This classic video is still a milestone to today’s music videos. Its merge of cartoon to live-action taking on a quality previously unseen, and which feature film Roger Rabbit fully indulged on to just the same level of success – captivating brilliance, though A-Ha is less on the humorous side and more on the crime/action/romance of a very short film.
Take On Me tells the story of girl meets boy (comic-book boy that is) when reading her graphic novel. Noticing the racing-driver/hero is alive and inviting her into his world, she steps inside and from here they take turns being in pencilled-sketches to live-action. Slowly, ahem quickly that is, they start to fall in love and it all looks like a happily-ever-after, till suddenly the bad guys – disgruntled racers from the comic-book – are after them. This beloved cult-classic of a video reaching its peak of perfection when a dramatic shift in the keys – to the tune of danger – signal that not only is someone destroying the comic book, but that the bad guys are closing in, and all with our loved-up duo stuck inside!!
The A-Ha graphic/comic book imagery was produced by using rotoscoping illustration – where animators trace over live-action footage. It was a painful process that took around four months to produce, as they worked frame by frame. Directed by Steve Barron, the song used was the second version of A-Ha’s Take On Me (not including a remix), the first being released in 1984 with less fanfare than the second, which would ultimately go to number one in the US, while the video would remain one of MTV’s most played. However, Barron’s directed Take On Me was also the second video to be made for the song, and is often credited as to the reason for its eventual success – hitting number one in multiple countries worldwide.
Its synth-pop sound, electric keyboard and high octave key changes make it a prime example of 80’s pop-music, its sound and video just as popular today as ever with A-ha’s Take On Me having over one billion views on YouTube.
Other songs by A-ha we love:
- Summer Moved On (2000 – Summer Moved On [EP])
- The Living Daylights (1988 – Stay On These Roads)
- Cry Wolf (1986 – Scoundrel Days)
- The Sun Always Shines on T.V. (1985 – Hunting High and Low)
Other artists you might like:
- Alphaville
- Duran Duran
- Tears For Fears
