John Mayer just dropped a video for his summer bop “New Light,” but it’s not your typical pop star production.
Mayer claims it was actually produced by one of those chintzy “you could be a star!” music video services, saying this: “I needed to make a video for ‘New Light’ but nobody could agree on a budget, so I went to a place downtown and made this with a company that usually does birthday and Bar Mitzvah videos.” The results certainly live up to that description, with Mayer romping through premade green-screen filters in pajama pants and a ratty purple hoodie.
It’s just another example of a music video going for a tacky green-screened method to comic effect, whether intentional or unintentional. Here are eight other music videos that took the plunge with green screen, for better or worse.
Hanson’s “MMMBop” Shoots for the Moon, Literally
The Tulsa, Oklahoma, pop-rockers have had a weirdly resonating career from the infectious 1997 hit “MMMBop” — the band still plays it worldwide to this day. The accompanying video sends the boys, who were all between 11 and 16 at the time, to the 1969 moon landing to the sunny surf and back. Like all of Hasselhoff’s cinematic career, it’s a great example of just using every visual filter you can grab.