OB Management

Director

Thomas James

<h3>The new BMTH video uses extreme imagery to highlight a real social problem. Director Thomas James takes us through the process that led to him creating a tour de force of body-horror.</h3>&nbsp;As he has shown through his career as a music video director, Thomas James (above, centre)&nbsp;is fascinated with exploring the deeper recesses of the human psyche, and the darkness that lies within. For the likes of Hurts and Sam Fender, James has told stories where vulnerable souls suffer torment, struggle against malignant forces, both manifestly real, or strangely uncanny.James's more recent work in music video has seen him hone his darker sensibiilities, taking a more experimental approach to the dark and oppressive nature of existence, such as in his two videos for Ghostpoet in 2020 - Concrete Pony and I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep - and last year's video for Lucy Blue's Taxi Driver.Now he has directed a&nbsp;video for Bring Me The Horizon, the UK's pre-eminent emo-rockers, led by charismatic frontman Oli Sykes. The band's angst-ridden anthem sTraNgeRs has given James the opportunity to take its main preoccupations&nbsp;- alienation, loneliness and fear - into an entirely symbolic realm. The result is a virtuoso bombardment of extraordinary imagery that appear to derive directly from a nightmare.[vidtoken data:0]With scenes of prone figures hooked up to wires and pipes, turned into giant insects, or individuals stalked by their döppelgängers, it is a brilliant realisation&nbsp;of unconscious fears that echoes the visual allure of some classic Nineties music videos, but also with a modern,&nbsp;'Gen Z' sensibility.&nbsp;We talked to Thomas James about the video, the ideas behind the visuals, and how this bold, nightmarish vision came into being for one of the UK's biggest rock acts.&nbsp;<blockquote>There’s a crisis with people’s mental well-being at the moment - within our industry, and in the wider world.</blockquote>How did the project start? What was in the brief (beyond the subject matter of the lyrics) that led you towards your ideas for the video?Oli’s brief was looking at ideas of rehabilitation, of mental health issues, of things that perhaps people keep inside, or are forced to share institutionally. Things which are intensely personal, but crawl under the skin, not on the surface. So I looked at the horrors of this, of what inner demons might look like if they were haunting you beyond the confines of your own skull.I think there’s quite a clear crisis with people’s mental well-being at the moment, both within our industry, and in the wider real world. So it was something I took quite seriously, but also wanted to create a very separate, whole other world for the video.[imgtoken data:1]<blockquote>Labels and artists seem less keen now to make these sort of videos - so this brief felt like quite a special one.</blockquote>I didn’t want it to feel too on the nose, or exploitative of very real issues, especially with things that I know friends are going through. But I also wanted to create a space for the piece to be grotesque - because ultimately what the track’s about, is a pretty fucking horrific thing to experience.It might seem like just a surreal, aesthetic nightmare of sorts - but a lot of work was placed into the research. We had thousands of questionnaires sent out, and interviewed people with certain mental health conditions, and with psychological situations of struggle. Within the horror of the whole thing, I was keen for there to be a seed of reality amidst the fleshy grimness - but perhaps one that acts more of a dog whistle, rather than a neon sign.What were your main references for the video? Did it come from classic music videos, from movies - or both?For me, given the band, and the almost sonic nostalgia of the track - this was a great opportunity to lean on the 3am bleary-eyed MTV2 sessions of my teens. I suppose the videos I was brought up on. The sort of gritty, bat-shit promos that are so rare now. A place I feel very much at home, but it’s not really a place you get to visit unless the stars align.Labels - and artists to an extent - seem to be less keen to make these sort of videos, when people have a choice to scrub or scroll through. Which is why this brief felt like quite a special one.There’s obviously some Cronenberg in there too. All the good greasy stuff that makes your mum question how she brought you up when you show her your latest work.[imgtoken data:2]<blockquote>There’s some Cronenberg in there... all the good greasy stuff that makes your mum question how she brought you up.</blockquote>Unless I’m mistaken, BMTH have never attempted this type of imagery in their videos. Were you surprised that they went with your idea?They’ve definitely delved into horror before, and maybe more genre-based ideas. But I suppose I was surprised with the level of intensity we were allowed to push the promo to. Oli, much like myself, was keen for this to be an almost unpleasant experience as a viewer. So I really was allowed out the gates on this one. He is keen to constantly develop their visual world - which is amazing when you’re working with an involved artist.With a lot of my work, there’s always a point in the process where there’s a frantic Zoom call, with marketing shitting their pants, and we invariably have to tone things down. It was the opposite with this - which I relished. And props to Oli for pushing for that.[imgtoken data:3]<blockquote>Because its quite abstract, there wasn’t so much an idea of character, but a concept of feeling.</blockquote>Once the job was awarded, how did you prepare for the shoot? What was the key to having such a range of highly considered visual ideas in the final video?As always with promos, prep time is a total luxury that never really seems to happen. So it was much longer working days crammed into less working weeks,&nbsp;with lots of support from production. Craig Dixon was a stoic angel, and Sam Holmes as ever was a bastion amidst the chaos.There were actually numerous iterations of the video, all of which were boarded within an inch of their life. Because there were so many moving parts, it was key everyone knew what was happening at every turn. So many shots were a true melding of each department. The key was making sure this was communicated, with chicken scratch drawings of cockroach humans, and absurd Zooms discussing in detail just how wet we wanted the tentacles.[imgtoken data:4]Above: On the sTraNgeRs shoot, with DoP Adam Barnett and Thomas James (back to camera) filming cast member. "Adam captured it with a real haunting atmosphere, with images you can almost smell."&nbsp;Can you talk about some of the sequences and how they were devised and created?All the sequences stem from a mental health issue, or a struggle of sorts. Albeit with an abstraction to set it in a surreal, distorted world; but one where the horror is founded within a reality. A kernel of something.For example, the guy who slowly turns into a Kafka-eque insect, is built from ideas of addiction. The IV’s he’s hooked up to, filled with the strange larvae he is consumed by. For the girl who is chased by a horrific doppelganger - we cast twins for this&nbsp;- we looked at ideas of self destruction; of constantly running from yourself.The girl who morphs into abstracted versions and multiples, we spoke to people about ideas of body dysmorphia, of your self-image becoming completely unrecognisable - almost being haunted by a grotesque self-depiction. So we ran with a strange and haunting version of that.[imgtoken data:5]<blockquote>The body dysmorphia section... was briefed to be almost like a Francis Bacon painting.</blockquote>When it came to the cast, did you spend time with them to make sure they were ‘in character’, or did that become obvious once they were on set, and put through their paces?The cast were all mind-blowing to be honest. I talked through the concept of each scene with them, letting them know what each tableaux was dealing with; and then it was just a matter of intensity.Because it is quite an abstract piece, there wasn’t so much an idea of character, but a concept of feeling. It was amazing to see people make it tangible if that makes sense. And there was also a fuck-tonne of screaming. By day two, the crew were all wearing ear plugs.How much of what we see in the final video were you able to see on the monitors during the shoot? Did you have a really good idea about what the VFX on certain shots was going to look like?Because we’d boarded everything so thoroughly, we were pretty good on what needed to be shot. But as always when you’re filming VFX it was still a case of reminding everyone on the monitor to not worry, that there would be a weird gloopy thing ripping from his chest, or something of that ilk.[imgtoken data:6]<blockquote>There’s usually&nbsp;a point where there’s a frantic Zoom call, and we have to tone things down. It was the opposite with this.</blockquote>There were some pretty hard elements to get though. For example, the insect's face - I believe we spent about two hours trying to convince a larvae beetle to keep still;&nbsp;and the squid against the glass, which was more due to the smell, rather than filmic intricacy.Who were your main collaborators in creating the look of the video, and what did they contribute?I mean - everyone really. The team was comprised of all my ride-or-die colleagues, who all bring their own talent to each project they do.Adam Barnett,&nbsp;DOP, as always, captured it with a real haunting atmosphere, with images you can almost smell. We talked for days about this; how the frames would either be unsettlingly personal, or competely isolated, with non-human, sickly tones, and just a visceral, tactile feel to everything. Either letting the subject almost fight with the lens, or to be completely alone within a wider frame.[imgtoken data:7]Finn Sullivan, the production designer,&nbsp;was as always&nbsp;completely open to the ideas and keen to figure out how we achieve them - no matter how fucking nuts they sounded on paper. He always brings a reality to ideas, design you can see breathe in the image, no matter how surreal, and I think that works beautifully across the promo.Ellie Walker's styling was also key to this. With such big visual ideas across the video, we wanted to make sure the look of the clothing maintained a bite, but didn’t distract as such. Ellie spent many an hour looking at medical corsets, strange bandages and custom pieces, which had a subtle institutional feel - I think we coined the phrase 'medicinal S&amp;M'&nbsp;- and dyed them, so we had a lovely uniformity. She’s amazing at giving flair and individuality, even across this project where subtlety was important.And editor Jake Armstrong, who I’ve literaly worked with from day squat. He’s my good time cheese. My rotten soldier. We talked a lot about the intensity of the edit, and from memory there are 512 cuts in the film. It was a pretty brutal process - but as usual, he nailed it - helping me kill my darlings quickly and painlessly.Finally, when it came to the VFX work,&nbsp;The Mill were excellent. They&nbsp;were pretty open to things developing once we had stuff in the can, bringing more to each shot. The body dysmorphia section in particular -&nbsp;the girl who organically warps with multiples of herself - was briefed to be almost like a Francis Bacon painting; and the artists got this straight away. It was amazing to see it come together, with so much work put in by the VFX team. Utter magical troopers.• Thomas James is represented by OB Management. Watch more of his work <a href="https://www.obmanagement.co.uk/directors/thomas-james?division=music-video" target="_blank">here</a>

Thomas James on Bring Me The Horizon's sTraNgeRs: "It's what inner demons might look like, beyond the confines of your skull."

Bring Me The Horizon - sTraNgeRs (Official Video)

Bring Me The Horizon 'Strangers' by Thomas James

Bring Me The Horizon 'Strangers' (dir. Thomas James)

Thomas James directs a beautifully twisted and sublimely surreal exploration of&nbsp;inner demons coming&nbsp;to life, in his promo for Bring Me The Horizon's Strangers.In a nondescript industrial space, a host of characters undergo Cronenberg-style body horror transformations, intercut with a suitably haunting performance from the band.&nbsp;[imgtoken data:1]Bodies twist, contort and conjoin in a horrific yet eerily beautiful way, balancing a nightmarish aesthetic with hyper-intimate, bravura cinematography by Adam Barnett.James draws on a host of influences - including&nbsp;a special nod to Chris Cunningham and Aphex Twin's Rubber Johnny - but adds his own facility for narrative and sense of humanity to the outstanding VFX work. It's a brilliantly successful execution of a stunningly ambitious concept.[imgtoken data:2]

United Kingdom

Finn Sullivan

Emma Garrett

Karen Plowden

Worldwide Production Agency

Craig Dixon

Kat Cattaneo

Ian Stowe

Adam Barnett

Sam Holmes

Chris Malin

Callum Watt  

James Wicks

Patrycja Cygna

Begoña Fernández Martin

Jake Armstrong

Whitehouse Post

Peter Oppersdorff

Tom Cole

Chloe Ensor

The Mill

Rca Sony Music

Lucy Bradley

Rock

Alternative

Thomas James directs a dark and twisted tale of a serial killer cab driver, in his promo for Lucy Blue’s Taxi Driver.&nbsp;Oozing a sense of nostalgia in the styling and look across the anachronistic set pieces - with definite&nbsp;nods to Scorsese's masterpiece of the same name -&nbsp;the visual doesn't cross the line into true horror, yet manages to create an uncomfortable, overarching sense of dread in every frame.&nbsp;Thomas James brings his customary verve&nbsp;to this story of a disturbed young woman - and Lucy Blue is brilliant in her&nbsp;role as a stalker, and the blurred boundary between infatuation and insanity is masterfully conceptualised.

Oli Falcon

Luka Glisovic

Chris Nguyen

Patrycja Cygan

Benjamin Law

Ash Halliburton

Ellie Walker

Sophie Gouk

Jack Williams

The Assembly Rooms

Duncan Russell

Halo Post

Lea Ogunlami

Lucy Blue 'Taxi Driver’ (Director’s Cut) by Thomas James

Lucy Blue 'Taxi Driver’ (Director's Cut) by Thomas James

Thomas James explores the fleeting nature of relationships and emotion,&nbsp;in his video for&nbsp;Bobby Gillespie &amp; Jehnny Beth.Inhabiting an empty house, the artists are shown existing in their own space, together but apart, never quite reaching a comfortable medium.&nbsp;There is tension in the air, occasionally erupting into frantic movement and anguished looks, examining the nature of a relationship that was never meant to be.&nbsp;The abstract concept is visualised with excellent black and white cinematography by DoP Tim Sidell, and the performances are perfectly uncomfortable in their execution.[imgtoken data:1][imgtoken data:2]

Henri Calderon

Jack Green

Tim Sidell

Chris Hayden

Alex Gibbon

Murdo Hepburn

Katy England

Kei Terada

Laura Dominique

Sara Faulkner

Richard Fearon

Dan Millar

Sony Music

Jerome Danvers

Indie

Bobby Gillespie, Jehnny Beth 'Chase It Down' by Thomas James

Bobby-Gillespie,-Jehnny-Beth-'Chase-It-Down'-by-Thomas-James

Thomas James directs a necrotic POV promo&nbsp;for Ghostpoet's new single I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep.&nbsp;Speeding through a hellish trip from life to death, the video employs a&nbsp;unique visual style,&nbsp;which flickers from POV to out-of-body, third-person snapshots.&nbsp;Ending with&nbsp;burning landscapes and ghoulish monsters, every frame of the visual elevates the growing tension, and DoP&nbsp;Morgan Sinclair's atypical use of colour adds a sense of doom to the unravelling narrative.&nbsp;Bold and innovative, the concept is a perfect match to the enigmatic track, and a source of nightmare fuel for anyone who tunes in.&nbsp;

Polly Millner

Morgan Sinclair

Juan Minotta

Alexandre Nerzic

Big Buoy/lex Hag/ Jam

Sean Mayo

PIAS

Alternative Rock

Electronica

Ghostpoet 'I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep' by Thomas James

Ghostpoet--'I-Grow-Tired-But-Dare-Not-Fall-Asleep-'-by-Thomas-James

Thomas James drops the self-destructive new video for Mellah's Habit.&nbsp;Shot entirely during lockdown, the visual features many versions of the artist, who discover increasingly disturbing ways to hurt himself/themselves.&nbsp;From lemon juice in the eye to glass bottles smashed across the head, Mellah's clones just can't seem to break the habit - and all take huge pleasure in the pain.&nbsp;DoP&nbsp;Ruben Wooden Dechamps uses off-kilter framing and excruciating close-ups to match the perplexing and uncomfortable concept, and the use of&nbsp;sci-fi-esque lighting in the bridge adds to the offbeat vibe.&nbsp;

Vanessa Mc Donnell

Ruben Wooden Dechamps

Jax Harney

Rebecca Townsend

Kat Catteneo

Mellah 'Habit' by Thomas James

Mellah-'Habit'-by-Thomas-James

Obaro Ejimiwe aka Ghostpoet emerges from the darkness in this oozey, surreal&nbsp;nightmare directed&nbsp;by Thomas James.This is a change-up from James' usual emphasis on narrative, but it is such a singular&nbsp;visceral performance video that is has its own emotional impact. With Ejimiwe performing while covered at times in a treacle-like substance, it's&nbsp;viscerally, uncomfortably&nbsp;gooey - beautifully shot by Diana Olifirova.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Jamie Gamache

Connor O'Hara

OB Productions

Joe Starrs

Diana Olifirova

Dan Villanueva

Adam Farquharson

Simon Battensby

Cynthia Lawrence John

Jack Singer

Jonny Tully

Homespun

Amp; Big Buoy

Alice Clark

Richard

#039; Russell

#039;stretch

Lowkey Films

Jakob Gierse

Ghostpoet 'Concrete Pony' by Thomas James

Ghostpoet – Concrete Pony (Official Video)

The past and present collide in Thomas James's gripping video for Sam Fender.When a man steps into a social club, it soon&nbsp;becomes clear that his motive is linked to his teen years, and the events that traumatised him. James then expertly weaves the separate timelines through the video for Fender's intense song The Borders.Initially&nbsp;there is&nbsp;a distinct emphasis on the teenager, and&nbsp;a complicated co-dependent&nbsp;relationship with the&nbsp;boy who holds sway over him. James's work with young actors Ryan Nolan and Alex Draper&nbsp;means that this toxic relationship is&nbsp;utterly believable&nbsp;- with the added element of the bully's girlfriend, being the increasingly significant factor as events come to a head, in both flashback and 'present-day'.The inevitable confrontation with his old adversary - now apparently&nbsp;normal stand-up guy, still with the same girl - delivers its own unexpected twist. A really strong way to show the lasting damage created by a poisoned youth.

Ob Production Services

Evelin van Rei

Eve Carreno

Marco Alonso

Anastasiya Cherasyuk

John-Jo Besagni

Rhiannon Barry

Danielle Everitt

Semera Khan

Polydor

Sam Fender 'The Borders' by Thomas James

Sam-Fender--'The-Borders'-by-Thomas-James

Nightmarish visions and twisted pagan figures invade the mind of a teenage&nbsp;girl, in Thomas James's powerful video for The Amazons.This is a story&nbsp;in the tradition of British 'rural horror', and it's told with compelling conviction by James and his cast,&nbsp;particularly his lead&nbsp;Ceara Coveney. And the monster that threatens her sanity&nbsp;could come out of anyone's subconscious.&nbsp;

Andrew Rawson

Lee Thomas

Gavin Farlie

Luci Ellis

Becci Mapes

Owen O’Sullivan

Vlad Barin

Markus Lundqvist  

Carrie Sutton

Fiction

Ceara Coveney

CHEAT

Marshall Street Editors

The Amazons 'Doubt It' by Thomas James

The Amazons - Doubt It

Continuing their longstanding creative collaboration, Thomas James and Paloma Faith use the new video for Warrior&nbsp;to celebrate a number of human rights campaigners.LGBT activist Owen Jones, transgender Voice UK singer Jordan Gray,&nbsp;actor and playwright Rikki Beadle-Blair&nbsp;and many other inspirational figures&nbsp;feature in monochrome tones, each one a representative for their values within the community, and a call for equality and awareness.&quot;In this video Thomas James and I asked some incredible people we know or have met, who have either fought against all odds for what they believe to be right for the greater good, or survived the most profoundly heart wrenching obstacles,&quot; Paloma Faith has told Attitude magazine.&nbsp;&quot;The video is meant to be a testament to the human spirit.&quot;

Black Dog Films

Martin Roker

Aaron Reid

Eric Cooper

Dasha Taivas

Chris Young

Holly Wolfers

Sony

Paloma Faith 'Warrior' by Thomas James

Paloma-Faith-'Warrior'-by-Thomas-James

Continuing his collaboration with Nothing But Thieves, Thomas James followed the band on their recent US tour.Capturing snapshots of everyday America intercut with spoken word sections and clips from the band&rsquo;s live shows, James creates an ode to life on the road on Particles &ndash; which sees NBT at their most Buckley-esque.

Isiah Donté Lee

Richard Fenton

Olivia Jessop

Elizabeth Doonan

Nothing But Thieves 'Particles' by Thomas James

The second half of The Architect, Thomas James&#39; two-part sequence of videos for Paloma Faith, continues the story where it left off at the end of Crybaby: one boy cannot stand the oppressive regime of an institution that is &#39;creating&#39; the future leaders of a cruel totalitarian state. He flees and the supportive Paloma races after him.That sets off a chain of events explored in Guilty, where the cruel rulers of the Darwinian school that punishes any weakness or sensitivity in its students are faced with a revolt, and their demise.But if that is predictable, what happens after that is not. In a way, James ramps up the cruelty further, as the true Architect is revealed. But he also manages to maintain the sense of a pop video even as the narrative gets ever darker.

Christian Gill

Sam Holmes, Martin Roker

Benjamin Wearing

Alex Noble

Hair Designer

Lan Nguyen

James Wright

TenThree

Zoe Hockings

Paloma Faith 'Guilty' by Thomas James

Paloma-Faith-'Guilty'-by-Thomas-James

Paloma Faith returns with the first video from her new album The Architect, and the first&nbsp;of a two part collaboration with UKMVA-nominated Thomas James.For Crybaby, we&#39;re thrust into a brutal future society&nbsp;where young boys are drilled and bullied into their expected roles of hard, emotionless domination. A bit like going to an English public school. Paloma&nbsp;is one of the submissive maidens&nbsp;at the institution who develops a protective instinct for one of the more vulnerable boys.Paloma has commented: &ldquo;The lyrics are a conversation between a man and I, and the song questions whether global conflicts would cease to exist if men successfully dealt with their feelings.&nbsp;Would things be resolved without attack and with measured discussion?&rdquo;Thomas James has interpreted the lyrics in&nbsp;his distinctive dark narrative style, and having built the&nbsp;scenario with a series of harrowing scenes - intercut with Paloma&#39;s performance - he ends it on a cliffhanger. Everyone who watches this will want to watch part two.

Eamonn Hughes

Rebecca Luff

Alexander Cameron

Paloma Faith 'Crybaby' by Thomas James

Paloma-Faith-'Crybaby'-by-Thomas-James

Hurts&#39;s Theo Hutchcraft displays some impressive acting chops - and dance skills &ndash; in the powerful video for Ready To Go by Thomas James.Hutchcraft plays the role of bereaved partner in a mirror-image narrative. It&#39;s a&nbsp;sequence of scenes depicting the couple&rsquo;s passionate relationship, all choreographed and cleverly cut against parallel footage of the grief-stricken frontman at his late partners wake.The video, produced by Black Dog in partnership with LS Productions, was shot&nbsp;at various locations in and around Horwich and Bolton, Greater Manchester &ndash; Hurts&rsquo; home city. The two-day shoot required 26 cast members, one horse, three locations, one caravan, 30 live butterflies and several stunts.

LS Productions

Abi Atkinson

Elizabeth Webster

Anthony Neal

Alexandra Green

Nicci Topping

Seven 7 Management

Adrian Thomas

UNIT

Hurts 'Ready To Go' by Thomas James

Hurts - Ready to Go

Last year’s UK Music Video Awards saw the introduction of a new set of awards aimed squarely at up-and-coming directors who were creating music promos on a budget. Backed by mobile network, giffgaff, the five Newcomer awards attracted a huge range of creative work from undiscovered talent made for under £5,000 (or the equivalent in local currency).The eventual winners were a sweet choreographed love story for <a href="http://www.promonews.tv/videos/2016/07/01/will-joseph-cook-take-me-dancing-rafe-jennings/42192" target="_blank">Will Joseph Cook by Rafe Jennings</a>, an explosive portrait of childhood unruliness for <a href="http://www.promonews.tv/videos/2016/07/20/honeyblood-ready-magic-thomas-james/42558" target="_blank">Honeyblood by Thomas James</a>, a cinematic tour de force by <a href="http://www.promonews.tv/videos/2016/10/27/holy-fuck-tom-tom-michael-leblanc/44311" target="_blank">Michael Leblanc for alt-rockers Holy Fuck</a>, an unsettling puppet horror tale for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdiV-W7t9Fs" target="_blank">Jesse James Solomon by Noah Lee</a> and a trippy tale of raver-love for <a href="http://www.promonews.tv/videos/2015/09/21/beardyman-mountainside-lewis-rose/36907" target="_blank">Beardyman by Lewis Rose</a>&nbsp;(both pictured above at the UKMVAs16 ceremony).&nbsp;Ahead of the entry deadline for this year’s Newcomer Awards - the deadline for entries is next Wednesday August 2nd – we caught up with last year’s winners to find out what they had been up to since collecting their honours at the Roundhouse last October.&nbsp;It turns out that their&nbsp;output since then has been remarkably diverse. It's&nbsp;spanned music videos, short films, live music, advertising, branded content, even&nbsp;features. And there's much more still to come.Rafe Jennings[imgtoken data:1]Director Rafe Jennings initially won the chance to work with Warner-signing Will Joseph Cook through a brief on Radar for the track Girls Like Me. He followed up with a second video for the artist for Sweet Dreamer. And when he submitted another pitch through Radar, his most ambitious yet, for Take Me Dancing, Will snapped it up.A nomination at the Radar Awards last July gave Rafe the confidence to enter the video into the UKMVAs, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aUNZhzfPkE&amp;index=11&amp;list=PLT9fsRyDMMDl3i5uw2eAOFeaaX7c59D4q" target="_blank">his triumph in the Best Pop Video – Newcomer category</a> gave him a new level of recognition. He signed with director’s rep&nbsp;Chloe Page at Lock It In, and with her help he’s been working on a number of music video projects. Among them were a dance-based video for Rhys Lewis’ Living In the City (below),&nbsp;and a performance video for The Magic Gang in Brighton.[vidtoken data:0]More recently Rafe has been working with emerging artist Rebecca Dancer, on a promo filmed with a body rig, which will be out soon. Looking ahead, he says: "I'm excited about an upcoming comedy short and a campaign video for a car brand to be filmed in the autumn."&nbsp;Michael Leblanc[imgtoken data:2]Another director on the Lock It In roster, Michael Leblanc, was exploring solo directing after a stint with co-director Scott Cudmore when he won the chance to shoot an epic video for Canadian alt-rock band, Holy Fuck in Romania.Unable to attend the Awards last October due to his shooting schedule, Michael sent a heartfelt video message thanking his crew on the Romanian shoot. He went on the following month to direct a huge ensemble dance video for Wintersleep’s Spirit&nbsp;which won him nominations for Best Director and Best Alt Rock Video at the Canadian MMVAs in 2017.[vidtoken data:1]The following month he wrote and co-directed his first feature length film, Tenzin, about the Tibetan community in Toronto. More recently he’s directed his first solo feature length film, Homme Movie,&nbsp;entirely on Super 8. Not surprisingly this double-dip into low budget features has been keeing him busy ever since. "The only exciting projects on my plate at the moment are my two movies, which we'll be editing over the next 3 months!" he tells us.&nbsp;Noah Lee[imgtoken data:3]London-born, LA-based director Noah Lee took the Newcomer Video Urban award in 2016 with his music video for UK rapper Jesse James Solomon’s YPT. Noah's influence echoes both the "video store" generation of the 90's and the New Wave French and American filmmakers of the 1960's and 70's.&nbsp;In 2015 his first short film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at AFI FEST. Signed to international production company&nbsp;Pulse Films, Noah’s previous ventures in music video included two promos for Rejjie Snow. But it was the beautiful but unsettling YPT which won the judges’ attention.[vidtoken data:2]Earlier this year saw the release of Noah’s latest music video for Sonder’s Too Fast (above). A surreal depiction of a boy exploring his own domain, the dream-like visuals set in the Californian desert show the main character’s birth, life, death and then re-birth, with&nbsp;a parallel between the visuals and the sounds that echoes the parallel between the lead characters younger and older self.Thomas James[imgtoken data:4]Thomas James was already building a strong reputation for visually-creative music videos for artists including Fat White Family, Oh Wonder and Loom when Black Dog Films put his work forward for t<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRWYWzXd_MM&amp;list=PLT9fsRyDMMDl3i5uw2eAOFeaaX7c59D4q&amp;index=12" target="_blank">he Best Rock/Indie Newcomer video award.</a> His clip for Honeyblood’s Ready For The Magic&nbsp;saw him working in close collaboration with Honeyblood to face the twin challenges of directing the band and a cast of child actors in rural Scotland for a video which, as he explains, explores the explosive nature of infatuation.Since last October, Thomas has directed two music videos for Nothing&nbsp;But Thieves: Amsterdam&nbsp;(below) and the just-released Sorry, both big-scale projects shot in the Ukraine.&nbsp;[vidtoken data:3]He’s also directed Bliss, a short film featuring&nbsp;Steve Oram, the full version of which is going to be ready in the next month.&nbsp;Right now, Thomas is working on a series of short films, called Tender Omens, to be exhibited as part of a solo exhibition in October. The coming months will also see him focus on bigger budget music videos, advertising work and branded content. His directing career is properly up and running.Lewis Rose[imgtoken data:5]Finally, we caught up with Lewis Rose, director of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzruI1h7RrI&amp;list=PLT9fsRyDMMDl3i5uw2eAOFeaaX7c59D4q&amp;index=13" target="_blank">Newcomer Best Dance Video for ‘Mountainside’ by Beardyman</a>, in the middle of a hectic filming schedule.&nbsp;At the end of last year Lewis spent a couple of months touring film festivals - and scooping up lots more awards – with his short film&nbsp;<a href="https://vimeo.com/179445944" target="_blank">The Chop</a>, a comedy about a cocky kosher butcher who ends up working in a Muslim halal butchers.&nbsp;"It’s has been going down great," says Lewis.&nbsp;"I've also been doing lots of fiction writing... and of course, working on some great music videos."&nbsp;Lewis returned to videos earlier this year to make a clip for Joe Goddard of Hot Chip’s Home, a half live-action, half-animated piece which Lewis achieved working in collaboration with celebrated illustrator, Pete Fowler.[vidtoken data:4]As if that wasn’t enough, Lewis has just finished writing his first feature film. “It's very much mixing the worlds of music and comedy, like my Mountainside video," he says. "It's about a kid from a small mountain town in Snowdonia, who dreams of being a superstar DJ. We'll be putting the wheels in motion for production later this year. Should have a banging soundtrack!”&nbsp;And he continues to collaborate with Beardyman, both on live performances, and in narrative sketch writing. "That has been really fun - we always come up with awesome weird shit," says Lewis.&nbsp;"We should be doing another video later this year too so keep your eyes peeled for that!"Like his fellow 2016 winners, the UKMVAs Newcomer award win has acted as a launchpad for Lewis Rose. And there is still time for the next wave of directors to enter the Best Video Newcomer Awards at the UK Music Video Awards this year.&nbsp;&nbsp;To qualify, your video must have been made between 1st August 2016 and 31st July 2017 for a budget of £5k or less. To find out more visit <a href="http://www.ukmva.com/" target="_blank">the UKMVAs website</a>. You can sign up to receive more information about the Awards at info@ukmva.com.There are over 30 awards to enter at this year's UK Music Video Awards - check out all the categories. The entry deadline is next Wednesday, August 2nd. This year's UKMVAs takes place at the legendary Roundhouse in London on October 26th.[imgtoken data:6]&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Lewis Rose

Noah Lee

Michael Leblanc

UK Music Video Awards 2017: Newcomer Awards winners of 2016 on what they have done in the past year

Rhys Lewis - Living In The City

Wintersleep - Spirit (Official Video)

Sonder-'Too-Fast'-by-Noah-Lee

Nothing-But-Thieves-'Amsterdam-'-by-Thomas-James

Joe-Goddard-'Home-'-by-Lewis-Rose-&-Pete-Fowler-

Thomas James&#39;s second video for Nothing But Thieves sees band frontman Conor Mason in a state of reflection, whilst nothing less than the end of days unfolds around him.Shot in Kiev, and created on a similarly&nbsp;impressive scale as James&#39; previous NBT video for <a href="http://www.promonews.tv/videos/2017/05/22/nothing-thieves-amsterdam-thomas-james" target="_blank">Amsterdam</a>, Sorry is both satisfyingly simple and detailed. A range of&nbsp;reactions to the imminent Apocalypse is sketched through a series of vignettes where individuals resort to anger, sex and murderous revenge, as well as family love and passive&nbsp;acceptance in their final hours. All the while&nbsp;everything revolves around Conor Mason, who walks past the ensuing chaos in a regretful, apologetic mood under a beating sun, towards his fate.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&ldquo;Sorry is about getting older and the difficulties associated with it. It&rsquo;s about looking inwards and facing your demons,&quot; comments Nothing But Thieves&#39; guitarist Joe Langridge-Brown, who penned the track. &quot;The song hinges around a flawed individual who can&rsquo;t hold down a relationship, both to the detriment of themselves and their partner.&rdquo;Thomas James adds: &ldquo;The track to me felt like the last stop, a point in a relationship where you can be super honest, because it&rsquo;s the end. So we took that, and exaggerated it a teeny weeny bit, and went with the end of the world. If everyone has only got a couple of hours left &ndash; you&rsquo;re going to do and say exactly what you want. Whether that&rsquo;s poetic human honesty, or getting dominated one last time at a sex party.&rdquo;

Thomas James

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2 interviews featuring Thomas James

22 videos featuring Thomas James

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