Music video hybrids.(editor's note)

It's obvious that video hasn't killed the radio star, as foretold by the Buggies in the band's song that kicked off the age of music television. But lately it seems that video isn't doing the radio star any favors, either, at least judging from the general content appearing on music television channels such as MTV and VH1.

For the most part, today's videos have hit a sour note, consisting of little more than rough-cut footage of a band's performance mixed with gratuitous shots of sexy women vamping for the camera--hardly the artistic statement videos were making during the early days of music television.

Meanwhile, our visual palates have grown more sophisticated as we continue to experience the smorgasbord of inventive imagery available through other entertainment mediums such as films, computer games, and television programs and commercials. Indeed, our tastes have evolved to the point where we no longer tolerate being served plain-vanilla videos that lack storytelling, emotion, or imagination. Audiences are hungry for videos with a unique visual flavor, like OutKast's Hey Ya!, Britney Spears's Toxic, and Jay-Z's 99 Problems (see "Visual Notes" Part 1, August 2004, pg. 32, and Part 2, this issue, pg. 10). Though in the minority, these are the kinds of videos that are getting rave reviews, not only winning industry awards but, perhaps more important, also receiving a generous portion of airtime.

While projects like those are stirring the creative pot, others are going a step further and redefining the music video art form as we know it. Using a unique combination of cutting-edge computer graphics and ...