The Quay Brother's "Stille Nacht" series is their more commercial work, though one without that knowledge would be hard pressed to see what makes these works any different stylistically and thematically from their "independant" works. This one, Stille Nacht II (or "Are We Still Married" after the song by His Name is Alive) is basically a music video, utilizing some repeated elements from Stille Nacht I.
This short is kind of interesting to look at because it shows what can be done with music videos besides making them three-minute commercials for the band's own song you're already currently hearing. It's use is so effective that the style has been used by the band Tool (of which I am a fan) in their own stunningly claustrophobic stop-motion animation.
However, later inspirations aside, the Brothers Quay unique mise-en-scene sticks out. A sort of Alice in Wonderland characterization changes pace completely into a rabbit that interacts with a ball that came from a woman's tear. Rather than creating the "Tortured soul" effect of a Tool music video, the Brothers Quay entrap the audience into the song itself, from a band I'm not actually familiar with, but which seems to sing about the decay of relationships even as the track itself sounds like it's decaying on an old cassette tape.
--PolarisDiB
This short is kind of interesting to look at because it shows what can be done with music videos besides making them three-minute commercials for the band's own song you're already currently hearing. It's use is so effective that the style has been used by the band Tool (of which I am a fan) in their own stunningly claustrophobic stop-motion animation.
However, later inspirations aside, the Brothers Quay unique mise-en-scene sticks out. A sort of Alice in Wonderland characterization changes pace completely into a rabbit that interacts with a ball that came from a woman's tear. Rather than creating the "Tortured soul" effect of a Tool music video, the Brothers Quay entrap the audience into the song itself, from a band I'm not actually familiar with, but which seems to sing about the decay of relationships even as the track itself sounds like it's decaying on an old cassette tape.
--PolarisDiB