Wednesday, 13 October 2010

Music Video Analysis - "Weapon of Choice" Fatboy Slim

Fatboy Slim - "Weapon of Choice"



This is Fatboy Slim's video for "Weapon of Choice". The song itself is a complicated array of samples but the video is essentially very simple. It features only actor Christopher Walken and shows him tap dancing around a hotel.

The video opens with three shots of Walken sitting alone looking old and depressed. They cut from to the other getting closer to him. The only sound is the distant hums of a vacumn cleaner.



The music slowly starts up, coming from a radio on the cleaner's cart, getting louder and louder in time with the cleaner and Walken slowly comes to life with it, lifting up his head, looking around and moving slightly in time with the music. As it progresses he stands up looking quite ill but suddenly the music hits his peak and he comes to life.



He then proceeds to tap dance around the hotel.

The meaning of the song is hard to define but the ideas are definately lifted from Frank Herbert's 1965 novel, "Dune". Therefore, there appears to be no connection between the lyrics and visuals apart from the line directly taken from the novel "Walk without rhythm/It won't attract the worm", except that the dance is especially rhythmic at this point. Apart from this, Walken does tap in time with the music.

The only person featuring in the video is Walken. Fatboy Slim, himself, rarely does appear in his videos, further removing any connections with the artist. However, the enjoyment that appears to eminating from both the singer, Bootsy Collins, and Walken provide a great sense of fun.




What makes this video particularly interesting is the simplicity of it right up until about 3 minutes into it when Walken leaps over a railing and flies around the lobby providing the only special effects.



The whole video is fun, frisky and full of life. This somehow makes a great representation of the artist without even including him.

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