David Cook – “Light On” Video – American Graffiti Meets Dazed and Confused

Bringing the discussion over here from the headlines thread. I think the description sounds interesting, and that they’re going for a universal-theme kinda vibe here. Others have mentioned it, but I agree that it might be a multiple-story line video. That sounds like a good idea to me, and IMO would jibe with the lyrics (in response to Noctem’s comment from the other thread). There are various ways you could have a plot leaving a loved one behind, and it seems to me they’re aiming to present a few options? That’s my guess, anyway. I think folks have talked about the song hitting a chord with men in uniform (soldiers, firemen, etc.), and I don’t rule out that possibility, since a “football type” actor can very well play a role like that. I would guess that David himself would be performing mostly, and to the extent that there might be some acting, would be playing a version of himself as a musician on the road who has to leave behind loved ones?

Sounds like the “All American quarterback goes off to war, leaves best girl and mom behind” storyline intercut with David singing. If he’s not going off to war, he’s going to LA to pursue music (that’s where the “all types” comes in). Something like that.

I get the feeling that David’s not going to be involved in the acting aspect of the video at all. Like you said, him singing/playing with the song’s story interspersed throughout.

I have many ideas of what the storyline could be about, but the lyrics could go in so many directions. It’s hard to even try to fathom what it could all boil down to.

All I know is that there has to be lights in it…somewhere. Hopefully, a lighthouse.

thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s where the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“all typesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  comes in

Oh! I see…The Big City (as cued by “skaters and punks”) is involved at some point. Let’s bet on whether concrete with grafitti is shown, heh.

Here’s a possible twist: the person who has to choose about leaving is the All American Girl Next Door, not either of the guys.

…cowboys?

Ok, RCA is fronting some serious cash for this project. It’s unusual for a debut artist because the artist has to pay all that back with his profits. So labels usually only spend that type of money for established artists that can afford to have a non-stellar showing (because if the artist can’t pay it back, the label isn’t going to get it back). Not that Cook can’t do very, very well, I’m just surprised they’re going this direction rather than taking a more budgeted approach. I realize this won’t be a million dollar video, but Isham isn’t cheap. And he is just the latest of the “names” that are attached to this album.

à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦cowboys?

Maybe the storyline for the cowboys is when they go off for many weeks on a cattle drive? And leave their loved ones behind? Sorry, that’s all I can come up with for cowboys.

The more I hear of the “names” attached to the video and the record, the more excited I get.

Wonder how this video is going to debut?

I too am getting the vibe that David won’t actually be in an acting role in this video. I keep envisioning something similar to Chris Daughtry’s “What About Now” video which is constantly being shown on Vh1. Chris isn’t doing any acting. He’s just shown singing into a mic and playing his guitar. That video is epic, so I have optimistic hopes for David’s “Light On” video. Unfortunately, it might perpetuate the DC/CD comparisons if it plays out that way.

Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s unusual for a debut artist because the artist has to pay all that back with his profits. So labels usually only spend that type of money for established artists that can afford to have a non-stellar showing (because if the artist canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t pay it back, the label isnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t going to get it back). Not that Cook canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t do very, very well, Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m just surprised theyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re going this direction rather than taking a more budgeted approach.

Interesting….

Maybe they know something we don’t?

Well, “American Graffiti meets Dazed and Confused” points to the video having multiple story lines. In both those movies, there are multiple story lines involving kids during one summer night. Some are leaving the next day for college, the army etc…

Multiple story lines revolving people leaving to go somewhere, taking place in the same night…intercut with David performing “Light On”…

Re: my comment in other the thread characterizing the video description as “kitsch”, I said that based upon the summary: “American Graffiti Meets Dazed and Confused”. What I really don’t like (based upon the description) is the “Dazed and Confused” half. That doesn’t seem like a theme that captures the pathos of the lyrics of LO and one that would emotionally resonate with people who see it (and would therefore hopefully give the single a big lift).

Then again, as I said, my opinion is based on the very hazy conceptual description that we have available to us.

Well, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“American Graffiti meets Dazed and Confusedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  points to the video having multiple story lines. In both those movies, there are multiple story lines involving kids during one summer night. Some are leaving the next day for college, the army etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦

Multiple story lines revolving people leaving to go somewhere, taking place in the same nightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦intercut with David performing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Light Onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦

That’s exactly what I was thinking. The theme of kids growing up and leaving home is universal, no matter where they go when they leave home. The first time he heard LO my husband immediately thought about when he left home for college and how difficult it was for him to leave, even though he knew it was the right thing to do.

RCA is fronting some serious cash for this project. Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s unusual for a debut artist

Not to unnecessarily bring up his name again, but for the sake of comparison, does anyone know if Daughtry had a big budget for his first video? Just wondering if it’s perhaps not that unusual if RCA tends to front more for music videos of new-rockers-out-of-AI (hee).

Thanks for the What About Now video, ozarka, I hadn’t seen it before. Some really moving scenes and imagery. However, I don’t think that’s the direction for the LO video– I don’t think DC will be doing much acting, but I do imagine the first David Cook video for the first David Cook single would want to feature the guy they’re marketing a lot more. I just saw the new Beyonce video for If I Were a Boy, and I thought that was a pretty effective example of using a narrative arc that jibes with the story of the song. For this vid, I don’t actually want DC to do the main acting as Beyonce does, (because parts of that actually came off a tad cheesy to me), but I think it’d be nice to see a balance between the two extremes of the What About Now route with minimal-artist screentime, and the If I Were a Boy route with the artist-as-lead-actor.

à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“American Graffiti meets Dazed and Confusedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  points to the video having multiple story lines. In both those movies, there are multiple story lines involving kids during one summer night. Some are leaving the next day for college, the army etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦

That’s really well-put, and exactly what I was thinking/hoping for. Hopefully, not kitschy.

I too am getting the vibe that David wonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t actually be in an acting role in this video. I keep envisioning something similar to Chris Daughtryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“What About Nowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  video which is constantly being shown on Vh1. Chris isnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t doing any acting. Heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s just shown singing into a mic and playing his guitar. That video is epic, so I have optimistic hopes for Davidà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Light Onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  video. Unfortunately, it might perpetuate the DC/CD comparisons if it plays out that way.

Daughtry’s Its Not Over video is like that too. The story plays out with various shots of Chris and the band going back and forth.

To add to what soundscene said I’m also shocked they brought in a director as top tier as Isham. First thought was “are you KIDDING me?” Probably why I can’t go with the notion RCA is intentionally screwing him over. I believe they may have made a mistake with the first single and overall can make some bad choices but for someone they’re reading to kick to the curb they wouldn’t bring in a director this established for a debut video. He’s been a big name for a long time, but considering one of his videos just won MTV VMA for Video Of the Year last mont I suspect his price hasn’t dropped.

RCA is fronting some serious cash for this project. Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s unusual for a debut artist

Not to unnecessarily bring up his name again, but for the sake of comparison, does anyone know if Daughtry had a big budget for his first video? Just wondering if ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s perhaps not that unusual if RCA tends to front more for music videos of new-rockers-out-of-AI (hee).

Something tells me that David Cook made quite a bit of money during Idol from his iTunes sales. If they’re fronting a lot of money and that’s unusual, they have to be basing that on something….kind of like a bestselling author. No? Yes?

mj’s idea about the multiple storylines is very intriguing. I was thinking that American Graffiti = The 60s and Dazed and Confused = The 70s, so I was wondering about the timelessness of people having to leave, like we’d see a kid leaving for Viet Nam (which is actually more “Hair” than American Graffiti, but whatever…) and then a football player going off to a college career or leaving home and mom somehow. But both those movies are at least partly light-hearted and about the last days of high school, as well as nostalgia for how things were when we were young, which seems an odd match for Light On to me.

I hadn’t seen Daughtry’s videos before, so I just watched a few on youtube, and yeah, he does the performance with storyline by other actors thing. And it kind of doesn’t make sense to me in a couple of them. There’s the one with the alcoholic girl who is the protagonist and maybe kills her boyfriend by drunkenly grabbing on him while he’s driving (I think that’s “Over You” and to me, the story doesn’t really match the lyrics about finally being over someone who dumped you, because, you know, the guy didn’t dump her and she’s not really better off without him. Although maybe what she’s better off without is the booze) and the one with the guy with a bad past who tries to get a job and be better for his girlfriend and his kid (It’s Not Over?) and that doesn’t really fit the lyrics that well, either, although it’s a nice story. “Home” is what I originally thought they would do for “Light On,” not knowing Daughtry had already done it.

With all of the money that is being spent in conjuction with all aspects of this album at every level, I have visions of an eventual tell-all book subtitled “How I Won American Idol… And Went Millions Of Dollars Into Debt In the Process”….

With all of the money that is being spent in conjuction with all aspects of this album at every level, I have visions of an eventual tell-all book subtitled à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“How I Won American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ And Went Millions Of Dollars Into Debt In the Processà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦.

…or turned to drugs, or suffered from extreme depression, or worse….

à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“How I Won American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ And Went Millions Of Dollars Into Debt In the Processà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦.

Hahaha, exactly. Though I have quite a bit of faith that won’t happen because David Cook has proven himself to be a smart man, and IIRC, there was some old article where a college professor or someone talked about DC being really interested in not just the art of music, but the business aspect of it as well. I think he’s dreaming big and being ambitious, but he won’t be one of those artists that doesn’t realize he’s in deep debt or owes a ton of money in back taxes until it’s too late because he naively left everything to his management, etc. Instead, he’s someone who will dive into debt knowingly! Haha. I kid, I kid. Just like on Idol, DC is a calculated risk taker, I think.

Not to unnecessarily bring up his name again, but for the sake of comparison, does anyone know if Daughtry had a big budget for his first video? Just wondering if ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s perhaps not that unusual if RCA tends to front more for music videos of new-rockers-out-of-AI (hee).

I don’t think that we ever found out the budget for the “It’s Not Over” video. It wasn’t the most expensive video, but it wasn’t the cheapest either. One can see better production values in Daughtry’s later video, but INO did feature a storyline, multiple locations and actors. All of that adds costs. I seem to recall that video had some big name director as well.

That year, Kat was also on RCA and I remember seeing the casting calls for her two videos as well. The first did have a big name director (maybe the second one did as well). Her first video featured a storyline, multiple locations and actors. Her second video was rumoured to have been financed by her Azoff.

Blake also had a video for his first single which I think looked as cheap as cheap can be. Seriously, fans have done better jobs of producing videos that look more sophisticated and professional. Nevertheless, Blake revealed in an interview a few days ago that the video cost $200,000 (for which he was expected to pay back half). Now, it’s possible he was overcharged for that video (*cough*), but that could be an indicator of the costs involved.

People are bringing up debt but isn’t the money for the video part of his prize for winning?

Anyway, I still think that with the two movies as reference, I think it’s about kids leaving home — whether it’s for college, adventure or even prison. And about the example of the cowboy, maybe instead of the Brokeback cattle drives, maybe, the touring of the rodeo would be the leaving/separation part.

The not-at-all small budget that seems is being allocated for the album has me quite concerned when viewed in the context of LO’s for-the-moment lagging sales. We’re at the impact dates, and he’s still hovering in the high fifties on Itunes. I know, I know– rockers sell albums, while popsters sell singles. Well, come the eighteenth of November we’re going to test that theory.

I’ve said many times that the only reason I pay attention to the comparisons with David A. is because of the potential it has to hurt David C. Other than that, I could give a shit about it. I just want this dude to make it, you know?

Being a male fan of someone from AI– and an invested male fan at that– is decidedly odd. Hell, I refused to ever watch the show before this year. But, future mrs. noctem told me in no uncertain terms this year that I WOULD be watching this dumb show with her.

The only analogy I have for the experience of actively rooting for DC’s career is that of an athlete you were a fan of in college that you really hope can be successful in the pros. You just want to know that the guy who you cheered for as an amateur can sustain a career for himself as a professional.

With that in mind, LO’s progress so far is troubling me. It’s getting adds, but so far they’re not translating into sales. If I had to guess, I’d say tomorrow that week #2 sales will be 1/3 or less of what they were in week #1. That was to be expected. But, we’re in week #3 now, and the song is getting more play. Shouldn’t sales be trending back up?

And if they don’t at what point do David and his team cut their losses and get a new single out there? For all the promotion an artists can do, their #1 advertism is still their music. And if the general audience is not responding to his single, then what is their incentive going to be to plunk down cash on his whole album?

People are bringing up debt but isnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t the money for the video part of his prize for winning?

I certainly hope there’s SOME sort of amount that goes toward the record deal (i.e. recoupables), otherwise there’s basically no difference between winner and runner up!

Yeah, I still can’t believe that POS Arista threw together for Blake cost $200k. (Though I remember some of us fans were excited about the director they got for that one too…did some Tori Amos videos, etc.) Imagine how much a label will spend on an artist they actually care about now. :P Well, good for David. And thank goodness for shoe deals. I heard the Skechers ad showed up in People!

The American Graffiti part is easy. The Dazed and Confused part is what’s driving me nuts. Er, paddles?

LO just got added yesterday. It’s not like it’s a magic wand that would make people buy the single. Maybe, in a few days, there’ll be a spike/upward trend but I think expecting a one day miracle is a little too much, even for someone who was ubiquitous on the charts during the season.

With all of the money that is being spent in conjuction with all aspects of this album at every level, I have visions of an eventual tell-all book subtitled à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“How I Won American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ And Went Millions Of Dollars Into Debt In the Processà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦.

à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦or turned to drugs, or suffered from extreme depression, or worseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦.

No. This. Will. Not. Happen. To. David. Cook. No No No. All my hunble opinion, of course! The thoughts have crossed my mind. But he’s been struggling and taking care of his own business for awhile now. He’s smart. He knows his own mind. He’ll keep things under control because he wants to make music for the rest of his life. Or as long as he wants to. I am hoping for the rest of his life, selfishly. If he was gonna turn to drugs or alcohol, wouldn’t he at least have started down that road by this time? Hmmmmmm…seems that prime moments for those things have already passed him by…. Oh I don’t know! All IMO. YMMV.

I like the storyline suggestions here for the video, for the most part. Personally, I’d rather see more of David singing than acting. I’m trying not to worry about single sales or album sales even. I HOPE to hell they both do well for him! All I can do is wait and see. And continue to spend my money on music I like, such as…let’s see…new DAVID COOK. In the meantime, before the album comes out, I do continue to try to get people to listen to him who have not. Hey, they’re missing out! Right? hee.

I have no idea really how financing works for music videos or making records or tours or anything. I hope when all is said and done, a good chunk of it that has been collected because of David Cook ends up in David Cook’s name.

à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦or turned to drugs, or suffered from extreme depression, or worseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦.

No. This. Will. Not. Happen. To. David. Cook. No No No.

Kathryn, that’s me, being sarcastic. I’m all over that “glass is half full” philosophy. :smiley2_tb:

Anyway, I’m sure Andrew is ready to kick his ass if he shows any sign of wasting the opportunity that Andrew handed to him!

But knowing(?) David, his worst critic will always be himself.

The American Graffiti part is easy. The Dazed and Confused part is whatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s driving me nuts. Er, paddles?

Mayb e, the reference is to timeline, rather than story, since both seem to have the shenanigans of the last day of school/worry for the future in it. Also, I was reading through teh comments when a thought hit me — maybe, the reference to D&C is the drug aspect — maybe, instead of a literal going away from home (like going to war or finding work), as speculated, one of the stories is about maybe, the quarterback going to rehab or something.

The not-at-all small budget that seems is being allocated for the album has me quite concerned when viewed in the context of LOà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s for-the-moment lagging sales. Weà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re at the impact dates, and heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s still hovering in the high fifties on Itunes. I know, I knowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ rockers sell albums, while popsters sell singles. Well, come the eighteenth of November weà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re going to test that theory.

Well, presumably RCA knows how many pre-orders Amazon has gotten thus far since they have to ship them to Amazon a short time before Nov. 18th. And I figured they’re also extrapolating how many more CDs they’ll sell come the holiday season if they use some average of the Season 1-6 Idols’ first album releases. IDK *shrug* I figured at this point no one’s throwing good money after bad if they have some numbers they can hang their hat on. (ETA: As an interesting factoid, I recall looking up where Cook’s pre-orders stood on the Amazon charts back in early September and saw that it was either just ahead of or just behind Jennifer Hudson’s album — and this was several months after the AI finale while JHud’s upcoming album release was at the time getting quite a bit of pimpage in the media. As we now know, JHud had a not-bad debut at #2 when her album finally dropped.)

As for the “at-the-moment lagging sales” for LO, I’m not sure I quite agree with that given that adds only started yesterday for HAC and started for Top 40 and Rock stations today. I really don’t think you can make a judgment on airplay-generated sales just yet given that airplay takes a bit of time to build.

Yeah…when I hear a new song on the radio, even if I like it a lot at first listen, it takes a few weeks to “sink in” to the point where I want to go buy it.

No matter what though, airplay is key. So I’m glad to see that it’s keeping up with the likes of Nickelback and Justin/Rihanna (!) in terms of Top 40 radio adds this week…and even a real live ROCK station picked it up…in Chicago no less!

Here in my town it can be really slow when it comes to new songs (except Rihanna’s Song of the Month). For Archie’s sake, I haven’t even heard Crush yet, and that came out what, August? So it might be a while yet for me.

I think it’s probably best if he doesn’t do any acting in the video… I just hope we get a smile or a laugh from him.

à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦cowboys?

Maybe that is David’s idea. He did live in Tulsa for a couple of years and we have lot’s of k’boys here. :lol_wp:

Some are leaving the next day for college, the army etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦

Interesting very interesting.

It would make perfect sense because the song reminds me of a soldier leaving for a tour of duty. Yep perfect soldier’s song. Gwen?

With that in mind, LOà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s progress so far is troubling me. Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s getting adds, but so far theyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re not translating into sales. If I had to guess, Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d say tomorrow that week #2 sales will be 1/3 or less of what they were in week #1. That was to be expected. But, weà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re in week #3 now, and the song is getting more play. Shouldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t sales be trending back up?

Something to compare it to: Love Lockdown by Kanye West opened big and then faded to the middle of the iTunes charts. Now, that it’s been added to radio, it’s climbing back up the chart.
Now, LO just went for adds today and the press has just begun. LO still has a chance to catch on with the ‘not-obsessed-with-david-cook’ crowd. It just has to be heard by the masses.
Clearly, I’m in the obsessed crowd…and loving it. :)

I don’t know how the non obsessed fans can get to love Light On if the blasted radio stations don’t play it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the song. It is better than most of the stuff being played. He has a ready made audience just waiting to hear it. What is wrong with the knuckle heads who make decisions about play lists. There was a reason that David Cook received 54 million votes on AI. He is hot, personable, and talented. That is going to transfer to the video as well. I just wish there was more I could personally do as a fan to get it more air time.

Shari,

I posted the new station adds in the album cover thread here.