What exactly is “Exquisite”? – Lyrical video of “Exquisite Machine”

This lyrical video was enjoyable to make, because it was not as hard to synchronize as others had been (since it is an easy 4/4 beat at 110 bpm), and because there were a lot of options for depicting the themes of the song.

When you get down to it, how do you express two opposing ideas, in imagery? Exquisite Machine started on an A.I. music-generating platform, Exquisite Forest Theme, but ended up as something entirely my own. It still has a few notes of the original machine-generated melody in it, but was more about what I thought was beautiful Ear Candy (like eye candy but for ears).

As for the other word, the term “exquisite” – meaning extremely beautiful, delicate and intensely felt – describes the human elements in the song, the virtual vocalists and musicians. According the the designers of The Exquisite Forest app, DinahMoe Labs, their melody is exquisite as well. It is certainly a pretty thing to listen to.

So this is what the video contains: beautiful faces, beautiful dancers; some in astronaut helmets, some against flashing backdrops that look like data scrolling down, like in the first Matrix film, or nodes in a network, or lit by the strange lights like from outer space. And every so often a closeup of a lovely face, or a particularly sensual dance move.

I often wondered, while making this, who these talented dancers are. Since I use Pexels.com clips, their names are not given. But when you sit for hours, taking apart a clip second by second, every wrong movement, every twitch of a smile or flicker of an eye becomes obvious. Some dancers do not so much dance as make poses. Some start or end a movement awkwardly, or seem reluctant to get going. The dancers in this video perform developed routines, precisely and elegantly. They have beautiful expressions in their eyes.

It’s my pleasure to present to you the lyrical video of Exquisite Machine, with audio mixed and mastered by Chris Perry.