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Beware The Music Video Teaser?

Here's something to add to my Music Video Rules:

If you think a 15 second preview on Instagram — or a seven second Vine, or even a single Instagram photo — ruins the impact of your music video, then most likely your music video sucks. Sorry.

UK newspaper The Guardian has an editorial today about how social media reveals and other teasers have ruined music videos for the author, Issy Sampson.

WATCH IT: Madonna "Give Me All Your Luvin" (Megaforce, dir.)

It'd be foolish to say Madonna plays second fiddle to anyone or anything, but her looming Super Bowl halftime show is clearly on her mind. French directing crew Megaforce — you should know them from such amazing videos as Is Tropical "The Greeks" and Kid Cudi "Pursuit Of Happiness" — choreographs a squadron of football players, but in a clearly supporting role where they literally protect and boost up the pop star as she references various stages of her career.

WATCH IT: Is Tropical "The Greeks" (Megaforce, dir.)

A bunch of suburban kids playing guns seems harmless enough, until cartoon animation fills in the imagined violence. The kiddies re-enact drug deals gone wrong, urban ambushes, shoot-outs and even beheadings and suicide bombers that's all pretend, but clearly the product of our bloodthirsty age. --> watch "The Greeks"

Is Tropical "The Greeks" (Kitsune/Co-op/Downtown)Megaforce, director | Seven, animator | El Nino, production co

WATCH IT: MGMT "It's Working" (So-Me, dir.)

And you thought Ikea furniture was complex... "It's Working" has MGMT constructing and then getting consumed by a magical machine that's essentially a giant version of Calvin's Transmogrifier. It's purpose is never completely clear, but it's thoroughly odd and interesting and ambitious, just like MGMT itself. --> watch "It's Working"

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