September 2013

Sky Ferreira "You're Not The One" (Grant Singer, dir.)

Combine the vibe of early Madonna with the vengeful streak of Catherine Tramell and you kind of get Sky Ferreira, who looks like the next starlet to make the leap from alternative to pop.

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Mike WILL Made It f/ Miley, Wiz Khalifa, Juicy J "23" (Hannah Lux Davis, dir.)

Violating dress code is the least of all infractions Miley Cyrus commits in this high school clip for her producer Mike WILL Made It with rappers Juicy J and Wiz Khalifa.

Community / In Production

Jason Derulo "Trumpets" (Colin Tilley, dir.)

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Jason Derulo "Marry Me" (Hannah Lux Davis, dir.)

Hey, she ain't the girl from "The Other Side"! No, she isn't. This IS Jason's current GF Jordin Sparks on top of a vintage piano watching Jay serenade her throughout this video filled with plenty of product placement (oh hai, Michael C. Fina!), playful kitchen behavior (honestly didn't expect the flour message), and hopeful glimpses of a bright future for these two. Really, though, with a song title of "Marry Me", what other images could there be in a clip like this?

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Sons Of The Sea "Come Together" (Taylor Cohen, dir.)

The refrain is "we come together" and the video is a nearly nude Brandon Boyd erotically rolling around with a similarly stripped woman in milky waters.

Miley would be proud.

Sons Of The Sea is a the new project from the Incubus singer and producer Brendon O'Brien (Pearl Jam, Rage Against The Machine, Bruce Springsteen, Stone Temple Pilots, Incubus and way more).

Community / Watch It

Jake Bugg "What Doesn't Kill You" (Andrew Douglas, dir.)

On his first album, young Jake Bugg was heralded by some critics as a future Bob Dylan. On this, the first clip from his upcoming sophomore disc, if you believe the early YouTube commentors, Jake is now channeling Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys. Regardless, even though this b/w piece is just him lipsynching along, he has a certain poise rare for a man his age — he wants to let the music speak for itself. No problem.

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Miley Cyrus "Wrecking Ball" (unofficial datamosh version)

Screw your parodies of Miley Cyrus "Wrecking Ball" — except for the one with Nicholas Cage, which was genius.

A much harder tack with the video would be to make it into something beautiful on a completely different level, which is what Matt Caron has done with this unofficial and unsolicited datamosh version.

PS: If Miley can have this sort of a comeback, then couldn't datamoshing?

In Depth

Talking Katy Perry "Roar" with co-directors Grady Hall and Mark Kudsi

If you're going to trudge into the jungle and challenge some of the most iconic film motifs ever, there's probably not a better choice than the Motion Theory creative team, which has previously tackled the high seas, candyland and way more over the course of many music videos.

Directors Grady Hall and Mark Kudsi — two independent directors at Motion Theory who collaborated on this project — took Katy Perry's "Roar" as a call to empowerment, leading the pop star on a journey from damsel in distress to queen of the jungle.

We recently chatted with the directors about everything from how.PETA recently hijacked a press cycle by questioning the treatment of the many animals in the video, and the general usage of animals in film production — claims which were rebutted by Katy in a statement and further countered in our interview — plus film inspirations, art directing nature and the truth about Junglescope.