April 2010

WATCH IT: Wolfmother "Far Away" (Hydra, dir.)

The Humble creative team humbly breaks down the action of their recent video for Wolfmother "Far Away,"  shot on-location in Sydney, Australia and directed by their collective Hydra.

"One mirror-plated piano, five wild feral children, and an estimated seven million lens flares later, a kick ass rock video was born.

Shot on super 16 mm film using the Arri SRIII to get that 70's warm, retro, faded, grainy feel that we all love.

We took the rocky surf turf blue waters of Maroubra along with the dense green woodlands of Centennial Park and turned them into mirror utopias. Of course it wouldn't have been complete without a 10 ft. rotating mirror-plated pyramid for good measure.

WATCH IT: The Dead Weather "Die By The Drop" (Floria Sigismondi, dir.)

Perhaps best described as the bastard child of Marilyn Manson, Lady Gaga and The Art of Noise, this video by Floria Sigismondi for The Dead Weather "Die By The Drop" is a dark, enigmatic meditation (on duality? Split-personalities?) Although it could take repeated viewings and whatever gets your mind thinking non-linearly to figure it all out, there's plenty of gothic and surreal beauty to the imagery and to the post-blues rock stomp of the song. --> watch "Die By The Drop"

WATCH IT: Young Jeezy "Lose My Mind" (TAJ, dir.)

Director TAJ adds an underlying current of disorder to what could have been a typical club clip for Young Jeezy "Lose My Mind." The pressure of the streets — reflected in a voice-over and an intro — and the flashing lights and other chaos of the claustrophobic club leads Jeezy to the bathroom, where he finds no solace, only more madness. Serious madness. Like M Night Shyamalan sorta madness. Dead people rising from gurney and s&m straitjacket madness. --> watch "Lose My Mind"

WATCH IT: Sweet Thing "Dance Mother" (Chris Mills, dir.)

A femme fatale literally steals off with the singer's heart in this wild chase of a video for Sweet Thing. Director/animator Chris Mills manipulates 2D and 3D with live action and animation as the band gets chased down, captured and then taken to a place where nobody gets out alive. --> watch "Dance Mother"

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WATCH IT: M.I.A. "Born Free" (Romain Gavras, dir.)

All the opening actions in this forceful new video from M.I.A. are red herrings. Some pun intended. Director Romain Gavras delivers an allegory that perfectly captures the anger and message of "Born Free," while also delivering what amounts to a powerful rebuttal to the anti-immigrant zeitgeist that's now crescendoed with Arizona's "show me your papers" law. A powerful, sure-to-be controversial video. Warning: The video takes a very disturbing turn about midway through. There's also brief nudity. --> watch "Born Free"

WATCH IT: Mann f/ Jason Derulo "Text" (Kevin Shulman, dir.)

Ever wonder how texts work? How your little meaningless electronic messages get beamed from one phone to another? Well, you see, it's all propelled by pop rapper Mann and guest singer Jason Derulo, who dance and groove yr sexts and dirty pics from you to your honey. (Actually, this is how texts work, but I like the idea of Mann/Derulo in outer space much better). --> watch "Text"

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