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The Mountains Video Is All F'd Up 
So I'm listening to the commentary for Under The Cherry Moon, found in this thread. Once it's over, I decide to watch the videos on the dvd, as its been a while since I've seen them. "Mountains" goes through some weird moments. It starts out VERY rough with the blue screen, almost like it's a rough cut (kind of like that one scene w/ Clarence in Purple Rain where it's a working negative or something). The outline on everyone is really harsh. It's also letter boxed at the very beginning, but later shots are full 16:9, filling the screen. A few shots have a very rough, almost antique picture frame around them. Then I noticed some of the black and white shots from the movie (of the kids, or Mary Sharon), almost look colorized. They look highly desaturated, opposed to just black and white. There's a lot of blue/gray tones in some of those shots. Look at the balloon. It looks like the color has been pulled down a lot. The background behind Mary looks the same. I just never remember there being so many weird "errors" or blurbs in it. Also....I don't remember if it was black and white, or color, when it was shown on MTV. I assume color, but I always seem to remember it black and white (but that could be a movie thing in my head, too). I wonder if this is just bad editing (especially the letter box vs 16:9 thing), the coloring...etc. Although I love the song (I was SO into this when it came out), the video seems a bit sloppy. I could never figure out, in the movie, if this video was just supposed to be Prince - as a bonus video at the end of the movie, or was it Christopher Tracy in heaven somewhere singing instead of pimping. Side note: I've never heard anyone mention that there seems to be a Sheila E record in Christopher and Tricky's flat. The lamp on Prince's nightstand...it's behind there, on the wall (near the mirror closet doors). Looks like the 12" to "Sister Fate" or something. I have NEVER noticed it there before. You can see it best in the "butterscotch-chocolate" scene, and later when CT comes home after fucking Mary at the race track, and perhaps when CT and Tricky are getting ready to hit the club. | |
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Mountains is a classic Prince video.
I just  it... the video is very dear to me 
Prince sitting on a carpet with the funk band in the background, his dancing is very sexxy. ....His clothes.. the hat... just wow. Prince 4Ever. | |
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I agree. I think the video looks rather .. rushed. The harsh, blue outlines may be excussed by the technology available at the time, but still, the format changes and the (badly rendered) snippets from the movie are just amateurish, compared to the other videos from that album. (And wasn't this the second single off Parade? Seems weird to follow up a hit like Kiss (and its far more superior video) with a video like Mountains in the age of videos.
[rhetorical]I wonder if Prince himself did the editing, thinking "if I can direct, I can edit as well?[/rhetorical] Not that any of this adds to the discussion. | |
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^ remember it is made ages ago,
completely funky imo..... I love that video! - nevermind if it's a little amateurish.. it's still a classic,  [Edited 1/10/10 2:22am] Prince 4Ever. | |
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thedance said: ^ remember it is made ages ago,
Yeah, but take a look at what less prominent bands did in 1986 (Eurythmics for instance), or acts like Madonna did with their music videos. Mountains seems more like a 1980-1983 video than a 1986 video. Anywho, it is what it is. I've never been impressed by Prince's videos anyway, they've always seemed unimportant to him. | |
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Mountains, was a perfect 2nd single imo....
I remember when I bought the 12 inch single and came home and listened to it endlessly, 
just WOW... the 10 minutes version is incredible funky 
If only Prince could / would make funky music like this song today. [Edited 1/10/10 2:26am] Prince 4Ever. | |
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Come on, the man is not known for his videos. "Alphabet Street" makes "Mountains" look like "AVATAR".
I actually just noticed the 12" Sister Fate cover last year. Do U Lie? | |
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I love the Alphabet Street video too. 
actually most of Prince's Warner Bros. videos are essential to me, too bad some fans don't feel the same. 
sorry to be off topic with this reply. 
Alphabet Street, the video.. is formerly discussed - and critizised - here: http://prince.org/msg/7/326027 [Edited 1/10/10 2:36am] [Edited 1/10/10 2:40am] Prince 4Ever. | |
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I never said I didn't like it, but to say the quality of the video is anything beyond bargain basement is just being in denial. Do U Lie? | |
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it's a very basic video, and it definitely looked better 24 years ago. But I love it | |
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ernestsewell said:
So I'm listening to the commentary for Under The Cherry Moon, found in this thread. Once it's over, I decide to watch the videos on the dvd, as its been a while since I've seen them. "Mountains" goes through some weird moments. It starts out VERY rough with the blue screen, almost like it's a rough cut (kind of like that one scene w/ Clarence in Purple Rain where it's a working negative or something). The outline on everyone is really harsh. It's also letter boxed at the very beginning, but later shots are full 16:9, filling the screen. A few shots have a very rough, almost antique picture frame around them. Then I noticed some of the black and white shots from the movie (of the kids, or Mary Sharon), almost look colorized. They look highly desaturated, opposed to just black and white. There's a lot of blue/gray tones in some of those shots. Look at the balloon. It looks like the color has been pulled down a lot. The background behind Mary looks the same. I just never remember there being so many weird "errors" or blurbs in it. Also....I don't remember if it was black and white, or color, when it was shown on MTV. I assume color, but I always seem to remember it black and white (but that could be a movie thing in my head, too). I wonder if this is just bad editing (especially the letter box vs 16:9 thing), the coloring...etc. Although I love the song (I was SO into this when it came out), the video seems a bit sloppy. I could never figure out, in the movie, if this video was just supposed to be Prince - as a bonus video at the end of the movie, or was it Christopher Tracy in heaven somewhere singing instead of pimping. Side note: I've never heard anyone mention that there seems to be a Sheila E record in Christopher and Tricky's flat. The lamp on Prince's nightstand...it's behind there, on the wall (near the mirror closet doors). Looks like the 12" to "Sister Fate" or something. I have NEVER noticed it there before. You can see it best in the "butterscotch-chocolate" scene, and later when CT comes home after fucking Mary at the race track, and perhaps when CT and Tricky are getting ready to hit the club. I haven't seen the movie since..the 80's but I do remember the Sheila E record on the chair (thought it was a brilliant idea ). From memory, it was the Sister Fate maxi. Also, from memory, I think there is a Miles Davis one also (You're under arrest...)is it ? "open your heart, open your mind
A train is leaving all day..." | |
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the tech has not aged well at all, but it's still one of his best videos. easily top 10 if not top 5 Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely. - Lord Acton | |
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yankem said: ernestsewell said:
So I'm listening to the commentary for Under The Cherry Moon, found in this thread. Once it's over, I decide to watch the videos on the dvd, as its been a while since I've seen them. "Mountains" goes through some weird moments. It starts out VERY rough with the blue screen, almost like it's a rough cut (kind of like that one scene w/ Clarence in Purple Rain where it's a working negative or something). The outline on everyone is really harsh. It's also letter boxed at the very beginning, but later shots are full 16:9, filling the screen. A few shots have a very rough, almost antique picture frame around them. Then I noticed some of the black and white shots from the movie (of the kids, or Mary Sharon), almost look colorized. They look highly desaturated, opposed to just black and white. There's a lot of blue/gray tones in some of those shots. Look at the balloon. It looks like the color has been pulled down a lot. The background behind Mary looks the same. I just never remember there being so many weird "errors" or blurbs in it. Also....I don't remember if it was black and white, or color, when it was shown on MTV. I assume color, but I always seem to remember it black and white (but that could be a movie thing in my head, too). I wonder if this is just bad editing (especially the letter box vs 16:9 thing), the coloring...etc. Although I love the song (I was SO into this when it came out), the video seems a bit sloppy. I could never figure out, in the movie, if this video was just supposed to be Prince - as a bonus video at the end of the movie, or was it Christopher Tracy in heaven somewhere singing instead of pimping. Side note: I've never heard anyone mention that there seems to be a Sheila E record in Christopher and Tricky's flat. The lamp on Prince's nightstand...it's behind there, on the wall (near the mirror closet doors). Looks like the 12" to "Sister Fate" or something. I have NEVER noticed it there before. You can see it best in the "butterscotch-chocolate" scene, and later when CT comes home after fucking Mary at the race track, and perhaps when CT and Tricky are getting ready to hit the club. I haven't seen the movie since..the 80's but I do remember the Sheila E record on the chair (thought it was a brilliant idea ). From memory, it was the Sister Fate maxi. Also, from memory, I think there is a Miles Davis one also (You're under arrest...)is it ? I never noticed the Sheila E records before, but I do remember the one of Miles Davis. I'll have to give it a play. | |
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Elle85n09 said: I never noticed the Sheila E records before, but I do remember the one of Miles Davis. I'll have to give it a play.
Miles is on the chair. Sheila is behind the lamp next to Prince's bed. | |
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. [Edited 1/10/10 19:41pm] | |
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I saw it too Ernest when watching along with the podcast a little earlier. Thanks for pointing it out! | |
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The video is perfect just the way it is  | |
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thedance said: I love the Alphabet Street video too.
actually most of Prince's Warner Bros. videos are essential to me, too bad some fans don't feel the same.
sorry to be off topic with this reply.
Alphabet Street, the video.. is formerly discussed - and critizised - here: http://prince.org/msg/7/326027 [Edited 1/10/10 2:36am] [Edited 1/10/10 2:40am] very nice indeed  | |
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thedance said: Mountains, was a perfect 2nd single imo....
I remember when I bought the 12 inch single and came home and listened to it endlessly,
just WOW... the 10 minutes version is incredible funky
If only Prince could / would make funky music like this song today. [Edited 1/10/10 2:26am] Perfect in every way | |
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yankem said: ernestsewell said:
So I'm listening to the commentary for Under The Cherry Moon, found in this thread. Once it's over, I decide to watch the videos on the dvd, as its been a while since I've seen them. "Mountains" goes through some weird moments. It starts out VERY rough with the blue screen, almost like it's a rough cut (kind of like that one scene w/ Clarence in Purple Rain where it's a working negative or something). The outline on everyone is really harsh. It's also letter boxed at the very beginning, but later shots are full 16:9, filling the screen. A few shots have a very rough, almost antique picture frame around them. Then I noticed some of the black and white shots from the movie (of the kids, or Mary Sharon), almost look colorized. They look highly desaturated, opposed to just black and white. There's a lot of blue/gray tones in some of those shots. Look at the balloon. It looks like the color has been pulled down a lot. The background behind Mary looks the same. I just never remember there being so many weird "errors" or blurbs in it. Also....I don't remember if it was black and white, or color, when it was shown on MTV. I assume color, but I always seem to remember it black and white (but that could be a movie thing in my head, too). I wonder if this is just bad editing (especially the letter box vs 16:9 thing), the coloring...etc. Although I love the song (I was SO into this when it came out), the video seems a bit sloppy. I could never figure out, in the movie, if this video was just supposed to be Prince - as a bonus video at the end of the movie, or was it Christopher Tracy in heaven somewhere singing instead of pimping. Side note: I've never heard anyone mention that there seems to be a Sheila E record in Christopher and Tricky's flat. The lamp on Prince's nightstand...it's behind there, on the wall (near the mirror closet doors). Looks like the 12" to "Sister Fate" or something. I have NEVER noticed it there before. You can see it best in the "butterscotch-chocolate" scene, and later when CT comes home after fucking Mary at the race track, and perhaps when CT and Tricky are getting ready to hit the club. I haven't seen the movie since..the 80's but I do remember the Sheila E record on the chair (thought it was a brilliant idea ). From memory, it was the Sister Fate maxi. Also, from memory, I think there is a Miles Davis one also (You're under arrest...)is it ? And just to take this full circle, in Sheila's Sister Fate clip, there's a 2- second appeaerance of Prince, straight outta the Raspberry Beret clip, when she says, "I could never do nothing, to live up to those lies...". Well, on second tought,this came out before UTCM, so maybe it's Prince who's bringing it full circle. Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths...(Jeremiah 6:16) www.ancientfaithradio.com
dezinonac eb lliw noitulove ehT |
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fms said: yankem said: I haven't seen the movie since..the 80's but I do remember the Sheila E record on the chair (thought it was a brilliant idea ). From memory, it was the Sister Fate maxi. Also, from memory, I think there is a Miles Davis one also (You're under arrest...)is it ? And just to take this full circle, in Sheila's Sister Fate clip, there's a 2- second appeaerance of Prince, straight outta the Raspberry Beret clip, when she says, "I could never do nothing, to live up to those lies...". Well, on second tought,this came out before UTCM, so maybe it's Prince who's bringing it full circle. I think the full circle would be more the poster of Prince that Sheila has hanging in her apartment in Krush Groove. | |
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the part that bothered be from my first time I saw it was how the blue screen reflected in the instruments and made them look all wrong. "Keep on shilling for Big Pharm!" |
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the video production 2 Mountains seems similar to the Screams of Passion video
Mountains is much better than the rush seriously bad production of Alphabet St. I still think the Parade videos are the best of his career:Kiss, Mountians, Girls & Boys, AnotherLoverHolenYourHead [Edited 1/11/10 10:49am] | |
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Cravens said: [rhetorical]I wonder if Prince himself did the editing, thinking "if I can direct, I can edit as well?[/rhetorical] He probably did edit it! He was apparently responsible for the unsympathetic blue screen work on Raspberry Beret that upset the animators. & it's not 16:9... it's 4:3 (D') |
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LuneCerise said: Come on, the man is not known for his videos. "Alphabet Street" makes "Mountains" look like "AVATAR".
I actually just noticed the 12" Sister Fate cover last year. Is it this one? | |
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OldFriends4Sale said: Is it this one? YEP!!!!! | |
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OldFriends4Sale said: See the rough edges around that? It's worse when actually watching it. There's one shot in the movie, when "Love or $" starts, and there's a very, very dark shadow on the right of the screen. VERY bad editing error. [Edited 1/11/10 12:21pm] | |
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Interesting thread.
In relation to the whole film, I have two points of interest: During the beginning of the Love or Money sequence, Mary visits Christopher's apartment, (prince is bare chested with a head wrap on). Near the end of the scene (50:02), just as Tricky is saying "I know! Why don't we spend it?!", Prince is fumbling in his pockets and pulls out what looks like either a wallet or some folded paper. Now I'm not sure if Prince is acting here, it seems very ad hoc and unless Prince was taking tips from Marlon Brando, it looks like Prince has geniunely found something in his pocket he wasn't expecting. A minute later, just after Prince bargains for the Porsche, he asks Mary to 'hop into her new car'. She replies, "this is as far as I want to get". Prince responds to this but I've never been able to work out what he says. Any thoughts? O+> O+> | |
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owen said: Interesting thread.
In relation to the whole film, I have two points of interest: During the beginning of the Love or Money sequence, Mary visits Christopher's apartment, (prince is bare chested with a head wrap on). Near the end of the scene (50:02), just as Tricky is saying "I know! Why don't we spend it?!", Prince is fumbling in his pockets and pulls out what looks like either a wallet or some folded paper. Now I'm not sure if Prince is acting here, it seems very ad hoc and unless Prince was taking tips from Marlon Brando, it looks like Prince has geniunely found something in his pocket he wasn't expecting. A minute later, just after Prince bargains for the Porsche, he asks Mary to 'hop into her new car'. She replies, "this is as far as I want to get". Prince responds to this but I've never been able to work out what he says. Any thoughts? O+> Prince grabs a dollar bill from the bag and sneaks it in his pocket when she's not looking. In the car, he responds to Mary and says "for now". Remember, you can also turn on the captioning to get the dialog most times. | |
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ernestsewell said: owen said: Interesting thread.
In relation to the whole film, I have two points of interest: During the beginning of the Love or Money sequence, Mary visits Christopher's apartment, (prince is bare chested with a head wrap on). Near the end of the scene (50:02), just as Tricky is saying "I know! Why don't we spend it?!", Prince is fumbling in his pockets and pulls out what looks like either a wallet or some folded paper. Now I'm not sure if Prince is acting here, it seems very ad hoc and unless Prince was taking tips from Marlon Brando, it looks like Prince has geniunely found something in his pocket he wasn't expecting. A minute later, just after Prince bargains for the Porsche, he asks Mary to 'hop into her new car'. She replies, "this is as far as I want to get". Prince responds to this but I've never been able to work out what he says. Any thoughts? O+> Prince grabs a dollar bill from the bag and sneaks it in his pocket when she's not looking. In the car, he responds to Mary and says "for now". Remember, you can also turn on the captioning to get the dialog most times. I've never noticed him stealing the money before and slipping it in his pocket! Very well spotted Ernest! Although I've just watched the scene with the Porsche again, and he definitely does not say "for now'. That may be what's captioned and would certainly make sense but it just doesn't sound like it. Thanks for the reply! O+> O+> | |
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