Rita Ora's latest is very appropriately, a beach-set sizzler, directed by Justin Daashuur Hopkins - and the video is just part of a larger campaign of connected visuals.With Rita sunning herself on an LA beach accompanied by a cast of larger-than-life characters - including dowager-age sun worshippers, musclebound weightlifters and retired movie moguls - Daashuur Hopkins assembles a series of humourous vignettes that have translated across formats, from the video to photos to 'Micro Films' that have teased the song Heat on socials."After looking through Rita’s detailed mood boards, I kept coming back to the idea of people watching," he says. "The beach is such a fascinating, equalizing ecosystem. everyone loves the beach, but everyone 'beaches' differently. It’s a place where all sorts of colorful characters emerge: sun-worshippers overdosing on vitamin D, retired businessmen with big bellies and zero shame, bronzed buns and rippling flesh on full display. It’s the absurdity of leisure."We aren't the first to notice this. We were inspired by photographers like Martin Parr and Alex Webb who found beauty and humor in these everyday performances - those candid, unfiltered moments that say so much without trying to say anything at all."EP and creative director Dilly Gent says at her company Son & Heir "we specialize in transforming that same budget into a series of visuals designed to live longer, travel further, and resonate deeper. Leading the charge is the small but mighty Micro Film. We recently had the chance to work with Rita Ora and her team, creating a whole series of Micro Films, a music video, press shoot, album and single artwork, plus all the marketing assets. All for not much more than the cost of one music video.""As we all know the beloved music video that has given so many directors and musicians there creative start in life has lost it’s foothold. What was once the heart of a single release has become a fleeting asset, often forgotten within a week as audiences demand more. That’s why it no longer makes sense to invest the majority of a visual campaign’s budget into the traditional music video."

Sel Maclean's video for indie artist Lizzie Esau crafts a compassionate look at the landscape of isolation and depression through narrative and performance.Maclean focusses upon a young man (played by Aaron Markwell) trapped in a cycle of dysfunction, a cinematic counterpoint to the shoegazey tone of the track Day In The Life. Then his world splits from gritty reality, when Lizzie Esau becomes his companion, the observer of his situation. "Day In The Life explores the mental landscape of isolation and depression, where intrusive thoughts are amplified through the megaphone of loneliness, trapping us within our own echo chamber," says Maclean. "It traces the fault line between solitude and despair, revealing how each quietly sustains the other in a cycle that feels both invisible and unbreakable."

James Ogram reunites with alt-rock band Famous to direct an 'impromptu' dance piece. With stuttering slow-motion and motion blur abound, the video sees Alesh Compton listening to and dancing to the track for the first time."I'd had this idea knocking around in my head for a little while," explains Ogram. "When the opportunity came to execute it, I wanted to make it simply and earnestly with my friends. I've worked with professional dancers before, but the idea and the song called for something more organic."We just went down to the end of my road, Alesh put the track on and he danced. We did four takes."

Anthony Dickenson's video for electronic musician Rival Consoles is a months-in-the-making marvel, a personal experiment that has evolved into a large-scale installation, a blurring of the lines between moving image and fine art.The film to accompany Soft Gradient Beckons is a frame-by-frame animation of Dickenson's hand-painted monoprints. It's a meditative, analogue response to an electronic composition which resulted from the director's diligent repetition of the creative act of painting - and a total of over 5000 frames painted. Each frame was transferred onto tracing paper, building a rhythmic visual language that mirrors the emotional shifts in the track. The film’s quiet pulse and slow unfolding invite the viewer into a space where rhythm, decay, and memory take on physical form.Ultimately as the film shows, it results in 11 painted rolls, each 20 metres long, laid out in sequence to reveal the full timeline of the piece. “The process became its own kind of ritual," says Anthony Dickenson. "Painting each frame by hand over months gave me space to reflect. The piece grew out of a changing period in my life, and somehow it absorbed that energy. It became less about animation, and more about presence.”

Olivier Richomme directs this rambunctuous hometown love letter to Falkirk for Scottish folk-punk band Brògeal.The video for Tuesday Paper Club follows a paperboy on his round, delivering to a cast of eclectic, everyday characters around the Stirlingshire town. Full of whip pans, zooms and frantic shots on the bike, it's brought to life with a breathless edit and brilliant performances - including a cameo from actor Sanjeev Kohli as the paperboy's frustrated boss. It's raw and tongue in cheek, a suitably action-packed video for a great track.

Gabrielle Torreborre directs an affecting promo for Spanish duo Coro & Gully. The video for their delightful song Palomitas Sin Maíz was written in tribute to Coro's grandmother, who passed away in March, with both artists turning to songwriting to process the emotions together.Deeply introspective and human, the video is built from an abstract montage of performance and lingering narrative snapshots, building an atmospheric, gentle aesthetic. "[The video is] a joyful tribute to life and the memories that outlast it," explains Torreborre. "It was shot on 16mm, which allowed us to create a soft, reminiscent atmosphere like a tucked-away memory."This video was an opportunity to reflect, process and a reminder to be grateful for those who we still have around us and to celebrate those who have long left."