If the inaugural YouTube Music Awards had a "let's put on a show" — or, to quote Bill O'Reilly, "Fuck it, we'll do it live!" — vibe, then the follow-up finds the massive video/web site playing to their strengths and skipping the live show in favor of a deluge of specially commissioned videos by creative musicians and directors.
First up is this Petros clip for Martin Garrix, where the club DJ plays a lowly towelboy trying his darndest to catch the eye of a stuck-up guest at a very uptight country club. It's a losing proposition, until he conjures more than a little magic to seal the deal.
I'm personally fond for the toilet humor detour — how can you when the song's refrain asks if you can fuck to this shit — but there's plenty of visual hooks as a camera dollies around MNEK and an ever-changing cast of characters.
Johny Mourgue, director: "We wanted to create something that was very linear but kept the viewer guessing till the end. Cast was everything in terms of fulfilling a simple yet poignant narrative. We were very lucky and grateful to of acquired the services of Mr.Coghill and Gemma Chan."
Chris Ullens, director: When this track came through for me to pitch on, I was immediately excited by it. I had been wanting to work with a string artist friend of mine (Sebastien Preschoux) for a few years, but we never seemed to find the right project. Then when I heard this dreamy track, with all the fluctuating electronic notes in it, I thought "this is it!" I had also wanted to do a video with land art animation in it for a while too, and thought this idea would work beautifully with Seb's strings and the whimsical tone of the track.
Ivan Ogilvie directs this beautifully realised narrative for Island Records Chasing Grace ‘Free’. Ivan’s passion for stylised documentary film-making is encapsulated perfectly in this stunning film.
