IN DEPTH: Katy Perry "California Gurls" (part three)

Video Static wraps up an In Depth on Katy Perry's "California Gurls" with some additional work-in-progress sketches and designs from the video....

Special thanks to Motion Theory and Capitol Records for all the content... Video Static will be back at the regular grind Monday, July 12...

Read Part 1 here... Read Part 2 here...

--> watch "California Gurls"

Katy Perry "California Girls" (Capitol)
Mathew Cullen, director | Bernard Rahill, Patrick Nugent, Javier Jimenez, Danny Lockwood, producers | Motion Theory, production co | Shawn Kim, DP | Colin Woods, Doron Dor, Bryan Keith @ String, editors | Ram Bhat, art director | Motion Theory, vfx | John Fragomeni, vfx supervisor | Andrew Ashton, comp supervisor | John Fragomeni, 3D animation supervisor | Javier Jimenez, executive producer | Danny Lockwood, commissioner

IN DEPTH: Katy Perry "California Gurls" (part two)

It's 2010 and people still clearly wish they all could be "California Girls", or "Gurls" as in the title of Katy Perry's summertime smash "California Gurl". With the track breaking records at Top 40 radio and selling as briskly as cold drinks on a 100° summer day, it's only right we take another look at the music video, which is also note perfect for the season...

Video Static will be going In Depth on the "California Gurls" the rest of the week with behind-the-scenes pictures, factoids from the shoots and lots of quotage from Motion Theory director Mathew Cullen.

Read Part 1 here...

--> watch "California Gurls"

Part 2: Constructing A Candy Land

In keeping with artist and video collaborator Will Cotton's technique of making artwork out of candy and other treats, Motion Theory ensured that much of the candy seen in the video is actual candy. Also, by making many of the elements practical, it allowed for Katy and Snoop to actually be part of this world.

Mathew Cullen, director: "The Candy Cane forest is nearly all practical. The Candy Canes were made from eucalyptus trees that we buffed down and painted with car paint to get the right look. The Hollywood Walk Of Fame Gingerbread Path is practical. Sugar beach is practical. The Jello Mold, the Gingerbread house, the entire game board are both practical. We actually built a lot of these sets, which is why there's a fair amount of interaction between Katy Perry and the candy."

"A good 70% of the video is actual candy on some level, be it shot in-camera, or in miniature and composited in post. The Cotton Candy clouds, for example, were made of dyed cotton that we enhanced in post with photos of actual cotton candy." 

Read Part 1 here...

IN DEPTH: Katy Perry "California Gurls" (part one)

It's 2010 and people still clearly wish they all could be "California Girls", or "Gurls" as in the title of Katy Perry's summertime smash "California Gurl". With the track breaking records at Top 40 radio and selling as briskly as cold drinks on a 100° summer day, it's only right we take another look at the music video, which is also note perfect for the season...

Video Static will be going In Depth on the "California Gurls" the rest of the week with behind-the-scenes pictures, factoids from the shoots and lots of quotage from Motion Theory director Mathew Cullen.

--> watch "California Gurls"

Part 1: Inspiration

>Director Mathew Cullen and the Motion Theory creative team used "California Gurls" as a launchpad to tell a tale of Los Angeles as a bright dreamworld, but with a potentially treacherous underside. Since this is a pop video, it's told through candy. And the visual cues were inspired by artist William Cotton, famed for making sweet works of art through actual sweets, who actually came on-board to create custom pieces for the video.

Mathew Cullen, director: "I'm a California native and have always been fascinated with the CA myth and how it's communicated, from The Beach Boys to The Mamas & The Papas and even David Lee Roth... The myth is an idealized fantasy world where its always sunny and nobody is over the age of 25. I was fascinated with that, but I felt like every year there are those videos of people frolicking on the beach. So, I wanted to do something that was a little more Motion Theory. We came up with the idea of making the video in a candy coated wonderland, a sugary paradise where everything is perfect. As a metaphor it really worked for me and embodied that myth."

William Cotton, artist: "I''m delighted that my paintings are the inspiration for this video. My work is about creating a utopia where all desire is fulfilled all the time, but where pleasure and delight can turn dark and dystopic. Katy embodies the archetypes that I look for in a subject. It was thrilling to work with her and to see her inhabit my landscapes.”

Mathew Cullen: "I had been familiar with William Cotton's work and had pitched Katy the idea of partnering with him on this project... William  is a popular figure in the art world, perhaps because his images are accessible and easy to like. It’s a world that you want to be in. It's inviting. And like the video, it's a dreamlike world of success and indulgence and desire. It's a utopia, but there's also something under the surface you have to be careful about. That's why I wanted to collaborate with him, because I thought his work presented this myth.. Katy knew of his stuff and was into it. I got in touch with him and and he was into it too. He created all the details in the video. He made Snoop's game board, which was complexly made of candy. Over a three day period he baked and constructed it all out of actual sweets. He actually makes these things out of sweets. It's a candy coated world created by his hands and from his ovens."

 

WATCH IT: Katy Perry "California Girls" (Mathew Cullen, dir.)

Much like you don't need to be Freud to realize that the song "I Want Candy" isn't about enjoying sugary treats, this video for Katy Perry's "California" is just as much a vehicle for a cavalcade of phallic and yonic imagery as it is a Candyfornia board game come to life. As is usually the case with director Mathew Cullen and the Motion Theory team there's another level to everything — guest rapper Snoop Dogg plays the Sugar Daddy and Katy is rolling the dice to free the young starlets who have fallen for his sweet traps — but the video's main focus is on Katy lounging like a pin-up and playing up the sexy sweet angle without any apologies. --> watch "California Girls" (YouTube)

Katy Perry "California Girls" (Capitol)
Mathew Cullen, director | Bernard Rahill, Patrick Nugent, Javier Jimenez, Danny Lockwood, producers | Motion Theory, production co | Shawn Kim, DP | Colin Woods, Doron Dor, Bryan Keith @ String, editors | Ram Bhat, art director | Motion Theory, vfx | John Fragomeni, vfx supervisor | Andrew Ashton, comp supervisor | John Fragomeni, 3D animation supervisor | Javier Jimenez, executive producer | Danny Lockwood, commissioner

SHOT: Katy Perry - Mathew Cullen, dir.

• artist: Katy Perry f/ Snoop Dogg
• song: "California Gurls"
• label: Capitol
• director(s): Mathew Cullen
• production co: Motion Theory
• commissioner: Danny Lockwood

2010 Grammy MV Winner: Black Eyed Peas + Motion Theory

Directors Mathew Cullen and Mark Kudsi of Motion Theory took home at the Best Short Form Music Video Grammy for Black Eyed Peas "Boom Boom Pow." Motion Theory produced the entire branding campaign for the BEP's album, The End, with all aspects — from the music video to the album art to the print ads — spotlighting the band's movements from analog to digital.

Cullen and Motion Theory won the Short Form Music Video Grammy last year as well, for Weezer "Pork & Beans." --> watch "Boom Boom Pow"

The Black Eyed Peas
"Boom Boom Pow" (Interscope)
Mathew Cullen + Mark Kudsi, director | Anna Joseph, producer | Motion Theory, production co | Jeff Cronenweth, DP | Doron Dor @ String, editor | Motion Theory, vfx

WATCH IT: Green Day "Know Your Enemy"

Why waste a third chord when two will suffice? Green Day returns with this economical and anthemic opening salvo off 21st Century Breakdown. Director Mathew Cullen keeps the video as simple and direct as the song, albeit on a massive scale. Performance takes place within a compound where an unseen enemy keeps track of the boys with various means surveillance, including a fleet of helicopters. The main visual hook is a "shadow into fire" motif in which the larger than life silhouttes that loom behind the band suddently burst into towering infernos. Also larger than most anything previous is the coordinated, exclusive worldwide premiere orchestrated through MTV Networks that is rocking through the weekend. --> watch "Know Your Enemy"

Green Day "Know Your Enemy" (Reprise/Warner Bros.)
Mathew Cullen, director | Scott Gemmell, producer | Motion Theory, production co | Shawn Kim, DP | Lenny Mesina, editor | Steve McHale, production designer | Clark Muller, colorist/telecine | Devin Sarno, commissioner

PHOTO: Green Day "Know Your Enemy"

Director Mathew Cullen of Motion Theory (right) on set with Green Day for their upcoming video "Know Your Enemy."

BOOKED: Green Day - Mathew Cullen, director

First single/video from the new album 21st Century Breakdown, due in May...

• artist: Green Day
• song: "Know Your Enemy" 
• label: Reprise Records
• director(s): Mathew Cullen 
• production co: Motion Theory

SHOT: Black Eyed Peas - Mathew Cullen + Mark Kudsi, director

Off the forthcoming album, The END...

artist: Black Eyed Peas
song: "Boom Boom Pow"
label: A&M/Interscope
director(s): Mathew Cullen + Mark Kudsi
production co: Motion Theory