Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Director David Fincher on Madonna's Oh Father and Vogue

I had kinda talked Madonna into releasing "Oh Father" as a single and we did this video and we were very happy with the video and nobody ever saw it because the song wasn't a hit so she came back to me and said, "You screwed me up. You wanted to make this video for the song and no one liked the song and I went to bat for you and now I have to make a video by Tuesday." And I said, "What's the song called?" And she said, "'Vogue'." And I said, "Okay, we'll get a bunch of stuff together and we'll make a video on Tuesday."

It was one of those things where the DP, Pascal Lebegue, who's brilliant, literally showed up off the plane with his light meter and it was semi-pre-lit and he walked in and said, "This, this, this, this," and we shot the video for like 16 hours and we were done, that was it, she got on the plane and went on her world tour. We cut this thing together as quickly as we could.

25 comments:

  1. This is funny. I was always surprised she released "Oh, Father" as a single, even though the video is phenomenal.

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  2. Amazing story and Fincher is a fantastic director. Did most of Paula Abdul's videos and those were visual treats as well. Proof that good things don't take too long sometimes to do 'Vogue' video.

    Would love him to do another Madonna video, but he won't. He is a big time movie director now.

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  3. you wouldn't have guessed the vogue video was thrown together. and to think the single was inteded as a b-side. everything about that song was haphazard yet it's destiny was to be a hit. and in my top 5 fo sho.

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  4. have been researching old disco lately and came across this track that vogue samples - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjCXK_sXArM, and you know those horns are real ♥

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  5. Things happen for a reason :) The so-called "failure" of the chart performance of this song led to their Vogue collaboration which was AMAZING. Plus whatever financial disappointment this song and video were are outweighed by the tremendous amount of artistic integrity and respect that this video garnered for the both of them. This video and song have aged gracefully through the years and will always stand out as great art! Great art is not respected in it's time. I guarantee you Madonna does not feel the same about this piece of art now :-)

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  6. Of course not. She didn't even put the video on the Celebration DVD's. :P

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  7. Oh Father is my very favorite Madonna video EVER. No the song didn't do very well on the charts, but WE got a perfect video for a beautiful song.

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  8. Totally agree with everyone.
    Amazing video and one of her best even to this day.

    @Tony
    I miss the good ole' Paula Abdul days. :(

    xoxo
    http://themadgestycollection.blogspot.com/

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  9. I'm not sure I understand the timeline. If the record company pressured her to film another video because of the flop, wouldn't it have been for Keep It Together?
    Whatever. I guess what matters is that we got 2 masterpieces in a row!

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  10. I'm surprised Madonna didn't care for the video, it's one of the most artistic she's released. Also, "Oh Father" is a beautiful ballad. Back then, Madonna produced real music, with deep lyrics. Today's Madonna is too preoccupied with producing a hit and releases disposable junk (Hard Candy, and the upcoming "Give me all your love")

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  11. Oh Father is gorgeous video! No question. Id say it was more alternative autobiographical Madonna had been to date. There was a lot of Madonna mania and exposure at the time so i was not surprised the song did not chart well.
    I love the sequence of Oh Father and Live to tell performed live in BA.

    To DF comments I bet Madonna was such a little cunt to him. Rumor has it that they were fucking. In fact i know for sure. So there!
    On a side note I saw Girl with Dragon Tat. didn't love it. It was filmed well but the original 3 part movies were more suspenseful and the books.

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  12. its so powerful, just watched it again. squish squish. like steven klein, finchers best work is done with madonna and brad pitt.

    madonna loved the video. he pushed for it to be a single, she had to fight for that with warners.

    wintryx - what a waste of space on earth, like gaga.

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  13. oh yeah and i always loved how oh father - the video - combined three songs from the like a prayer album into one. till death do us part, promise to try and oh father.

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  14. I don't get the timeline either. She finished the video, got on a plane and went on tour - for which she must 've been rehearsing for months - and Vogue was one of the big finale songs on that tour.
    Anyway, Oh Father is definitely one of my all time favorite songs because I think it's one of her best lyricwise, right up there with Live To Tell.
    And I always liked the video, never noticed it wasn't a big hit actually...

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  15. I was 11 when it came out and it was all over MTV so it was a big hit to many of us. Radio doesn't always tell us what a big hit is and isn't. Well, at least back then it didn't.

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  16. This might be the video where David starts to explore his dark side. I remember being shocked at seeing the Father yell so HARSHLY at his Little Girl, the sewn Mouth on the Dead Mother, the physical abuse. And the Shadows on the wall at the end of the video of their former selves juxtaposed with their older present day selves. Brilliant. Genius. Everything about it. No wonder David is quoted as saying "Madonna is my Sistine Chapel." Genius working with Genius. Breathtaking!

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  17. oh father is one of my favourite madonna songs and videos!!
    wintryx gimme all your luvin lyrics are not as shallow as you think :)

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  18. pink singing oh father at a school concert, age 11

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HhkNsLzcfg

    1min35sec in

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  19. Piggy nose. Me think she is okay, but Aussies love her for some reason.

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  20. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  21. she's got a piggy nose? and you felt compelled to state that? who's negative now? screw you, tony.

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  22. Because you predictably like P!nk when she is big is Australia and you are Australian, right? And yes, she does have a pig nose. Nothing wrong with that.

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  23. Oh Father and Vogue-one sad, one happy. Two sides of Madonna, brilliantly done

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  24. "Oh Father" is a great song, but not one I would've released as a single. I was a little surprised when that was released as it's not a radio friendly song. This is evident in that it was the first Madonna single to not chart the Top 10 since "Lucky Star" and since her worldwide success as as a top "single" charter. "Til Death Do Us Part" or "Spanish Eyes" might've fared better.

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