Released 2004 Genre Alternative rock Label Idlewild | Recorded 2004 Length 2:56 | |
Writer(s) John Flansburgh, John Linnell | ||
"Experimental Film" is a song by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants. It is the lead single from their 2004 album The Spine. The song has been seen by some critics as a return to the band's earlier sound. An animated music video was made for the song by internet animators The Brothers Chaps and featured the characters from the animators' internet series Homestar Runner.
Contents
Though it saw no domestic release, "Experimental Film" was released promotionally in Great Britain. The disc included "Am I Awake?" and "Memo to Human Resources" as well as the single. The song was also released on a one-track promotional disc in Australia.
Subject matter
The song's lyrics are a satire of avant-garde cinema, and its perceived tendency toward meaninglessness and pomposity. The "narrator" of the song is an enthusiastic filmmaker who is attempting to make the eponymous movie. He extols its greatness and makes grandiose statements about his abundance of ideas to make the viewer's "face implode" in the end, but the film is unfinished and lacks a discernible subject.
Homestar Runner video
The video itself is a cartoon experimental film and is ostensibly directed by Homestar Runner cartoon characters Strong Sad and The Cheat. Their individual contributions are wildly different: Strong Sad's footage looks like it has been shot on black-and-white film, while The Cheat's portions are animated in his singularly basic style. Initially the video just cuts between the two, but they're superimposed and mixed together more and more until the two become indistinguishable. The video is full of references to other experimental films.
In spite of They Might Be Giants originally planning to make a separate video for the "MTV crowd," they have declared the Homestar Runner video to be the song's official music video. It is the only Homestar Runner cartoon to have been shown on television.
Use in television
The song was used as the end credits music for the Independent Film Channel TV series Film School, apparently without irony, as well as in ads for the show.
Translation
The song has been translated into French on the Homestar Runner Wiki.