Heartbreak: Video Review

Here's the video in HQ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWkP-mt_bOk

My Review:

The beginning, which i thought was lame initially is actually brilliant. It gives you the feeling that you've just stepped into a disco. And then there's Sophie in front of bright light, which is like they're trying to unveil Sophie. And then you have Sophie's face closed in, with the bright light behind her, highlighting her lovely cheekbones and her beautiful skin.. not to mention her eyebrows which constantly tease the camera.

The camera then focusses on Sophie in a place with no light, with the mic in front of her... subtle make up, hair neatly brushed and a white dress, which i think is very classy.. Sophie starts to do her hand movements, while her eyes do most of the acting job. I think Sophie is a brilliant actress, she can say so much just with her eyes. Man she's gorgeous!!

Here and there you have these random lights, which i think is supposed to portray the laser beams in a disco. Nicely done. I never liked them in the beginning, but now after watching the video in HQ, i think the video would look terribly incomplete without it.

Then as the chorus starts approaching, you have Sophie. The chorus has Sophie doing a bit of a routine, she's moving her body, her hands, her hips.. i only wish she'd move her feet as well. The backup dancers are doing a great job there with the footwork. But compared to the Sophie who never used to dance, this is such an improvement!! I love this Sophie.

Anyone think this move is something like the Green Light thing.. i mean, its a simple hip move, but so lovely to watch. Even when Beyonce did the hip movement thing on Green Light, i loved it.. Anyway..

Now you have more of the lights randomly passing by every now and then. But watch the white light carefully. Everytime the white light goes across, you see Sophie doing a different thing..and the backup dancers as well. Observe carefully..

Coming to the hair and make up, both wild. Make up is very Sophie signature, bright lips, bright eyes. Hair looks wild, its brushed back forming this lump and the sides are neatly set, curling inwards.. The dress is sexy. Kudos to whoever chose that dress for her. I don't know why people made such a fuss about the tatoo. It looks perfectly fine. I mean, i've comletely forgotten Sophie's hand without the tatoo. I love it..

As the second verse comes in, you have Sophie solo again, moving her hands and the mic, and lights randomly going around.. I love the close-ups.. They are brilliant. Sophie looks breath-taking..

The second chorus sees the bright colourful lights forming a pattern. Now this is nice. I like this chorus better than the previous.. And if you pause and observe carefully at various places, you will see how cleverly the video has been overlapped, one bit at a time. Chris Sweeny has actually done a wonderful job with this. Poor fellow must have been heartbroken when he got the initial reviews from fans.. the video is actually brilliant..

As the middle 8 comes in, you have Sophie in the James bond style silhouette thingy. Very nicely done. And wow, Sophie's figure is so perfect.. She's a pussycat, isn't she?? You have this hip thrusting move which she's doing, which i think is so sexy.

The last chorus is the most colourful of all.. Very nicely done.. Again, observe it in bits, you'll see how much effort is put into this video..

The end is quite simple, the camera closing in with Sophie posing confidently with the mic and the backup dancers bending, ending their routine..

BRILLIANT VIDEO!!
i give it a complete 10/10!!

Heartbreak Make Me A Dancer: Video Link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1wnAaIVvcs

When i first saw the video, my jaw dropped. I've already watched it over 50 times, and i'm crazy about the video. But here are my thoughts:

1. It had a stupid start, with the light effect on the walls.. lame. I would have preferred the name FREEMASONS in lights on a background and immediately changing to SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR and Sophie is in the shadow in front of the light, and when she begins saying "heartbreak heartbreak", the signboard should have read HEARTBREAK (MAKE ME A DANCER)... now that is what i call a beginning to a video which is like this

2. The whole "special effects" is crap. Why are the lights going on Sophie's face? I wish the lights were in the background, on the walls only, and Sophie and the back-up dancers were in the foreground. That said, the light effect during the second chorus is amazing. I wouldn't change anything there. The whole concept is to have the lights building up towards the end of the video. But i don't see why it should cover Sophie's face.

3. Sophie looks amazing as usual. And bravo for her acting skills. She portrays emotions so well. And i'm also glad she's dancing more than she did on her solo videos (apart from MOTD of course). Its definitely an improvement. Its a video which will get you watching it over and over again. Non-story, non-concept, random videos are the ones that get played the most

4. The silhouette look during the breakdown etc., is amazing. I've always wanted Sophie to do something like that and i'm really glad she finally did it! She looks awesome as a Silhouette. I wish she would do more of that in the future

5. The end is epic!!

6. The back-up dancers did a very good job.

7. Sophie's make up, clothes, hair are perfect for the video.

In all, i'd probably rate the video 7.5/10 and an extra 0.5 just for Sophie's determination to do the video just 2 months after her pregnancy.

What is always lacking in Sophie's videos??

When you see a Sophie video, the first thing that comes to your mind is “wow she’s gorgeous!” Sophie is always very creative in her videos. She tries to add a bit of humor to her videos, which I think has worked well in the past. Then she started adding a bit of seriousness, which also worked. But when I sit back and think, I wonder why I don’t find any of her videos “perfect”. Murder On The Dancefloor is exceptional. That is one video which I think is superb. There’s a story line, there’s dancing’ there’s glamour, there are tons of back up dancers. That video is what I call a perfect pop video.

Come to think of it Get Over You is also fine. Get Over You has always been my favourite video and song. The theme may be from the movie mannequin, but who cares, its still a brilliant video. You have Sophie wearing tons of wax, she breaks out of the showroom and has tons of other backup dancers and they all dance away. But then, the one thing that is absent in the video is “real dance”. Not like Murder On The Dancefloor was full of dance.. Sophie barely dances. I think she should learn to dance. Moving her hands and legs is not really dance. I wish she’d do a dance routine…like Britney does in most of her videos, or like Shirley does in When I Grow Up video. If Sophie can do so much, I think its more than enough.

When Sophie said that she was doing a dance routine in her Me & My Imagination video, I was really excited. But then when I saw the video I was upset. The theme is wonderful, she could have danced some more though. For videos like Catch You and Today The Sun’s On Us and Music Gets The Best Of Me (dinner party video) there’s no need for dance. The seriousness or the humour does it all. That’s perfect the way it is. But her other videos which are upbeat pop tunes, I think she could include dance routines… Like Mixed Up World is so pointless!! The video idea is superb, but she could have done a bit of moves, with backup dancers, or the guys there..something a little robotic would have suited that video perfectly.

I Won’t Change You is cute, that dance routine with the backup dancers in the video is alright, but I’d like to see some more in that, not just bending down, moving hands, lifts etc., Today The Sun’s On Us is brilliant. But I think the shower scene could have been a little more revealing. I know Sophie is not a sell out who depends on skin-show, but I think that video would’ve achieved perfection with that… that’s one video which leaves an impact on me when its over. Catch You is quite good too. I love everything about the video.

Take Me Home is also cute. She’s trying to seduce men in the video, and she does that perfectly. All in all, I think Sophie needs to have a perfect pop video to define her success. If Off & On is going to be a single, I hope she does a dark video..