Director/DoP Jake Erland’s recent video for Olivia Dean elevates the singer's charming on-screen presence by referencing Hollywood musicals and classic fashion shoots. We asked Jake some questions about the project. On-set photography by Honor Evans.In the video for Nice To Each Other, Olivia Dean walks onto a rehearsal stage where stagehands move the two-dimensional flats that will create the scenery for a show. Her choreographed interaction with the scenery and stagehands enhances the sense of wistful romance in her performance.With production design by Furmaan Ahmed and choreographed by Meshach Henry, and shot in long takes by the director/DoP in the style of a Fifties musical, it is a terrific showcase for Olivia Dean's screen presence. And that's as delightfully mood-enhancing here as it has been in previous Erland-directed videos, including the UKMVA-nominated video for Time, and their next one for new single Lady Lady.​PROMONEWS: What inspired the idea for the video? JAKE ERLAND: I’ve been working across the whole album with Emily [Braham], Olivia’s manager and creative director. We have an amazing creative partnership and we sketched out the world based on Olivia’s idea of black and white sets.Then I was watching Wicked, and there’s this cutout picture book transition they do in the film. It made me think about 2D sets and perspective and that’s where this came from.It turns out [that] having sets on wheels and amazing dancers makes reset and takes pretty easy!What were the biggest challenges during production?JE: This wasn’t too hard - turns out having sets on wheels and amazing dancers makes reset and takes pretty easy! Plus total trust in Olivia's performance and Furmann Ahmed (art) and Mesh Henry (choreo) to be so fab at what they do and make these ideas work - without them I’d be lost.To be honest I think maybe this was my favourite shoot in a while. I think a big part of that is trust the team and when you don’t know what’s gunna be possible, don’t plan too specifically what it’s gunna be. Sometimes things can just come together and it can be nice!What are you most pleased with about how it's turned out?JE: I think all of it. Usually it’s the work of mine that people like that I hate and obsess about. I can see the issues. But this one was perfect for me and I’m happy people loved it. Big shout out to Park [Pictures], Rowan Mackintosh King and Olli Hill on production and AD department.• Jake Erland is a director and cinematographer based at Park Pictures

Joy Crookes self-directs the promo for Perfect Crime, and gives a marvellous performance in the incredible setting of Dhaka, Bangladesh - the country of her mother’s birth. The video sees Joy in various locations around Dhaka - including riding atop a moving train. Throughout she pays homage to her heritage, the rich cultural life and vibrant spirit of the Bangladesh capital, while giving a characteristically charismatic and charming performance of the song.With outstanding work of DoP Donny Johnson, Joy inhabits each well-considered location in a way that reflects her name. Without missing a beat of how a performance video should look and feel, this does give the sense of someone coming back to their roots. And what a place this is.The fact that Joy directed the video followed on from having co-produced Perfect Crime for her forthcoming album Juniper with Harvey Grant. When her idea for the visuals crystallised, she wanted to carry the ownership of producing the song through by directing the video.“The choreography was intended to be quite simple and repetitive but against a foil of something that was almost overstimulating," she explains. "The location wasn’t even really a question. Dhaka, Bangladesh was the ideal backdrop. The city’s imperfect beauty and chaos imbues the video with an atmosphere that can’t be emulated or recreated. It was a perfect pairing.”

With the final coming up on Sunday between England and Spain, there's just about time to interrupt our usual feed of music videos with a shout-out to some extraordinary animation work that has been gracing the screens for the past few weeks: Nico Livesey's brilliant "Claymation" trailer and title sequence of the BBC's coverage of UEFA Women's Euros 2025.Following in a grand tradition of animated title sequences commissioned by BBC Sport for great summer events - including Livesey's ingenious turn for World Cup 2018 - the counter-intuitive use of old-school stop-motion techniques in the burgeoning age of AI for this tournament is a masterstroke. It highlights the extraordinary skills of a number of stars of the women's game - several of whom will appear in Sunday's final - in the punchy, super-imaginative and OTT style that you can only really get with the Clay. And with The Yeah Yeah Yeahs on the soundtrack we are in the same ballpark, so to speak, as a music video. So England's Lucy Bronze makes a brilliant last-ditch tackle, Wales's Jess Fishlock writes her name in flames on the pitch, England's Lauren James sends a scorching shot past a keeper, and the lightning fast feet of Spain's Aitana Bonmati (regarded by many as the Lionel Messi of women's football) literally twists her opponents in knots. If the semi-final between Spain and Germany is anything to go by, Bonmati will probably have the final word on Sunday too. • Blinkink's behind the scenes on the UEFA Womens' Euros 2025 project here

Andy Mihov (aka AVM) directs a fascinating cyberpunk promo for Au/Ra, as the alt-pop artist jumps between reality and videogame worlds in a gripping sci-fi/ fantasy narrative. The video for CRACK! employs striking production design and visual effects to explore themes of mental health, escapism and triumph. AVM skillfully crafts a narrative of worlds within worlds, and the cracks between them through which our heroine must navigate. It's a cinematic vision, with glitchy edit effects and a stirring performance at its core. The story features Au/Ra, trapped in the lair of a Machine Entity which begins syphoning her consciousness away and fragmenting it as it begins to assimilate her. As she fights to retain control, she must jump between worlds inspired by different video game genres and styles. By completing each stage, she progresses further towards her escape and victory.Behind the scenes, CRACK! was fueled by a very dedicated team whose contributions were crucial to shaping the final piece. The impressive physical set was built overnight and featured 30+ working screens. The different video game levels were crafted separately ahead of the shoot under the creative direction of AVM, working with artists across different time zones and software.“I was fortunate enough to work with some truly big-hearted, creative giants who stuck by the vision till the end," says the director. "I believe that a big dream will attract other powerful dreamers to it. I think that’s exactly what happened here."Mihov adds that Au/Ra was the perfect collaborator, in his favourite music video project to date. That included being able to pass on some of his fencing skills on the shoot day for one of the video's crucial scenes. “We were kindred spirits. At one point in the video Au/Ra has to smash the screens (with the evil Entity on them) using her sword. I had to quickly teach her a technique from longsword fencing called Zornhut (Wrath Guard). She did a fantastic job grasping the essence of it."It’s kind of a funky, weird stance that looks super over-the-top but is an actual historic fencing technique. As a lifelong fencer I’m particularly proud of how we got to do that.”

Harv Frost returns with another spectacular promo for The Last Dinner Party - a surreal Soho-set Western for the first release from the band's second album. The video for This Is The Killer Speaking transforms London streets into a Western-style town, complete with its own dive bar, fashion and... ethereal centaur. Okay, maybe that's a new addition. In the same ambitious, stylish and often surreal aesthetic as Frost's previous collaborations with the band, it's a fresh vibe and a great introduction to the foloow-up to their acclaimed debut LP Prelude To Ecstasy. HARV FROST:"Returning to work with TLDP was a dream, after collaborating together on the videos for the first album and our short for the album Prelude To Ecstasy. We have built such a rich mini-cinematic universe that was a joy to dive back into."This time it was about doing something different, we wanted to burn the book on what we have done previously, and create something that combines all we have learnt from our previous videos."The pitch for the video was ‘the band wreaks Western-style havoc in Soho’ so I knew from the start it was going to be a challenge in itself - around the band’s availability we could only shoot on a Thursday morning for the Soho scenes, so that meant lots of curious passers-by and stopping traffic."This a complete contrast from the locked-off controlled environments we were used to shooting in for previous videos, it posed a new kind of challenge. Thanks to 1st AD master Rose Lucas and the rest of the crew we managed to pull it all off while causing a bit of a scene."For this video my references were stooped in classic spaghetti westerns like Fistful of Dollars, Django and The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, but wanted to give them this acid-western feeling and shoot them in a way that felt modern without being too pastiche. It was about carving out our own style."The challenge was making something that felt unlike past TLDP videos that still kept that DNA. That theatricality and character but with a new lick of paint, a darker palette and an even a bleach blonde wig for Abigail. And in typical Last Dinner Party fashion, a western without horses, but rather, a centaur!"Always such a privilege to work with this powerhouse of a band, and to kick off the campaign for their second album."

With just over a week before the deadline for entries to the UK Music Video Awards 2025, it has been announced that London-based edit house Shift has become the new edit partner of the UKMVAs and platinum sponsor of the prestigious Best Editing in a Video category.Shift is a boutique edit house with a small roster of award-winning editors and a highly collaborative ethos. With work ranging from music videos and commercials to feature films and other long form projects, its editors are skilled across multiple disciplines and place storytelling and authenticity at the heart of their creative endeavours. The company's editors are represented for commercials and music videos by Sam Davey at Hurry Sundown. Saam Hodivala, founder of Shift, says: “We’re unbelievably excited to be working with the UKMVAs as their edit partner. Music videos are how most young editors learn their craft. As a company that prides itself on nurturing young talent it really is a dream to be a part of it.”The news of Shift becoming the edit partner of this year's UK Music Video Awards has been announced as the deadline to enter the UKMVAs approaches in just over a week's time - at midnight (BST) on Friday, August 1st.Entry is now open to the Best Editing In A Video award, together with 37 other categories covering videos by music genre, special projects, live video, technical achievement, and individual and company awards - all via the UK Music Video Awards 2025 website.The full list of categories at this year's UKMVAs can be found here. Information about submitting entries is here. Entries to the awards are now being accepted on the website here and here.Once the submission period has closed, there will be two rounds of judging in most categories - with every entry being viewed and judged by members of the UKMVAs' Jury. That will be followed an announcement of nominations in late September. Then the UK Music Video Awards 2025 ceremony will return to Magazine London in North Greenwich, on Thursday, October 30th.• UK Music Video Awards 2025 website