Week 3 Video Reviews
Bette Davis Eyes
Artist's Name:
Kim Carnes. Kim Carnes is an American singer-songwriter. She is a two-time Grammy Award Winner.
Song Title:
"Bette Davis Eyes"
CD/Album Title
Mistaken Identity
Year
1981
Record Company
EMI
Director
Russell Mulcahy
Narrative of Video:
The video begins with a silhouette of a woman on the wall and a black scarf blowing in a breeze. It then switches to a close up of Kim Carnes who is wearing a pair of sunglasses. As Carnes sings the song, the black silhouette provides some limited action on the wall. The scene shifts to Carnes and her band performing. There is a
bright light focused on Carnes. The scene moves to some dancers who are dressed in an array of different costumes as if they are at some type of Halloween party
then moves back to Carnes. The video continues to alternate between these two images. The camera moves to a wide angle at times so that the whole band is
visible then back to a close up of Carnes. Carnes sings the song with a lot of expression. She is wearing a black velvet glove that she puts across her eyes
when she sings the lyric “Bette Davis Eyes”. She also elongates the s in Eyes so it sounds like a hiss. The video continues to alternate from Carnes to the dancers and ends back where it begins with the silhouette and black scarf.
bright light focused on Carnes. The scene moves to some dancers who are dressed in an array of different costumes as if they are at some type of Halloween party
then moves back to Carnes. The video continues to alternate between these two images. The camera moves to a wide angle at times so that the whole band is
visible then back to a close up of Carnes. Carnes sings the song with a lot of expression. She is wearing a black velvet glove that she puts across her eyes
when she sings the lyric “Bette Davis Eyes”. She also elongates the s in Eyes so it sounds like a hiss. The video continues to alternate from Carnes to the dancers and ends back where it begins with the silhouette and black scarf.
How the Music and Video Relate:
I didn’t think this was a very good match to this song. It was nice seeing the expression on Kim Carnes face when she sang, but the video didn’t really do
anything to advance the lyric or enhance the song.
anything to advance the lyric or enhance the song.
Review:
I thought the video was poorly done and did not do a very good job representing the song. I think it would have been better if the focus would have been on a story that included a woman who had the traits represented in the lyric of the song. "Bette Davis Eyes" is not only a great song, but a unique song and I think this video just didn't do it justice.