Exploring the latest video wizardry, com- mercial music clips are packed with eye- catching trends and dazzling techniques. The Cas “You Might Think” ip, co-tectod by Jett Sein and Charter, brought video- fyntbenzer eects tothe furetont.Now ain’t that clever, Martha—black-and- white animation mixed with live action and a whole mess of, wha’chacallit, surrealism. But you know, Martha, this is "way too racy for the Kids. Just look at that little bimbo with the weird hair and the tight black dress and her garter showing. And those lyrics! “I'll be glad When you're dead!"* Y'know, hon, the Hays Office should look at this, And so the Hays Office did. In 1934, the movie-industry censorship board cut out Betty Boop’s heart, and stopped the Fleischer Studios from producing any more such evil “‘song-car- toons” as “I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You,” starring Betty and a live-ac- tion Louie Armstrong. No one could have fig- ured that so many of the same stylistic and design elements would still be in play—and still enraging folks—half a century later. ‘Music “*video"” design hasn't changed much from the days of Busby Berkeley's Gold Dig- gers or Walt Disney's "*Fantasia.”” The touch: stones are the same: cutting to the beat, working within the television or movie frame. and using surreal symbolism and time/place displacement. Most music ‘*video" stil isn’t even shot on video, but on film; the term is a misnomer. And while current technology does affect design specifies, music-clip creators are today resolving problems that began long before the Beatles’ movie ‘A Hard Day's Night” launched the rock video era in 1964. Or are they? “I doubt that five percent of all music video directors think or care about de- sign,”’ says Amy Taubin, video curator at New York City performance center The Kitchen, “Most of them are satisfied with swiping from 1920s surrealist movies. They don’t want to ‘come up with anything new; they’re just trying to sell records,"” she adds. Despite this bottom line, design ultimately insinuates itself on to every screen—it’s una. voidable. Clip creators have to make design en if these choices seem secondary p be in black-and-white or color? choices, Should a