Production Company

Crossroads Films

Big TV get back into promoland with a blockbuster for Biffy Clyro&#39;s Black Chandelier - hitting the net ahead of the release of the band&#39;s new album Opposites on Jan 28th. The veteran directing duo of Andy Delaney and Monty Whitebloom deliver a darkly cinematic treat oscillating between a band performance (punctuated by nasty, black gunge picking out the &#39;drip drip drip&#39; refrain), with scenes of black-painted hordes roaming the city and fleeing from the searchlights of hovering helicopters. With props to make-up artist Krystal Gohel and DP John Mathieson, Big TV&#39;s widescreen promo perfectly compliments Biffy Clyro&#39;s brand of melodic menace.&nbsp;

Big TV

Seany Stuart

Dulcie Kellett

Stephen Fylan

Brenden Barry/Andrew Richards

John Mathieson

Craig Bloory/Chin Okoronkwo

David Smith

Caroline Steiner

Caroline Harris

Stitch Editing

James Tillett

Jen Herrera

Leo King

NTSH London

Biffy Clyro 'Black Chandelier' by Big TV

Biffy-Clyro-'Black-Chandelier'-by-Big-TV

Fifteen months on from coming fourth in 2008's X Factor, the (some might say) quirky-voiced 'contestant most likely to' finally gets round to releasing a single. 
Slickly choreographed, styled and photographed - and more wardrobe changes than you'd get in a Gaga video - this glossy Harvey B Brown production suits Vickers' nu-pop direction.

Scott Clark

Adrian Wilde

Alison Elwin

Sam Jones

Mike O'Keefe

Diana Vickers’ Once by Harvey B Brown

Diana-Vickers’-Once-by-Harvey-B-Brown

Trudy Bellinger

Kwok Yau

Magni Agustsson

Fleur Egan

Zoe Irwin

Charlotte Reid

Alan Parks

Katherine Jenkins’ Bring Me To Life by Trudy Bellinger

Black Swan Song is about Athlete frontman Joel Pott's grandfather John, who recently passed away. He was a British paratrooper in WW2 who fought and was badly wounded at the Battle of Arnhem.
Mark Locke has managed an impressionistic but truthful re-creation of that terrifying experience on rather less than war movie-level resources. But this is really about character, not about glorifying battle, and for Mark - who's adept at thought-provoking, life-affirming work as his vids for Misty's Big Adventure and <a href="http://www.promonews.tv/2009/06/22/dinosaur-jr%e2%80%99s-over-it-by-mark-locke-%e2%80%93-who%e2%80%99s-signed-to-crossroads/">Dinosaur Jr</a> demonstrate - it was a personal journey too, as he explains below.
All proceeds from Black Swan Song - the single's out on 9th November - go the Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal, supporting all Armed Forces and their families, including those still making immense sacrifices today. 
There's also a short documentary by film-maker Richard Edkins currently being finished, which follows Joel Pott to Arnhem to retrace his Grandpa's footsteps. Richard did some Behind The Scenes filming for the video and the documentary idea grew out of that. Full doc out soon but a there's a short clip on YouTube <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watchv=LBJo9-1FMms">here</a>.


Mark Locke on the making of the video for Athlete's Black Swan Song
"Black Swan Song's about singer Joel's grandpa, John Pott, who recently passed away in his 80s, and so naturally Joel was keen for the video to be about him too. He has a really fascinating history - an officer in the paratroopers and a key figure in the Battle Of Arnhem in World War 2. Although no-one was sure how to recreate any of this on the budget, which wasn't huge!
"In fact there was more than enough in his grandpa's story for a feature film, let alone a music video, so my first job was to distill it down and take the essence of it - his bravery, the fact that he spent twenty hours wounded, thinking he was going to die, writing a letter etc etc - and make a story out of that.
"I also produced on this occasion, which was pretty stressful at times. I hadn't made a war film before and I was a bit worried it might turn into Apocalypse Now. In fact it did kind of turn into Apocalypse Now in music video terms - we were supposed to have a day and it took a day and a half!
"Casting-wise at one point it looked like Jamie Bell might play the lead, as he's a fan of the band, but we couldn't make his schedule work and in the end we went for talented up-and-coming people, which in a way makes it stronger I think. You instantly believe they're real people rather than thinking, 'Oh yeah, there's 'such and such famous actor' in a music video'.
"It was obviously an emotional project to work on, hugely personal for Joel and also quite personal for me too. My Dad was also in the Paratroopers and died when I was a small boy, although not in action - he fought in Kenya in the early 50s. So I've spent a lot of the last few weeks crying. I was even crying when I wrote the treatment! And I cried loads for the first couple of days of editing, when I first saw the images to the music. 
"I just couldn't stop thinking about the sheer amount of people who were killed and injured at that time and all the people who are still getting killed and injured today. All those families ripped apart forever. It doesn't get much heavier than that, does it"

Mark Locke

Sam Brown

Stuart Key

James Bamford

Liam Browne, N

Ross Anderson

Athlete’s Black Swan Song by Mark Locke

Athlete’s-Black-Swan-Song-by-Mark-Locke

VV Brown meets HB Brown, and they go to town with the outfits.
On a distinctly martial theme as it happens. In fact, it looks like they raided 'Military Uniforms, early to late 19th century' room at the V&amp;A for this one. That'll be Harvey drawing upon his fashion masters degree again...

Harvey on the making of....
"I love VV's music, not just her own material but also the stuff that she has written for other people. She wrote Denial for the Sugababes - and I shot the video. Game Over is about being strong and standing up for yourself when a relationship is going bad, and if you are going to call the shots like that we agreed that you have to look FIERCE!
"We both have a serious interest in fashion, and that was the thrust of the video. We wanted to create some amazing couture looks (on a budget... as always) and so we had to be very creative about materials.
"I had a fantastic close-knit team - myself, VV Brown, the amazing stylist Susie Coulthard and the help of award winning lettering artist Alison Carmichael. We also were lucky enough to be able to borrow some pieces from an artist called Walter Rafe (Walterworks) who makes clothes out of everyday objects.
"We ended up making things from paper and fake hair and sellotape as well as using vintage pieces for Alison to write all over. Luckily VV Brown is the kind of artist who can work a paper bag into a hot look. The fabrics were deliberately chosen to translate nicely on film, like rubber and scrunched cellophane.
"Making VV a soldier or even as strong as a 9ft brick wall. Strength was always fused with beauty, and even vulnerability (that was the thinking behind the ballerina outfit with one shoe). The choreography and post were kept simple and were used to give the sense that VV Brown is a one woman army marching on a mission.
"The shoot day consisted of lots of quick changes, a lot of rushing and drama, and then the pressure of getting each outfit shot in one or two takes before moving on. Adrian Wilde and his crew would be setting up the lighting for the next shot and then VV would appear in her new amazing outfit making an entrance from behind her changing screen. Each new outfit was met with applause and wolf whistles really creating that fashion show vibe."

Harvey B Brown

Scott Clarke

Adrian Wild

Ed Butcher

Susie Coulthard

Ian Mills

Simone Grattarola

Tamara Brookes

VV Brown’s Game Over by Harvey B Brown

Deep in the forest, the kids with groovy eye-shadow get down to party, in Tommy Sparks' new vid by Shelly Love. And then they turn their groovy eyes on full beam.
Shelly has recently joined Crossroads Films for music videos and commercials (and repped by OBmanagement) and she went to the Post Factory to execute her Lost Boys-style eye-headlight effect.
Nice night shooting too from Stein Stie, and fine edit from Cut &amp; Run's resident music video expert James Rose.

Shelly Love

Stein Stie

Pete Murray

Hiywet Ab

Oliver Garcia

Thom Ravnholdt

James Rose

The Post Factory

Bob Brimson

Tommy Sparks’ Miracle by Shelly Love

Mark has also directed the excellent new video for veteran grungers Dinosaur Jr. And who knew that J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph not only formed one of the great rock bands of the Nineties, but they're also awesome skaters and BMXers...
Okay, maybe not - but Mark and his experienced American crew (including skate/BMX camera legend Mike Manzoori) make the highly unlikely look genuinely convincing. And it's witty and warm-hearted for good measure. Lovely.
Btw, the new DJr album, <a href="http://www.play.com/Music/CD/4-/9480977/Farm/Product.html">Farm</a>, is out this week.


http://www.youtube.com/watchv=TgTJtdn6VjM[/youtube]

Mark Locke on making the video for Dinosaur Jr's Over It
"My idea for Over It probably started when I saw Dinosaur Jr play the UK after the reform in 2005. I hadn't seen any pictures of J in a long time and was quite taken aback by his mane of grey hair.
"It hit me that my heroes were actually getting older, like the rest of us, but at the same time still blowing bands half their age well away.
"It got me thinking about the ageing process (it doesn't take much these days!) and how when you get to a certain age a large part of society expects you to give up certain things. A lot of fun things, basically. Or at least they do where I'm from. Like at what age should you stop riding a BMX, stop skateboarding, stop playing ear-splitting music, etc, etc. So when I pitched on Over It my idea was about NOT being over it. About still doing whatever smokes your pole, whatever age you are.
"I also wanted to have some fun with how the press seem to focus on the band's history and certain members supposedly not getting on - to turn that on its head and show them getting on great, suggest that they're 'over' the past too.
"Originally I wanted all three on BMXs, then their management said J could skate a bit. Lou and Murph hadn't been on BMXs ever. Obviously we had stunt doubles and picked people who matched them in terms of looks and weight and shape.
"But we got lucky. Lou's double especially really looked a lot like him. There's a bit where he hops up on a wall and rides it - the stunt guy has exactly Lou's expression.
"But what helped was that the guys got into it. The big thing is the commitment on their faces. That's what makes it work. And they did a couple of things themselves. The daffy [riding two skateboards at once] - J can do that. It's him.
"We had to do it in the States while they were on tour. So the stunt doubles not only had to look like them, be great riders, but they had to go on tour with them. It was a big headache but we got there in the end, and what makes it was that it's shot by Mike Manzoori. He's a legend in skate filmmaking and he shoots from a skateboard himself. None of it was off a Steadicam or track, it was all from another skate. I shot second unit, doing the wideshots.
"We had four days, as they were touring through Florida. We basically had three hours each day with the band after they got up and before the sound check.
"It sounds like a lot of time for a promo but in the world of skate and BMX that's nothing. You can be there for hours just to capture one trick.. The crew were like 'you're having a laugh'!"

Brian Schwartz, Mark Locke, Mike Manzoori, Amy Abrams

Mike Manzoori

Kevin Duneman

Dinosaur Jr’s Over It by Mark Locke – who’s signed to Crossroads

Dinosaur-Jr’s-Over-It-by-Mark-Locke-–-who’s-signed-to-Crossroads

Howard Greenhalgh is back. And if that wasn't enough of a surprise, he's back with Placebo. Bloody hell, didn't Howard make the very first Placebo vids many moons ago
Probably. But For What It's Worth is also probably the best thing they've ever done together. Essentially everything gets labelled, which is both revealing and baffling. Indeed, thought-provoking - and it looks great.
What is clear that Brian Molko looks almost unfeasibly unchanged. Healthy even....

Howard Greenhalgh

Iain P

Andy Horner

Andy Blake

Vid Price

Prime Focus

John Moule

Placebo’s For What It’s Worth by Howard Greenhalgh

http://uk.youtube.com/watchv=rJEb-Oqst3o[/youtube]
Heeeeeeere's Johnny! Jonni Music, that is, with some enjoyable Razorlight frontman-spoofery, directed by Ben Taylor.
The Sun, a well-known daily newspaper not averse to a bit of Borrell-bashing, are <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/article2142159.ece">loving it</a>.

Ben Taylor

Jonni Music's Preoccupied By The War by Ben Taylor

Jonni-Music's-Preoccupied-By-The-War-by-Ben-Taylor

It's pop, but just like Trudy's vid for Sexy No No No, that palette of red and black gives the fantasy an almost noir-ish edge - accentuated by those mirrored rooms. And things do get broken.

http://uk.youtube.com/watchv=T5vkDo_dT3w[/youtube]

Fran Barnes

Denzil Armour

Victoria Adcock

Lisa Laud

Liz Martin

Quin Williams

Tom Russell

Girls Aloud’s The Loving Kind by Trudy Bellinger

Girls-Aloud’s-The-Loving-Kind-by-Trudy-Bellinger

A believable characterisation of modern young femalehood (and an enigmatic ending) gives Caswell's video for Nick Harrison's second single an edge - with a atmospheric look courtesy of Richard Mott's photography.
Caswell's also been working on an interesting new line in dance promos. It's the next new thing...

<a href="http://www.promonews.tv/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/nickharrison.jpg" rel="lightbox" title="Nick Harrison's Something Special by Caswell Coggins">
</a>

Caswell Coggins

Richard Mott

Darren Baldwin

Emily Tedrake

Nick Harrison’s Something Special by Caswell Coggins

Back with The Music following his video for Strength In Numbers, Chris Debney has retooled TRON completely in CGI for Spike, and supplies movie-quality thrills all the way.
Spectacular action, with a surprisingly lyrical (and leafy) epilogue, it's nothing less than a tour de force of 3D wizardry. Arguably Chris's greatest achievement thus far.

Chris Debney

Francesca Barnes

The Music’s Spike by Chris Debney

Caswell Coggins has directed five videos for The Feeling and his latest, for Join With Us, is probably the best of the lot. It's certainly the most interesting in terms of how it was made - and potentially most significant.
The band are a set of quintessentially English gentlemen, wearing natty Edwardian suits, acting up in an English park through rain and shine - until they discover a hidden funfair from a more modern era in a secret garden - and then break out their instruments for a climactic rock-out.
The band look relaxed - it's probably the best, most appropriate vehicle they've ever had - and with a song with a killer chorus that has already been exposed via a car commercial it's going to be a big success. Certainly you wouldn't guess, without prior knowledge, that it was subject to a very particular, and on the face of it highly unlikely set of restrictions. But the fact is the video is the result of a special challenge to shoot, edit and deliver the video within 24 hours.
On the morning of July 16th, London's Capital Radio breakfast show hosts Johnny Vaughan and Denise van Outen sent The Feeling on their way to the location in West London; exactly a day later the video was complete, and was delivered to Capital and Sky TV, where it was broadcast for the first time.
Last Sunday (Aug 3rd) the story of that 24 hours making the video was told on Channel 4's T4. But it's doubtful that the show dwelled on the most significant element of this project. Despite the involvement of Capital Radio and its owners GCap and several broadcasters, the most interesting (and lucrative) contribution came from Intel Computers, who sponsored it.
That sponsorship meant Caswell Coggins and his team at Crossroads Films had the budget to achieve something remotely watchable under those restrictions. They may have been lucky with the weather, but the most important fact was the budget was in the region of £80K. They brought in the funfair to the location at Osterley Park in West London. There was enough money for the essential pre-production, which made the "24 hour challenge" achievable.
But it also brought a challenge in itself. "We had to devise a system that would involve Intel's technology as an integral part of the technology used in the transfer and edit process," reveals Caswell. "The only way to achieve the video would be to shoot on a HD format in order to be able to transfer scenes as we shot - an editor was on set to be able to piece the video together as we went. Nevertheless I wanted to have a very cinematic look for the video so Richard Mott, my DoP, recommended the Red camera, with Cook 35mm prime lenses to achieve that look."
The production indeed devised a system, with the help of camera supplier Sonic Films, to transfer footage from the Red camera using Intel technology (the usual transfer system for Red footage is Mac-based). Editor Owen Oppenheimer was therefore able to cut the video as they went - with the help of an animatic made in pre-production.
Caswell was similarly obliged to shoot the board. "Barry Wasserman [1st AD on the shoot] asked if we could afford to lose any shots. I told him that would just leave holes in the video," he recalls. "But we decided to shoot the whole thing on a Steadicam which turned out to be a very good move."
He adds that the whole English gentleman concept had come from the band's love of the Beatles films - and the Monkees - with their inherent sense of fun. "On the day, they were brilliant," says Caswell. And the band even allowed him to do a sound edit on the track, so the guitar break near the end is lengthened.
When the shoot wrapped at 10pm, Owen and Caswell completed the edit until the early hours. Then they headed back into central London, to Rushes, where colourist Simone Grattarola executed a mastergrade on the edited video.
Simone has worked on each of Caswell Coggins' videos for The Feeling and he has revealed that, apart from having to start work at 4am, it was probably the easiest of the lot - due to the level of preparation and Richard Mott's gorgeous cinematography.
The video was actually completed at around 6.30am - a full hour before it was due to be delivered at Capital. Mission impossible was accomplished - and Caswell is aware he may be setting some kind of unholy precedent in the process. But he stresses the obvious point that the sheer quality of the clip - that wonderful film quality that Richard Mott's photography achieved for example - was because it was a video that was properly resourced.
"What a pleasure to have a sizeable crew," says Caswell. "What a difference it makes." So any future 'challenges' sponsored by major corporations are hugely welcome.
Ideas on a postcard...

Ben Ansell

Owen Oppenheimer

Rushes

Carmen Montanez

The Feeling’s Join With Us by Caswell Coggins

The Feeling reunite with Caswell Coggins: Turn It Up is Caswell's fourth video for the band.
It's a performance video on a big canvas with a cast of thousands. But probably not such a big budget. Just ask Kwok.

Carmen Montanez Callan

The Feeling’s Turn It Up by Caswell Coggins

Christian Debney - ex-Dirty UK, now at Crossroads Films - has come up with a thriller for The Music's anthemic comeback single.
The band's secret, spontaneous gig is attacked by the full force of an oppressive military regime in this widescreen blockbuster. 
Ironically, Dirty UK's new video for Flobots touches on similar themes. But here Chris creates some impressive CGI hardware, as in the very good (and largely unseen) viral for Foo Fighters' The Pretender he made last year.

Stuart Biddlecombe

James Morgan

The Music's Strength In Numbers by Chris Debney

Promonews Podcast

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