Queens of the Stone Age recently released an animated short to their new song “Kalopsia” which is defined in the beginning of the short as “a condition where things appear more beautiful than they are.” The visuals follow a monster with glowing eyes behind a happy clown mask frolicking through the street destroying people with one touch. According to Pitchfork, the animated video was directed by UK artist Boneface, who also designed the album’s artwork. (more…)
A version of this story aired on NPR’s Morning Edition.
The online video sharing site YouTube is this generation's MTV. Artists like Gotye and Psy have found mainstream success when their videos go viral. Yet the site is dominated by amateurs covering other people’s songs – from toddlers chirping The Beatles to teens tackling Led Zeppelin.
Between those two extremes is an alternative universe of aspiring professional musicians who use their versions of cover songs on YouTube to build fan bases of their own.
I will not argue with you if you want to tell me that Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the directing duo known as the DANIELS, are the best music video directors working today.
I'm not even saying that because we share a parking lot at work. I'm saying it because I believe it to be true.
Yet before we get into their victory in this year's LA Music Video Festival's Narrative Video category I want to direct your attention to one of the other finalists.
Director Dave Ma put together a haunting video for "Clair de Lune" from the Australian DJ Duo Flight Facilities. Languid and lush, Ma uses the electrotrance song as the soundtrack for a short film about friendship, loss, and the sudden decisions that reshape lives. Get in the mood and watch it.
The DANIELS' video for The Shin's "Simple Song" will get you into the mood right quick. Kinetic and chaotic, the DANIELS weave a fun story about a fractured family around The Shin's masterful track. Fair warning: the song might just get stuck in your head for days.
Few people can pull off elegant but dorky–or is it dorky but elegant? Jennifer Lawrence and Hugh Jackman come to mind. Now we can add Solange to that list.
The Non-Narrative Video category at this year's LA Music Video Festival had some of the stiffest competition going. Picking a favorite from a set that included Matt & Kim's "Let's Go" (dir. Dugan O'Neal), Tenacious D's "Rize of the Fenix" (dir. DANIELS) and the starkly beautiful video for Earl Sweatshirt's "Chum" directed by Hiro Murai was gut wrenching.
Comedy alt-folk-metal duo Tenacious D (Jack Black and Kyle Gass) have been a cult favorite for years. They laid low after their feature film The Pick of Destiny solidified their cult status in 2006.
Last year the D returned with the album Rize of the Fenix. The track “Low Hanging Fruit” (Tenacious D) is from this album. This video directed by Dave Crabtree is of a "Vevo GoShow", a pop-up concert format created by the online music video megachannel Vevo.
As a live performance featuring music recorded on site this production of "Low Hanging Fruit" at Ribs USA in Burbank was eligible for the LAMVF's new "Best Live Video" award. The D beat their competition thanks to their virtuoso performance, and the rocking power of delicious ribs. (The song's a bit racy, just so you know.)
Toys. Who doesn't have found memories of toys? Happy little teddy bears and wholesome dollies.
I'd put even money on director Christopher Ullens having some issues with toys based on this video for the Two Finger's track“Vengeance Rhythm”.
Fair warning: while the violence in this video–which won the Best Animated Video award at the LAMVF this past weekend–is cartoonishly over-the-top it is also exceptionally graphic.
This category covers those videos that we created without being commissioned by a label or an artist. As such, the category is often a pure expression of the director's vision and articulation of their skills.
This year's winner is by the director who goes by the handle NORTON. This manic, substance-abuse fueled nervous breakdown of a video to the Kap Bambino track “Devotion” features the unlikeliest of anti-hero protagonists.
The LAMVF has come and gone again, leaving behind only warm memories and the glimmer of prestige. This crop of videos for this–the third annual festival–was the strongest yet. Over 400 entries from dozens of countries vied for the coveted bronze VHS.
Last night at the LA Music Video Festival I got to see a breakdown of how this hybrid live-action/traditional cell animation music video was put together. The short answer: through painstaking work.
It pays off.
Director Warren Fu asked animation director Jeremy Polgar and his team to replicate the style of the late, great French comics illustrator Jean Giraud, better known by the pseudonym Moebius. Polgar delivered.
Fans of The Killers might also catch some narrative nods to one of their first big hits. Can you pick up on the thread?
Some nights you go to a music video festival, chill out and watch some cool tiny movies.
And some nights you get conscripted to host a panel on animation in music videos.
It’s a hard life.
The audio from last night’s “Let’s Get Animated” panel will be posted here on Turnstyle early next week–I’ve got a little bleeping to do. (We are a public media site, after all.) What I can tell you is that the panel was a nerdtacular look at animated music videos, including a breakdown of what went into The Killer’s Miss Atomic Bomb video by animation director Jeremy Polgar and director Warren Fu.
Tonight the festival kicks into high gear with the Non-Narrative and Narrative finalists screenings and the "Video is the New Radio" Panel:
A discussion on music videos as modern tools for music discovery and non-traditional distribution. Panelists include Jon Augustavo (director, Mackelmore), Tyler Ward (musician, over 1MM subscribers on YouTube), Daniel Rosen (former GM of Fullscreen Artist Mix), Jason Baum (director/producer, OK Go, Hollerado), and more.
Now streaming: the archive of our Google Hangout On-Air with Jesse Vigil of Psychic Bunny, one of the designers of the new audio adventure game FREEQ (iOS/Android).
I first encountered Sifteo Cubes back at IndieCade last October, and spent some time playing around with the little blocks which I first mistook for iPod Nanos.
