These are all clever artifices meant to make you forget that the brand's only concern is that you spend money.
It turns out to be a name -- Thorne -- whose meaning, disclosed in the end (but not here) is more than clever; it is an artifice, yes, but with the thrum of credibility, adding a satisfying layer of resonance to the elusiveness-of-truth theme.
Other than some striking widescreen shots of South Dakota and a persistent and impassioned score, there is very little stylistic artifice here: no clever camera trickery or exclusive exposés.
Finally, both Appellants and amici argue that the Aereo technology is an "artifice" or some clever attempt to get around copyright law.
This is clever, sophisticated stuff that disarmingly flaunts its lack of artifice.
It's clever and witty, if at times a bit arch, particularly when Barlow starts employing the artifices and mechanics of Elizabethan theatre itself.
Among the tensions: those "between industry and the underground, between artifice and authenticity, between the adventurers and the curators, between rock and pop, between dumb and clever, and between boys and girls".
