Music Video
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Music Video: KVB’s “Hands,” Directed by Alix Lambert
Filmmaker — and occasional Filmmaker contributor — Alix Lambert (The Mark of Cain, Bayou Blue) recently directed three dreamy, color-drenched music videos for the band KVB. Using a similar approach to performance footage but layering different imagery for each track, the three songs — “Captives,” “Hands” and “Shadows” form a loose trilogy. From the InCase/Room 205 site: While on a recent tour of the Western United States, London-based The KVB moved heaven and earth to make this wonderfully meditative 3-part episode possible. Working with award-winning documentary filmmaker Alix Lambert (The Mark of Cain), cinematographer Conor Simpson, engineer Griffin Rodriguez and […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 9, 2013 -
Production Design on a Budget
On small budget productions, coming up with locations can be a challenge – especially if you need something a bit unusual. An upcoming music video for the band Run 8 Rider required that a single location represent three different time periods to tell its story. Using a borrowed house as the location, director Sean Meehan turned to production designer Riley Fearon to supervise the transformation of the location. In this interview Riley talks about the challenges of working on a small budget, how he approaches production design, and how he came to the field. Filmmaker: For this project what have […]
by Michael Murie on Mar 18, 2013 -
Music Video: David Bowie’s The Stars Are Out Tonight, Directed by Floria Sigismondi
David Bowie and Tilda Swinton star as a retiring couple assaulted — literally — by vampiric celebrity culture in the latest from David Bowie. It’s directed by Floria Sigismondi, who is in fine form with this electrifyingly creepy clip. With the new Bowie album due out in a few weeks, you may have seen its wildposting campaign, in which its title, “The Next Day” is superimposed over a variety of advertising images. On its blog, CPH:DOX, which has paid homage to Bowie by naming an entire section after one of his songs (“Sound and Vision”), notes their own use of the same […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 27, 2013 -
Getting the Shot: Scenes from the Making of the Music Video, “Ready or Not”
In a previous article (An Afternoon Music Video Shoot with the Canon C300) I documented a day shooting scenes for a new music video for the band Air Traffic Controller. The completed video, as well as a making-of piece have now been posted. Director/DP/Editor Rick Macomber explained that he decided to do this video after seeing Dave Munro from ATC perform the song acoustically. Said Rick “I was listening to the lyrics and I knew how close the song was to Dave’s personal life and it touched me. So when he came to me and asked which song I would […]
by Michael Murie on Jan 21, 2013 -
David Bowie Returns with a New Single and a Tony Oursler Video
After the pleasant shock of learning that there’s a new David Bowie single — a beautiful, Berlin-referencing melancholic ballad reminiscent of his Thin White Duke days — I was even more thrilled to see that the accompanying video is directed by one of my favorite artists, Tony Oursler. Check out the song and the video above.
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 8, 2013 -
An Afternoon Music Video Shoot with the Canon C300
It’s a late fall Sunday afternoon and Rick Macomber is setting up his Canon C300 on a bridge near Harvard Square to shoot some inserts for a music video. The video is for the band Air Traffic Controller, and the plan today is to shoot two sequences of a couple that illustrate “happier times” in their relationship. Rick will first be shooting them crossing the bridge, and then they’ll move to Harvard Square to shoot some additional scenes. With his production company Macomber Productions Rick has been shooting music, promotional and wedding videos since 1995 and has been using DSLRs […]
by Michael Murie on Dec 31, 2012 -
MUSIC VIDEO: “A FAKE HELLO”
Factory 25 maestro Matt Grady appears here in his other guise as music video director with this witty clip for the band Young Fresh Fellows. The video features director Onur Tukel and actress Jennifer Prediger and shows you how much mileage you can get from a simple prop — in this case, a smiley-face flat-screen TV.
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 21, 2012 -
MUSIC VIDEO WATCH: ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS, TOM WAITS
It’s rare that one week brings not one but two ambitiously cinematic, outside-the-box music videos. The first is “Cut the World,” from Antony and the Johnsons and directed by Nabil. Starring Willem Dafoe, Carice Van Houten and Marina Abramovic, it starts out like a bittersweet tale of office longing… and then turns into something else. From Tom Waits and ’80s music video superstar director Matt Mahurin is “Hell Broke Luce,” which Waits describes as picturing “an enlightened drill sergeant yelling the hard truths of war to a brand new batch of recruits. The video grew from the gnawing image of […]
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 8, 2012 -
MUSIC VIDEO: “PERFECT VISION,” BY ICKY BLOSSOMS
Producer Tory Lenosky passed on this new music video directed by filmmaker Nik Fackler (Lovely Still) with his Icky Blossoms band members Derek Pressnall (Tilly and the Wall) and Sarah Bohling. Two gorgeous actors, lovely black-and-white photography, and one very trashed set. From Fackler and the band: “We were dealing with a 6 1/2 minute long song. We had to keep things interesting. So it made the most sense for us to direct a short film and approach the video as such. We wanted the quality of it to be that of any film you would see in theaters. Coming […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jul 14, 2012 -
MUSIC VIDEO: “EVERYTHING CHANGES,” EYTAN AND THE EMBASSY
New Brooklyn-based production company Modern Mythology has scored a viral hit with their inventive video for “Everything Changes,” from Eytan and the Embassy. As the Wall St. Journal reports, the video has nabbed the title of “most costume changes in an unedited music video” by Recordsetter.com, a site promising that everyone can be the best at something. What’s great about the video is that, unlike many clips, the costume changes aren’t just for visual variety; instead, they narrate the history of rock and pop music. From the Wall St. Journal: Filmed in Williamsburg in video director Joe Pickard’s apartment in […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jul 5, 2012
