As you may know, I am a Video Editor – and one of the things (probably the main thing) that inspired me to work in television post production was actually music videos.

Music videos are one of my favourite things in the world and I spent hours and I MEAN literally hours when I was growing up watching them Even now in the modern world, I can find myself getting lost on YouTube watching music videos for hours on end – they are an addiction.

This month we look at a pop band that I grew up listening to when I was a kid – Steps. When I was a kid I used to find music videos magic, I was addicted to them and I used to find some of the pop bands had the most amazing videos and in some ways I have them to thank for my obsession with them. I used to love Steps videos – they always came with a great dance routine (one of them i learnt and won a talent show with) and a really fun video. There are some from Steps that I loved and some of them I found so clever that even when I watch them now I am amazed and have a huge surge of nostalgia. So this month we celebrate a fun pop group!

Steps – Say You’ll Be Mine

Why did you choose this particular video?

Out of all the Steps videos this was (and is) one of my favourites, I was addicted to this video and found it so clever. I had never really seen a video before where the band re-enact out scenes from famous films and I fell in love with it the day I first saw it. I used to skim the music channels hoping that it would appear again at some point just so I could really watch all the films etc all over again.

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So, what is the narrative?

The band dance in front of a screen that plays clips of different films that the members are re-enacting. Famous films being acted out include Titanic, There’s Something About Mary and Austin Powers.

Favourite parts of the video?

The first show to me I love, I am a sucker for old graphics and I absolutely adore that the decision was made to create the ideology that the films are to be displayed on an old projector. I love the fact that the image is grainy and really gives a feeling that we are delving into some ‘classic’ films.

For the end of the nineties it is not a bad video when it comes to graphics even if they look a bit outdated nowadays. Right at the top of the video there is a sneaky little graphic you may not notice the first time you watch it and that is the Batman logo has been replaced by a Steps logo – a simple graphic but actually pretty effective.

We have to talk about the dance spot again because looking at it now all these years later I have done what I always do an looked at it more analytical and come away with so much to say. Let’s start from the back to the front, the background image is of the different film clips on a film reel. To make them ‘pop’ the reels had a sort of light glare on them so that in some ways the images metaphorically jump out of the reel. Let’s talk about the outfits, they are gold, on the close ups you also notice that the women had gold on their faces.

I always thought that Claire’s Trouser skirt combination was unusual even though it was the fashion at the time. From a connotation perspective I think there is more to this outfit then meets the eye. My view on this shot is that all these films are huge that they are interpreting and the outfits to me personally represent the oscar statue. The way that the whole shot is set up with the films, the red curtains and the stage it feels like this.