GRAIN AND NOSTALGIA

(Still, Charlotte Day Wilson in "Stone Woman", 2018)

As Charlotte Day Wilson recently released ALPHA Live act one through four, I want to take the opportunity to revisit her music video for Stone Woman and the hype around VHS and Super8 film filters.

Super8 film and VHS aesthetics are currently going through a big revival in music videos. Whilst some examples lack purpose or ambition, this video seems fitting for both song and sentiment.

The intimacy in Stone Woman is clearly reflected in the accompanying video and its production, where according to the director Devon Little only a team of five people were on set.

Whilst Charlotte Day Wilson sings of this stone woman with "weathered eyes" and "heavy sighs", we see imagery which could not be warmer and more welcoming to us. Here lies the illusion and charm of it all. As we of 2022 live in a time of high definition and 4k, any analog signal immediately triggers a sense of nostalgia in us as viewers. The VHS and Super8 aesthetics today are mostly created through filters, which again are a digital signal, referencing what once was. Even within this technical observation there is nostalgia. A time that passed, which we cannot regain, will not relive, only romanticize and try to recreate by composing 'noise' and glitches, meant to feel sudden and accidental when now they are placed precisely and with intent.

ARTIFICIAL ACCIDENTS

(Still, David Bowie in "Heroes", 1977)

It comes as no surprise that the director Devon Little references David Bowie's "Heroes" (1977), Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2U" (1990), and Andy Warhol's "Screen Tests" (1964-1966), as sources of inspiration for the Stone Woman video. Especially the opening of both videos by Bowie and Wilson with a strong back-light and their silhouette in center. There is an undeniable quality in the simplicity of all the videos named above, but they also share a grittiness and grain which will, and does have an effect on us viewers in 2022.

Considering that young audiences now grow up with high definition and 4k, never experiencing tape as a standard system, seeing grains and filters like these mean a different thing to them as they do to us. Whereas previously we could put our own memories alongside these visuals, younger audiences must perceive them as something quite alien. A document, a time capsule, an aesthetic choice but with no personal importance. Something their parents or grandparents had, abstract. Even more fascinating to see how willingly the VHS aesthetic is currently being used for so many music videos, Instagram stories etc. Although the artists using this grained image might have grown up with it, part of their audience has not.

When comparing the Stone Woman video with the inspirational examples, one might say they are very similar technically. As one of the biggest giveaways for the current version of grain, or the digital interpretation of Super8 film lies in the format. We took the now very calculated glitches and picture errors from Super8 film, or film in general, but kept our current standard digital format.

SET IN STONE

(Still, Charlotte Day Wilson in "Stone Woman", 2018)

So, who is this stone woman? Is she unreachable for the exact same reasons as we have established above? Elusive like the memory held by our grained films, home movies? A figure from the past? Someone who we have all thought about since? Where are you now? What are you up to these days? Or even, what if you were still here with me?

Towards the end, Charlotte Day Wilson seems to break out of this stone facade she was in before. Her face lightens up, glances to the side, spontaneous. In direct contrast with what we have seen before. Was she singing about herself all along?

Having difficulty to grasp oneself? "But if I could catch you I'd be grown", she sings. The longing for catching this figure, understanding this woman, might as well be a search of a self which she is, was, or wants to be?

The silky tone of Wilson's voice is in direct contrast to the grainier image, creating a symbiotic tension. A rich voice supported by rich colour, all entangled in an honest simplicity.

Whichever perspective we inhabit, the stone woman is heavy, mysterious and elusive. Charlotte Day Wilson, so far, has proven that she is very particular in her music and in her imagery. She seems to be very aware of what image she is building outwardly.

We should all be excited for what is to come.