BUG
The evolution of music video
BUG 01, Thursday 26th April 2007, 8:45pm, BFI Southbank
Download these notes as a PDF document, as distributed at the event
Welcome to BUG, a new regular showcase of the best new work in the medium of music video at the BFI Southbank.
BUG picks up where Antenna, the BFI Southbank's previous hugely popular music video strand, left off. More or less. The purpose of BUG is to bring the most creative, innovative and groundbreaking work in music videos to the place that does it best justice – on the big screen.
But in the strongly held belief that the best music videos are always inspired directly by the music, sometimes BUG may also champion work not for its intrinsic originality, but just because it works so brilliantly with the soundtrack.
And BUG is subtitled The Evolution of Music Video, because it will also attempt to highlight new trends and phenomena in a period of extraordinary change for the medium (as it is for broadcasting in general). We'll be exploring the explosion of creativity and new aesthetics that has come with the proliferation of new technologies, from DV to Final Cut to YouTube.
So in the first ever BUG, presented by the one and only Adam Buxton, we bring you a look at one aspect of the user-generated content phenomenon, with special reference to videos; there's also a focus on a vibrant movement of audio-visual creativity occurring in London these past few months; and lots more outstanding videos too. Adamwill be joined by James Mullighan from filmmakers' website Shooting People to discuss the explosion of music video competitions, in which music artists invite their fans and/or filmmakers-to-be to make music videos for them, and review some of the more successful results.
Adam will also guide us into the world of the 'artrocker' video, where a wave of young directors have been making distinctive, exciting and even era-defining videos for a bunch of exciting new bands, including Klaxons, Good Shoes, The Noisettes and The Horrors.
The directors – including Saam, Nima Nourizadeh, Kinga Burza, Ollie Evans and Dan Lowe – are all based at production company Partizan in London. So why has this outfit become such a fulcrum of hipness? Adam will be finding out – with the help of the directors above, and their directors rep Sasha Nixon, and we'll be showing a selection of Partizan/artrocker work, including a 'greatest hits' edit, Saam's seminal video for Klaxons' Golden Skans, Dan Wolfe's clip for The Horrors' Gloves, and an exclusive showing of Nima's new video for Jamie T.
But firstly, we have three videos, all from up-and-coming American directors, and all for pioneering Sheffield dance label Warp Records: Battles' Atlas is directed by Timothy Saccenti, a successful New York-based photographer who is now branching out into directing, and on this evidence has a great future.
Clark's Ted is from Arvind Palep at 1st Avenue Machine, a New York-based computer animation collective, and features some of the best 3D work seen in a while (and the subject matter made it a shoo-in for BUG 01); and then there's Grizzly Bear's Knife by Encyclopedia Pictura, the San-Francisco-based directing duo, Isaiah Saxon and Sean Hellfrisch. And if you haven't seen this before prepare to be astounded (and possibly confused).
This is followed by a group of videos of contrasting styles. Everyone Everywhere is actually not a conventional video at all, but an extraordinary mash-up of both sound and animation styles – the soundtrack coming from tracks from noisecore label Cock Rock Disco, the visuals by German animators Markus Feder and Martin Sulzer.
It's followed by a real gem: a no-budget personal project by one of the UK's best and most experienced video directors, WIZ, for Lisa Lindley-Jones. It's a beautiful exercise in classic filmmaking. Then there's Willowz's Jubilee by Toben Seymour, another new American talent. This is hypnotic, with a real 'how did he do that' quality. And The Little Ones' Oh MJ by Terri Timely – another directing duo from San Francisco – has such an uplifting quality we just had to include it.
Tracey Thorn's It's All True marks a welcome return of the Everything But The Girl singer, and also directors Si & Ad's return to music videos with a piece that really was made to be seen in a large format. Modest Mouse's Dashboard, directed by Mathew Cullen and Grady Hall, has a literary flavour, drawing on the classic tales like the Ancient Mariner and Moby Dick, and dazzling visual effects.
Dizzee Rascal's Sirens, the second video of the evening by WIZ, draws on several traditions, including social realism and fantasy/horror, to create something unforgettable. And we end with Seventeen Evergreen – and more magic surrealism from Encyclopedia Pictura.
Fasten your seatbelts (but go to the loo first).
David Knight
| Artist | Title | Direction | Production company | Record company | Nationality | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battles | Atlas | Timothy Saccenti | Timothy Saccenti Photography | Warp Records | United Kingdom | 4:08 |
| Clark | Ted | Arvind Palep | 1st Avenue Machine/Passion Pictures | Warp Records | United Kingdom | 1:49 |
| Grizzly Bear | Knife | Encyclopedia Pictura | Ghost Robot | Warp Records | United States | 5:43 |
| Cock Rock Disco | Everyone Everywhere | Markus Feder & Martin Sulzer | The Landjugend | Cock Rock Disco | Germany | 3:55 |
| Lisa Lindley-Jones | Stepback | WIZ | Factory Films | Eye Industries | United Kingdom | 3:30 |
| Willowz | Jubilee | Toben Seymour | Commondeer | Dim Mak | United States | 3:10 |
| Klaxons | Golden Skans | Saam | Partizan | Polydor | United Kingdom | 3:37 |
| The Horrors | Gloves | Daniel Wolfe | Partizan | Polydor | United Kingdom | 2:49 |
| Jamie T | Salvador | Nima Nourizadeh | Partizan | Virgin Records | United Kingdom | 3:48 |
| The Little Ones | Oh MJ | Terri Timely | Merge@Crossroads | Heavenly Recordings | United States | 3:52 |
| Tracy Thorn | It's All True | Si & Ad | Academy | Virgin Records | United Kingdom | 3:15 |
| Robbie Williams | 12,50 Pounds | Nahuel Lerena & Paula Alvarez Vaccaro | United Kingdom | 4:18 | ||
| Four Tet | A Joy (Remix) | Rino Tagliafierro | Italy | 3:13 | ||
| Modest Mouse | Dashboard | Mathew Cullen & Grady Hall | Motion Theory | Sony BMG | United States | 4:12 |
| Dizzee Rascal | Sirens | WIZ | Factory Films | XL Recordings | United Kingdom | 3:44 |
| Seventeen Evergreen | Haven't Been Yourself | Encyclopedia Pictura | Ghost Robot | Lucky Number Music | United States | 3:59 |