BUG
The evolution of music video
BUG 06, Thursday 27th March 2008, 8:45pm, BFI Southbank
Download these notes as a PDF document, as distributed at the event
BUG is back with another new collection of exceptionally creative music videos from around the world, and once again we are breaking new ground. It includes some of the big names of rock, pop and hip-hop, whom some of you may never have heard of, and tonight's work originates from Canada, Belgium, France, Germany, the US and the UK. This time around there is horror, history, comedy, fantasy and a very special and exclusive presentation of a brilliant new video in 3D.
We start with the brand new video for British cartoon-pop sensations The Hoosiers by Phil Sansom and Olly Williams aka Diamond Dogs who were Adam's special guests at BUG 05. Diamond Dogs have just finished their third and most ambitious work yet for the band's annoyingly catchy 'Cops And Robbers' a Dickensian musical extravaganza with the band as a trio of Artful Dodgers and a cast of what looks like thousands (including a fair number of the Dogs' friends from the music video-making trade). It's on an unusually grand scale in the modern era of music videos, so it should look great on the big screen.
Next comes the latest offering from the inventive visual campaign accompanying Arcade Fire's acclaimed album Neon Bible. When it was released, Arcade Fire announced they were not commissioning videos, but they soon attracted spec-cum-bootleg videos anyway. Then the band commissioned a completely interactive web video for the track 'Neon Bible'. Now we have the video for 'Black Mirror', which also comes in an interactive version, but also functions as a stand-alone conventional video. Directed by Montreal-based Olivier Groulx and Tracy Maurice the art director of the 'Neon Bible' album cover it recreates the spirit of the original Surrealist cinema of Dalí and Buñuel, with elements of Maurice's album's artwork.
By way of contrast, German director Uwe Flade's video for Kenneth Bager (featuring Hellerup Cool School Choir and Hans Ulrich) offers a window on a different but quite real world. Flade specialises in videos and commercials that are big on post visual effects, but here they are all in-camera. Shot in Hanoi in Vietnam, it features numerous locals demonstrating the versatility of their mostly two-wheeled modes of transport.
Next comes a short piece for musician/sound designer Michael Fakesch from Hamburg-based design/direction outfit Giraffentoast, with absorbing visuals that slip between live action and CGI, featuring the eponymous and amorphous 'Blackbird.' Talking of birds, the video for TV on the Radio's 'Me-I' manages the almost impossible task of making something fantastic with someone in a bird suit. And other people dressed as trees. It's an appropriately dreamlike tale of a bird who is having trouble with his dreams. Brooklyn-based directors Mixtape Club and Daniel Garcia did such a weird, wacky and wonderful job with this video that it won best music video prize at the film festival section of this year's South By South West festival a few days ago.
From dreams to nightmares. Next is a new video for the new spin-off outfit of notorious Brazilian ultra-heavy metal outfit Sepultura called Cavalera Conspiracy and this one comes with a health warning. Directed by Jeremie Rozan and Martial Schmeltz, the French duo probably best known for the Justice vs Simian video for 'We Are Your Friends', this is pure modern monster horror and not for the fainthearted. And neither is the music. It's probably the most terrifying video yet shown at BUG at least until a bit later on...
Then we come to this evening's special feature: Adam talks to two young directors who are making some of the most creative music videos produced in London right now, in the teeth of the new reality of British music video production Henry Scholfield and James Copeman. Scholfield has directed videos for Scouting for Girls and Lil' Chris, and several for Example and we'll be showing his latest inventive and entertaining clip for Fulham's funniest rapper. Meanwhile, James Copeman has shot videos for Noah And The Whale and Laura Marling mostly on Super 8mm and we'll be showing his recent acclaimed video for Mystery Jets (featuring Laura Marling) and also presenting an exclusive of his brand new video for Noah And The Whale, where they embrace the exciting world of Mexican wrestling (in a very lo-fi way).
Then we resume our journey towards tonight's exciting climax with a burst of life-affirming garage rock, and another barrage of gore this time courtesy of Belgian director Toon Aerts. Toon is a successful Belgian commercials director, but his very occasional forays into music videos includes two videos for the fabulously-titled Belgian rock group El Guapo Stuntteam that both explore familiar horror storylines. Blessed with the fact the band include Captain Catastrophe, who enacts fire-related stunts on stage while they play, the director has created a low-budget Evil Dead-style horror for 'Back from the Grave', that's utterly spectacular.
Next comes Kanye West's 'Flashing Lights', directed by the artist himself with the not insubstantial help of Spike Jonze. The self-confident hip-hop star did make another video for this standout track from his latest album with Martin de Thurah. Hopefully we'll be able to show that excellent piece of work at a later date. But in the meantime, this piece of modern film noir which is also something of a curio, as it falls somewhere between a teaser and a full promo maintains the rather grisly nature of some of the videos this evening.
To lighten the mood we follow that with BUG's first 'fan' video. The video is for cult US outfit Spoon, and the fan is our very own Adam Buxton, who directs and stars in his impressive and relentlessly literal take on the band's 'Don't Make Me a Target'. And it's another exclusive of course.
Then comes MGMT's 'Time to Pretend', the extraordinary debut video by Ray Tintori for the new American darlings of indie rock. Tintori is a precocious filmmaker from Brooklyn whose graduation short film was shown and commended at Sundance last year. He also went to college with MGMT and having shot lots of footage of the band, including during the recording of their album, the video for 'Time To Pretend' emerged, a Jodorowsky-inspired counterpoint to this 'live fast die young' anthem with seriously lo-fi and retro video effects.
Finally the climax of our show: it's a video that's been in the making for nearly a year, it's about seven minutes long and it's in 3D. Yes, it's the long-awaited, much anticipated collaboration between Björk, and Encyclopedia Pictura, the directing team from Santa Cruz, California, whose groundbreaking videos for Seventeen Evergreen and Grizzly Bear featured in our very first BUG last April. The video for 'Wanderlust', is a remarkable Himalayan-set epic. It was made in 3D, and we are showing it tonight in a special anaglyph 3D version so it can be viewed in NFT1 with the traditional 3D glasses. It's going to be great...
David Knight
| Artist | Title | Direction | Production company | Record company | Nationality | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BUG | Title sequence megamix | Model Robot | Model Robot | United Kingdom | ||
| The Hoosiers | Cops And Robbers | Diamond Dogs | HSI London | Sony BMG | United Kingdom | |
| Arcade Fire | Black Mirror | Olivier Groulx & Tracy Maurice | 1976 Productions | Sonovox | Canada | |
| Kenneth Bager | The Sound Of Swing | Uwe Flade | Qfilm | Music For Dreams | Germany | |
| Michael Fakesch | Blackbird | Giraffentoast | Giraffentoast | !K7 | Germany | |
| TV On The Radio | Me-I | Mixtape Club & Daniel Garcia | SuperFi | 4AD | United Kingdom | |
| Cavalera Conspiracy | Sanctuary | Rozan & Schmeltz | Partizan | Roadrunner Records | France | |
| Mystery Jets featuring Laura Marling | Young Love | James Copeman | Atlantic Records | United Kingdom | ||
| Example | Me And Mandy | Henry Scholman | Partizan | All The Chat | United Kingdom | |
| Noah And The Whale | Shape Of My Heart | James Copeman | Mercury Records | United Kingdom | ||
| El Guapo Stuntteam | Back From The Grave | Toon Aerts (of Czar Films) | Scum Productions | Belgium | ||
| Kanye West | Flashing Lights | Spike Jonze (of MJZ) & Kanye West | Island Def Jam | USA | ||
| Spoon | Don't Make Me A Target | Adam Buxton | Matador | United Kingdom | ||
| MGMT | Time To Pretend | Ray Tintori | Partizan | Columbia | USA | |
| Björk | Wanderlust | Encyclopedia Pictura | Ghost Robot | One Little Indian | United Kingdom/USA |