might be some vaudeville skits or concepts happening around them, while mini-movies involve much more acting?
Yeah. It's the difference between a comic and a newspaper, maybe. A lot of videos are like comics - they zap you.

Do you have any music video features in development?
I've just been commissioned to do another one-hour piece with Olivia Newton-John. With Physical, it was purely a question of having ten clips from an album and slamming them together into a compilation. What we're doing with this one is writing an entire story first with all the scenes worked out. Then Olivia and Roger Davies are going to find songs to fit the piece. So it's gone the other way around. It'll be a thriller shot in the Caribbean and Australia next summer. And it'll be conceptual from beginning to end.

MUSICVIDEO TOP TEN

Number 6. OLIVIA IN CONCERT
OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN
MCA Home Video

The Music Video Top Ten indicates the fastest-moving sales and rental titles as reported by the country's leading video retail outlets.