Cinelab Film & Digital returns as sponsor of Best Pop Video UK at the UK Music Video Awards, held this Thursday (October 26th), after a year when Cinelab's involvement in bringing music videos to the screen has been greater and more crucial than ever - and in the year when the 16mm film format, much loved by music video directors, celebrates an important landmark.

With an unstinting enthusiasm amongst directors and cinematographers to shoot promos on film, Cinelab's film processing and scanning service continues to be an important destination for numerous music video makers at all levels of the business. Cinelab have also expanded their service offering in recent years, adding a multitude of digital postproduction services. 

An increasingly popular choice is Cinelab's DFD (Digital-Film-Digital) process, where digitally acquired footage is transferred to celluloid film, processed and then scanned back to digital, with a real film look applied.

"This really helps enhance the look of the promo," says Thom Trigger, marketing manager at Cinelab Film & Digital. "For example last year’s UKMVA best grade winner Little Simz's Point & Kill benefited from Cinelab’s DFD process."

Nominated videos at this year's UKMVAs includes both videos shot on film and processed at Cinelab, plus two videos that went through the DFD process at Cinelab, to look like they were shot on film: Lewis Capaldi's Forget Me and Harry Styles' Satellite (below). 

The company has also recently launched a Digital Dailies Drop for digital shortform productions, including music promos. Trigger explains that this is an extension of the normal service that they would provide for film-shot videos, in this case to remove the stress of data management of files on set. 

“Dailies Drop works just like our film service,” he says. “At the end of your shoot, you simply arrange a drop-off of your media to Cinelab and our team will take care of the rest. We ensure rapid dailies creation, prompt editorial delivery, and industry approved archiving and validation of all digital media assets.”

We are very proud to have played a part in the resurgence of 16mm film.

Meanwhile Cinelab's much-respected film service has been involved in numerous music promos in the UK and beyond during the past year - with many featured on the Cinelab Film & Digital page on Promonews. Most of those were, of course, shot on 16mm film - a format that celebrates its centenary this year.

As Thom Trigger points out, only a few years ago the format looked in serious decline as a result of the digital explosion, so the idea of reaching such a landmark looked unlikely. "16mm is back as a favoured format for promos - its usage is on the rise again," he says. "If it wasn’t for companies like Cinelab, it may well have died off a decade ago. We are very proud to have played a part in the resurgence of the format."

Below is a list of the nominated videos at the UK Music Video Awards 2023 that CInelab were involved with, both in film processing and in the DFD process.

UKMVAs 2023 x Cinelab Film & Digital nominations

AntsLive - Number One Candidate

Director: Tom Emmerson
DoP: Isaac Eastgate
Prod co: Emmerson Films
UKMVA23 nominations: Best Hip Hop/Rap/Grime Video UK, Best Cinematography in a Video, Best Performance in a Video

Beabadoobee - Glue Song

Director/DoP: Jacob Erland
Prod co: OB42
UKMVAs23 nomination: Best Pop Video Newcomer

Grace Carter - Pick Your Tears Up

Director: Iggy London
DoP: Christian Huck
Prod co: Park Pictures
UKMVA23 nominations: Best R&B/Soul Video UK

Harry Styles - Satellite

Director: Aube Perrie
DoP: Chris Ripley
Prod co: Pulse Films
UKMVAs23 nominations: Best Pop Video UK

L.A. Priest - It's You

Director: Eoin Glaister
DoP: Peter Bishop
Prod co: Stink Films
UKMVAs23 nominations: Best Alternative Video UK

Lewis Capaldi - Forget Me

Director: Louis Bhose
DoP: Spike Morris
Prod co: Agile Films
UKMVAs23 nominations: Best Pop Video UK

Riton ft Soaky Siren - Sugar

Director: So Me
DoP: Matias Boucard
Prod co: Iconoclast
UKMVAs23 nomination: Best Dance/Electronic Video UK

Travis Scott - Sirens

Director: Travis Scott
DoP: Tim Lorentzen
Prod co: CANADA
UKMVAs23 nomination: Best Hip Hop/Rap/Grime Video International

Yves Tumor - Echolalia

Director: Jordan Hemingway
DoP: Jeremy Valender
Prod co: Ground Work
UKMVAs23 nominations: Best Production Design in a Video, Best Styling in a Video

070 Shake - Black Dress

Director: Noah Lee
DoP: 
Prod co: FRIEND
UKMVAs23 nomination: Best Alternative Video International

• Cinelab Film & Digital is sponsoring Best Pop Video UK at the UK Music Video Awards 2023, which takes place this Thursday, October 26th.