Monday, April 5, 2010


Bruce Springsteen, "I'm On Fire" (John Sayles, 1986)

A lesson in the use of color, camera movement, nighttime streets, sound, cars and the 1.37 frame. And the way Springsteen half-swallows "I'll see ya" in the intro gets to me. Some kinda masterpiece.

1 comment:

Conall said...

That link seems to have been taken down, I found another on youtube though: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEsYjDtKuKo

Wonderful video - a very rare example of a music video that establishes a dynamic relationship between the lyrics and the on-screen action, with the words acting almost as an interior monologue as he's standing at the door. And the erotic continuity of the white car, white shoes, white dress; the POV-shot of Bruce from the woman's position, whose face we never see; the devastating sound of the keys falling into his hand, the possibility of contact between them evaporated; the fade from the shot of the key in the ignition to him driving down the road... great stuff.

Really enjoying this blog!