American Cinematographer - October 1986 - 85

Music Videos:

Mostly Fast and Cheap

by Grafton Nunes
On cinematographer Michael Negrin's
living room wall hangs a framed gold LP
of Cyndi Lauper's "She's So Unusual"
album. Underneath, a handwritten in¬

scription reads: "You couldn't have
it without me. Cyndi.'' The
singer's tongue-in-cheek tribute indi¬
cates a symbiotic relationship between
her record sales and her popular music
videos, two of which were pho¬
tographed by Negrin. For one of them,
"Time After Time," Negrin received the
done

1984 American Music Video Award for
Best Cinematography.
Music video production has
provided Michael Negrin with the oppor¬
tunities to develop his craft, produce
excellent work and build a solid profes¬
sional reputation. He has maximized
these opportunities in the face of unbe¬
lievably low budgets, impossibly short
schedules and sometimes brutal work¬

ing conditions.
Son of

veteran

director of

photography Sol Negrin ASC, he began
shooting music videos soon after gradu¬
ating from NYU. Negrin was hired to
film a Billy Joel performance of "I'm
Moving Out" that was to be included in
a television commercial for a Long Is¬
land radio station. Subsequently he shot
several more promotional performance
pieces for Joel's company.
During the early days of
MTV, Joel produced heavily conceptual
videos, while Negrin worked with direc¬
tor Jay Dubin on live multi-camera rock
shows. When Negrin learned that Joel
planned to record a live concert, he re¬
established contact and shot the show
with Dubin directing. The show was
sold to HBO, and on the basis of that

Negrin and Dubin were asked
develop a music video from Joel's

success,
to

"Innocent Man" album.
The result was "Tell Her
About It," a piece that made an impact
on music video style with its theatrical
film production quality. Equally impres¬

sive, this quality was achieved on a

typically low music budget of $85,000.

"Music videos get so much
exposure," Negrin observes, "that most
people are under the illusion there is a
lot of money in them. The average video
is shot from $35,000 to $85,000 for

with

four minutes of

was

screen

time. The

rare

go up to $150,000 and the very
go over $200,000. Consider
the time and cost comparison with a
ones

rare ones

commercial, where you've got
$100,000 for thirty seconds of screen

thing that didn't require traditional
methods of putting a story together.
They tried idea association - quick sub¬
liminal visuals that leave the viewer

impression. It wasn't logical; it
collage. And it worked with au¬

an

diences, for awhile at any rate. One
reason (Tell Her About It) worked with
audiences

so

well

already watched

was

that

they had
of non¬
our piece

over a year

$150,000 to do a whole album, they
can't reconcile spending $80,000 for

linear material on MTV and
resembled a short narrative movie.
Since it told a story, it stood out."
The experience of shooting
for narrative continuity, and the quality
theatrical lighting that Negrin achieved

one

on

time. But the record companies can't
fathom even such low production costs.
When they consider that it costs

song.
"One

the concept

of
non-linear, non-narrative style became
reason

such limited budgets on "Tell Her
About It" and his next Joel piece, "Up¬
town

Girl," impressed Producer Ken

the rule for music videos was that direc¬
tors felt they couldn't possibly put to¬

Walz ancT Director Eddie Griles, who
hired Negrin for their Cyndi Lauper

gether

video, "Time After Time."

a well edited narrative concept
the schedules dictated by those
kinds of budgets. It takes too much time

In

on

and coverage.

October 1986

So they looked for

some¬

contrast

with the free¬

wheeling exuberance of Lauper's

pre¬
vious video "Girls Just Want To Have

American

Cinematographer
American Cinematographer - October 1986

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