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Writer's pictureFrederik Wolfe

Pentathlon 1 Semester 2: Stop Making Sense


Date: 2/6/2021

Logistics: Youtube -- "Stop Making Sense: The Talking Heads"


For my first pentathlon of the second semester, I decided to watch the 1984 concept film featuring a live performance from the band "The Talking Heads."

I chose this because it is usually described as one of the best band documentaries of all time. I'm also a fan of the Talking Head's music so it seemed like something that would be really interesting to watch.

One element that really stood out to me was the way that David Byrnes's suit kept getting bigger throughout the show. Until eventually it was just a comically large suit that he just looked like a tiny head peeking out of.

I decided to look more into this suit and found out why Byrnes had included it. He said that he was told by one of his friends that "everything is bigger on stage." Byrnes said that "He was referring to gestures and all that, but I applied the idea to a businessman's suit...I wanted my head to appear smaller and the easiest way to do that was to make my body bigger, because music is very physical and often the body understands it before the head."

The music is infectious and it was a really entertaining watch. It was humorous and lively. It is a masterful demonstration of the live show, even through the recording I was able to get really into the music.

The cinematography is really dynamic and shows lots of interesting angle. While I was watching I would pause randomly and every time there would be a beautiful still with an engaging composition.

Overall a really enjoyable experience.


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