Director

Aoife McArdle

<h3>Released late last year, the video for Bicep's Water, featuring Clara La&nbsp;San, marked the return to music videos for director Aoife McArdle. The look of the mesmerizing clip required beautifully-crafted post&nbsp;work at Black Kite Studios in London. We spoke to Jonny Freeman, VFX Supervisor at &nbsp;Black Kite, about the challenges posed by the project.&nbsp;</h3>As a female patient on a hospital bed is transported through white corridors with no apparent destination, the video has a cinematic style and dreamlike tone that echoes Severence, the acclaimed Apple TV+ series released last year that Aoife McArdle worked on as director and producer. But it was made in very different conditions to the&nbsp;big-budget television drama.McArdle has a longstanding relationship with Black Kite, and Jonny Freeman explains how this required a very thoughtful and rigorously detailed approach by the studio’s VFX and Colour departments to achieve McArdle’s pristine vision.[vidtoken data:0]PROMONEWS:&nbsp;The relationship between Aoife McArdle and Black Kite runs deep, but&nbsp;how and when did you personally get involved in the Bicep project?&nbsp;And have you worked with Aoife before?JONNY FREEMAN: I became involved in&nbsp;the project at an early pre-production stage, after Aoife had a first draft of storyboards.Aoife and I had worked together earlier in the year on a project together that unfortunately is still to be released! But we did get know each other while shooting that project in Romania.<blockquote>Each camera move had to be carefully planned before a camera even made it on to the set.</blockquote>Did you attend the shoot? Was it everything shot in the same location?Yes, I was on location in an amazing old army barracks in Prague. Everything was shot on the same corridor and the rooms the film takes you into are scattered around the building.[imgtoken data:1][imgtoken data:2][imgtoken data:3]Above: An endless hospital corridor is created, via grade and green screen, in the Bicep 'Water' video&nbsp;&nbsp;What were the main challenges that you identified in the pre-pro and shooting stage? How much discussion and planning went on during this phase?&nbsp;The biggest challenge we faced was that the location layout of the hero corridor and rooms were not geographically next to each other. This meant we had to work out how to shoot the film to make it feel the camera was moving seamlessly between locations.This proved challenging due to the space we had to shoot in, so each camera move had to be carefully planned before a camera even made it on to the set. This ensured would be able to stitch shots together and make certain shots feel like one take.&nbsp;The second issue was the length of the corridor we had, knowing the final look was to feel as through the corridor was endless.[imgtoken data:4]&nbsp;&nbsp;[imgtoken data:5]Above: More VFX and grade work transforming the army barracks location to create Aoife McArdle's visionSo what was the full process for extending the corridors?When the schedule was being built for the shoot day we worked with the 1st AD to ensure we captured as much of the corridor as possible in clean plates and stills to build the corridor extension. This also meant we had to shoot using green screen at the end of the real corridor.Then back in London, the 3D team here at Black Kite created a Digital camera which we then used to rebuild and project new walls, floors and ceilings to create the endless corridor.How did you multiply rabbits, objects and people in the video?This was achieved by replicating the same camera move multiple times with each character, animal or object in a different part of the shot. We then would use roto to isolate the object or person on each plate and then place them into the hero plate for that shot. &nbsp;We did not have enough chairs on the day, so the decision was made to rebuild these&nbsp;in CG. While on the shoot I took some HDRI and camera information which the 3D team used to rebuild the chairs and place them in the shot.[imgtoken data:6][imgtoken data:7]Above: Multiplying bunny rabbits via rotoscope in the Bicep Water videoAnd it turns out that the corridor location was not the pristine off-white it appears in the video. How did you achieve that?I have to hand this one to our colourist George Kyriacou. George managed to pull so much out of the plates and push the look and feel to meet Aoife's vision.What about the atmospheric strobing shots?Most of these effects were shot in camera. So we just matched where necessary when extending corridors or transitioning into rooms.&nbsp;Was there anything that emerged as an issue that needed to be fixed during the editing and post stage?As the location was an old building that was somewhat derelict there was a lot of dirt, grime and general untidiness. There was some extensive clean-up done as well and some major help from the grade to really push the look of the location to give it the look and feel it needed.&nbsp;• Watch the BTS/Making Of Bicep's Water <a href="https://wdrv.it/0042a9692/grid/presentation/19940979/asset/130043699?" target="_blank">here</a>. &nbsp;

Jonny Freeman

Black Kite Studios

George Kyriacou

SMUGGLER

VFX Breakdown: Black Kite Studio's Jonny Freeman on Bicep's 'Water' video 

Bicep--'Water-Ft.-Clara-La-San-'-by-Aoife-Mcardle

Bicep ft Clara La San 'Water' by Aoife McArdle

Aoife McArdle returns to music videos, teaming up with Belfast's&nbsp;dynamic electronic producer/DJ duo Bicep to create a breathtaking music video that echoes the stylish TV series she helped create.Powered by signature Bicep production style of layered elements and beats in the track Water - with vocals by Clara La San -&nbsp;McArdle takes us on a trip where the essential drama of the scenario drifts into surrealism and eventually, existential absurdity.&nbsp;A female patient&nbsp;(played by Angela&nbsp;Nwagbo) is being transported by two hospital staff members&nbsp;on a hospital gurney down a pure white hospital corridor - which goes on&nbsp;and on. This, it becomes evident, is a journey with no end in sight - perhaps no end at all. What is the point of this journey, and apparent&nbsp;emergency? Is the patient, sometimes under a oxygen face mask, and then not, actually ill at all?Rooms adjacent to the corridor reveal odd arrangements&nbsp;that exacerbate the sense of dreamlike unreality. As the patient gains&nbsp;agency and the physical scope of the film starts to expand, each new location takes the form of a different stream of her consciousness.McArdle creates this psycho-drama through the beautifully crafted&nbsp;development of a visual aesthetic, which will be familiar to those who have seen&nbsp;Severance,&nbsp;the acclaimed&nbsp;Apple TV+&nbsp;drama that she has worked on as both director and producer&nbsp;- and which she discussed on The Promonews Podcast, earlier this year.As in the TV series, the pristine production design contributes&nbsp;to the sense of unease and dislocation. But here if anything McArdle&nbsp;gets the chance to break down the separation between recognisable reality and a surreal fiction even more - and play in the realm of the psyche.&nbsp;&nbsp;

United Kingdom

Ondrej Lipensky

Michelle Corney

Dasa Stefflova

Luca Chapman

Vasek Sejna

Maximilian Pittner

Elizabeth Doonan

Jakub Dvorak

Dan Vagenknecht

Michal Ralis

Zbynek Kunc

Dan Sherwen

Final Cut

Amy Richardson

Alexandra Vondrackova

Angela Nwagbo

Unit+Sofa

Dance

Electronica

A <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/0A1Cswb6ouLxKoEbnPTtgc?si=8fb33e8d6caa46db&amp;nd=1" target="_blank">new episode of&nbsp;The Promonews Podcast&nbsp;is out today</a>, featuring a director who has made outstanding music videos, commercials, longform work, and now a big budget TV drama series - Aoife McArdle.From emerging as a director in the early 2010s, Aoife McArdle has explored the boundaries of narrative filmmaking, in videos for the likes of&nbsp;Jon Hopkins, Wilkinson, U2 and Coldplay, in her debut movie Kissing Candice, and now in the distinctive tone and sensibility of the AppleTV&nbsp;show Severance,&nbsp;where she was both a director and producer, working with showrunner Ben Stiller and creator/writer Dan Erickson.Promonews's David Knight and Rob Ulitski&nbsp;had the chance to talk to Aoife about Severance - made entirely during the time of Covid restrictions - discussing her contribution in the show's aesthetic,&nbsp;and also her work with its leading actors, including Adam Scott and the remarkable Patricia Arquette.Then we looked back on some of the seminal music videos she made, from her solo directing breakthrough with Little Comets, to other videos that explored her Northern Irish background, including for U2, as well as the award-winning video for Jon Hopkins' Open Eye Signal. She also discusses her epic dystopian vision, greatly influenced by George Orwell's Animal Farm, for Coldplay, released just&nbsp;as the first lockdown began.&nbsp;&nbsp;<iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="232" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/0A1Cswb6ouLxKoEbnPTtgc?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius:12px" width="100%"></iframe>This is the latest episode of&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/7xlA6GsQtJfhtUsxNYiFYz" target="_blank">The Promonews Podcast: Talking Music Videos</a>, sponsored by&nbsp;<a href="https://looptalent.co.uk/" target="_blank">Loop Talent</a> - the 20th episode overall in the series that has just passed its first anniversary.The past year has seen the Podcast interview a range of creatives who are active making music videos right now. These include directors such as KC Locke, Milo Blake, Olivia Rose, Fred Rowson, Nathan James Tettey, Sophia Ray, Salomon Ligthelm, Kasper Häggström,&nbsp;Lucrecia Taormina, and Louis Bhose.Other recent interviewees include DoP Rick Joaquim, director's rep Sam Davey, director Sam Brown talking about working with Adele, and Andy Morahan discussing his wild times with Guns 'n Roses, on the 30th anniversary of his video for November Rain.&nbsp;Other interviewees include RUFFMERCY, Mayling Wong,&nbsp;Rik Burnell, Regina Meessen, Lee Fairweather, Adam Singodia and Vlad Barin.• Listen to&nbsp;The Promonews Podcast&nbsp;with Aoife McArdle&nbsp;on&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/0A1Cswb6ouLxKoEbnPTtgc" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, and other platforms.

The Promonews Podcast: new episode with Aoife McArdle out now!

Aoife McArdle channels George Orwell's Animal Farm in her outstanding satire of our post-truth world, for Coldplay's Trouble In Town. &nbsp;In this fast-moving story&nbsp;an&nbsp;ensemble of anthropomorphic characters' lead&nbsp;interwoven lives on the mean streets of an anonymous American city. Tackling issues such as homelessness, racial and social inequality and police brutality, we follow members of the underclass&nbsp;as they try to survive in a spectacularly messed-up system. The use of animals such as foxes for these characters is an inspired choice, given their urban habitat and often desperate living situation, which is in total contrast to the wealthy politicians, represented (as in the Orwell classic) by pigs.As the normal residents risk their lives day-to-day to just exist, we see the pigs on screen arguing and coming to blows with each other. This disrespect trickles down to the police and other positions of power, in a distressing setup that echoes&nbsp;real-life shootings of those such as Alton Sterling and other black men who were murdered by the police.With Kiev standing in for this threatening urban landscape,&nbsp;DoP&nbsp;Mauro Chiarello utilises the neon glare of the city as a main lighting source, building upon the gritty urban aesthetic with a splash of garish colour. UK-based SFX company Millenium FX created each of the prosthetic masks on display in the video, a true testament to the creative&nbsp;team's&nbsp;talent and the incredible potential that exists in international collaboration.But above all this is a triumphant return to music videos by McArdle in making a blockbuster-style entertainment without&nbsp;compromising her satirical targets.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Proceeds from the song and video will be split between two charities:&nbsp;The Innocence Project, which helps to overturn wrongful convictions in the US;&nbsp;and ACFS, which is a charity for vulnerable children in South Africa.&nbsp;

Alex Chamberlain

Somesuch

Saskia Whinney

Lucy Bradley

Mauro Chiarello

Simon Bourne

Framestore

Millenium FX

Cinelab Film and Digital

Alternative

Coldplay 'Trouble In Town' by Aoife McArdle

Coldplay-'Trouble-In-Town'-by-Aoife-Mcardle

For the first time, Aoife McArdle gives us a story about the Troubles. The director, who comes from Omagh in Northern Ireland, and grew up during the final years of the tumultous, devastating Ulster sectarian conflict, has never before directly addressed the subject in her work.She&#39;s been getting closer. Last year&#39;s video for Wilkinson&#39;s Half Light&nbsp;was a contemporary story set in Belfast, and capturing the grit and&nbsp;vibrant humanity of the city. But perhaps it needed a band of the level of U2 to inspire a way to tell a story set in the time of the Troubles. The result is an epic.With Every Breaking Wave as its bedrock - in two different versions &ndash; this is a&nbsp;love story across the religious divide. Set in the early 1980s, teenage energy and passion becomes increasingly overshadowed and suffocated by the machinations of an all-pervasive conflict. And all of the frenzy, fear and the horror of living through those times is conveyed in a series of&nbsp;stunning set-pieces.From a director whose work always comes from the heart, this is her most ambitious, most emotional, most heartfelt work yet.&bull;&nbsp;Aoife talks about the making of the Every Breaking Wave film on <a href="http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/premiere-every-breaking-wave-a-film-by-aoife-mcardle" target="_blank">The Creator&#39;s Project blog</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Ireland

Sally Campbell

Tim Nash

Tash Tan

Nick Goldsmith

Chris Martin

Leanne Flinn

Steve Annis

Derek Walker

Gillian Deveney

Richard Glenholmes

Maggie Donnelly

Shelley Blair

Amanda Black

Paul George

Patch Rowland

Darran Nicholson

Island Records

Rock

U2 'Every Breaking Wave' by Aoife McArdle

"Every Breaking Wave" - A Film by Aoife McArdle

Aoife Mcardle&#39;s hugely watchable promo for Bryan Ferry&#39;s Loop De Li focuses on a group of over-indulged youths where their excessive behaviour gets out of hand with tragic consequences...

Denna Cartamkhoob

Sophie Dewey

Daniel Smith

Ran Geffen

Roland

Rik Burnell

Benedict Lack

Samuel Waters

Sara Sensoy

Candy Alderson

Tom Grove Carter

Trim Editing

Andrew Mcklintock

Paul O'Brien

Samuel Woodhams, Matthew Winters, Martine Lervick, Imola Fedor, Linnea Pihil, Chris Broadbridge

Faye Purcell

Bmg Chrysalis

Bryan Ferry  'Loop De Li' by Aoife Mcardle

Aoife McArdle documents the tale of two lovers who meet for a one night stand&nbsp;in the&nbsp;promo for Wilkinson's club stormer Half Light.&nbsp;Shot in and around Belfast, with some compelling and cinematic shots of the city, the director cast local talent Diarmuid Noyes&nbsp;and Joanna Nixon to play the loved-up couple who find that they can't get enough of each other – even stopping off for some how's-your-father on a church altar...That's certainly a controversial moment, but this is essentially a sweet story in a gritty setting.

Darren Chesney

Ciara Winnington

Andy Mclintock

Diarmuid Noyes

Joanna Nixon

Mark Fields

Conor Doran

Michael O'Boyle

Sony Music

John Moule

Wilkinson 'Half Light' by Aoife McArdle

Wilkinson - Half Light ft. Tom Cane

Cavalier is the first part of an ambitious trilogy of videos directed by Aoife McArdle&nbsp;for James Vincent McMorrow&#39;s new album Post Tropical, shot in a struggling community in California.&nbsp;It&#39;s a portrait of a young man on a binge of drink, drugs and women at a poledancing club - the response to an emotional pain that becomes clear at the end.Aoife and her actor explored&nbsp;method acting techniques to achieve this anguished&nbsp;performance.&nbsp;And Aoife was also reunited with DoP Steve Annis, winner of the Best Cinematography in a Video at this year&#39;s UK MVAs for his work on the McArdle-directed video for <a href="http://www.promonews.tv/videos/2013/04/30/jon-hopkins-%E2%80%98open-eye-signal%E2%80%99-aoife-mcardle" target="_blank">Jon Hopkins&#39; Open Eye Signal</a>.&nbsp;

Colonel Blimp

Good Company

Tamsin Glasson

Brian Welsh

Alexis Johnson

Robby Hart

Daniel Wurchsel

Eli Berg

Nghia Khuu

Julien Janigo

Freddie & Joe

Simone at Blink Ink

Harry Barbour at Blink Studio

James Vincent McMorrow 'Cavalier' by Aoife McArdle

89668228

Aoife McArdle&rsquo;s very cool video for Jon Hopkins&rsquo; Open Eye Signal is a road movie with a difference; it charts the journey of a lone skateboarder through the awesome landscapes of the American West to the soundtrack of Hopkins&rsquo;s epic track.What appears to be the start of a narrative as the skateboarder, played by Chris Chann, with face beaten up, jumps onto his board and heads off, turns out to be simply about the journey itself, introduced with a minute-long opening shot &ndash; increasingly existential, occasionally surreal. As the skater passes through suburbia, desert and coastline, it becomes all about the absorbing visual enjoyment of the journey &ndash; and the Zen-like demeanour of the skater, like an earthbound Silver Surfer.This highly cinematic visual accompaniment to the hypnotic pulse of Open Eye Signal was achieved with superb photography by Steve Annis, and assured direction by Aoife McArdle, who quietly keeps turning out marvellous videos&hellip;

Ben Molyneux

Chris Chann

James Tillett

Domino

Jonny Bradshaw

Jon Hopkins ‘Open Eye Signal’ by Aoife McArdle

Jon Hopkins "Open Eye Signal" (Official Music Video)

Following hot on the heels of Jack Featherstone &amp; Will Samuel's promo for Simian Mobile Disco's <a href="http://www.promonews.tv/2012/04/05/simian-mobile-disco-cerulean-by-jack-featherstone-will-samuel/" target="_blank&quot;">Cerulean</a>, the band turn to Aoife McArdle to direct the video to new track Seraphim.
Described by McArdle as "a panorama of obsessive behaviour", the promo charts various characters displaying the modern condition known as OCD, perfectly marrying the hypnotic and repetitive nature of the soundtrack...

Amber Millington

Agile Films

Julie Moniere / Nicolas Martin

Charlie Lambros

Sam Ostrove

Mikey Rossiter

OB Management

Simian Mobile Disco 'Seraphim' by Aoife McArdle

Simian-Mobile-Disco-'Seraphim'-by-Aoife-McArdle

Tom Allen

Paul Newton

Veronique Pinot

Lucy Sanderson

Clock Opera

Guillermo Ramos

Clock Opera 'Lesson No. 7' by Aoife McArdle

Lesson No. 7 - Clock Opera

The video for guitar-slinging chanteuse Anna Calvi's Desire (the second single from her acclaimed self-titled debut album) by Aoife McArdle is a blistering performance with a supernatural overtones. 
"I really find Anna's music inspiring and atmospheric," says Aoife, "You can really feel her cinematic influences and I could see a lot of the imagery in my head the first time I heard the track. My approach was based around the idea of tension and release, which I think is very consciously present in her music. 
"I wanted to create a striking contrast between the claustrophobia of the interior spaces in the build-up, and then the release of exterior spaces on the climaxes....Then as the drama of the track escalates the two states intermingle. 
"Anna's performance is really strong, elemental and even subtlety demonic - like she might be in control of it all... The whole thing was also a nice excuse to play with dark symbolism and exercise the inner goth!"

Lauren Grant

Steve Blundell

Vid Price

Finish

Anna Calvi 'Desire' by Aoife McArdle

Anna-Calvi-'Desire'-by-Aoife-McArdle

Shot on the Canon 5D and 7D, Aoife McArdle's adventurous promo for Little Comets' Joanna is part-music video and part-social experiment.
Hundreds of 'Joannas' were tracked down around the UK by McArdle and a small production team looking for the most interesting participants. The week-long shoot aimed to show off the girls' individual vitality - but sometimes their striking similarities contrasted with their varied backgrounds...

Rebecca Sherab

Julie Moniere

Little Comets' Joanna by Aoife McArdle

Little-Comets'-Joanna-by-Aoife-McArdle

Mixing genuine photojournalism with stunning tilt and shift footage this is emotional, evocative, a mini-epic.

Paul Ross Newton

Thomas Grove Carter

Florian Viale

Little Comets’ The Isles by Aoife McArdle

Little Comets - Isles

An object lesson in stock footage usage by Aoife McArdle of Aoife, Chris &amp; Grant Too - the directing team formerly known as Minivegas - for new band Clock Opera.

Guy Connolly and Andy West

Clock Opera’s White Noise by Aoife McArdle

Clock-Opera’s-White-Noise-by-Aoife-McArdle

Aoife McArdle

Director

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