Director

David M. Helman

David M. Helman directs a superb study of interconnected lives&nbsp;for American Football's cover of Mazzy Star's classic Fade Into You.&nbsp;Focused on a series of captivating vignettes, the video for Fade Into You captures transitionary moments in seemingly random characters'&nbsp;lives. But then the scenes reveal themselves to be like beads on a chain: a&nbsp;background character in a scene moves centre stage into the next one, then passing the baton onto the next character.[imgtoken data:1]Helman's method - each scene is a beautifully-shot portrait, with a slow zoom moving closer to the characters - is a wonderful device to create a sense of a narrative, but also hint at something rather more profound. Reality and a touch of surreality sit side-by-side, mirroring the serendipitous nature of life and who we meet on our journeys.&nbsp;This is terrific work, that&nbsp;lingers long after watching - the sign of a very good video indeed.

United States

Jen Dunlap

Cristian Quintero

Mouthpiece

Noco

Ben Joyner

Hayden Mason

Jean Mougin

Ryan Deng

Benjamin Steen

Stacy Gonzalez

Zaldy Lopez

Kaitlyn Battistelli

Ethos Studio

Alternative

Rock

American Football ft Miya Folick 'Fade Into You' by David M. Helman

American-Football--'Fade-Into-You-'-by-David-M.-Helman

Things are not what&nbsp;they seem in David M. Helman's video for James Vincent McMorrow, which follows a happy-go-lucky twentysomething on his way to Hollywood.&nbsp;Opening with a quote from the oracle that is Nicolas Cage, the quirky promo follows an aspiring actor - played by fellow music video director&nbsp;Ezra Ewen - who is trying to find his feet in the city.&nbsp;With all the gear but no idea, Ewen broadcasts his newfound "success" to his followers on Instagram, and we follow the mishaps and stumbles on the&nbsp;journey to his first project... a self-tape casting for a shady Craiglist advert.&nbsp;A scene that really stands out is the drunken dancing down the Hollywood Walk of Fame, another nod to Nicolas Cage in the film&nbsp;Leaving Las Vegas.&nbsp;Beautifully shot by&nbsp;Hayden Mason, the picturesque charm and wonder of Los Angeles is a perfect backdrop to the narrative, and the&nbsp;use of mobile phone footage and montage style edits creates a hyperactive and frenetic feel.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Ireland

Aiden Magarian

Kode

Nathan Killham

Carlos Laszlo

Nick Rondeau

Work Editorial

Aubrey Woodiwiss

Carbon

Ezra Ewen

Dan Millar

Singer songwriter

James Vincent McMorrow 'I Should Go' by David M. Helman

James-Vincent-Mcmorrow--'I-Should-Go-'-by-David-M.-Helman

New Kode signing David M. Helman directs an explosive performance video for Inhaler's We Have To Move On.&nbsp;In a packed out venue, the Dublin natives perform amongst waves of energetic revellers, hanging&nbsp;on vocalist&nbsp;Elijah Hewson's every word.&nbsp;DoP Joel Honeywell utilises VHS&nbsp;to create a grainy, DIY aesthetic, elevated through experimental camera movements and a frenetic pace.&nbsp;It's a brilliant, boundary-pushing promo with plenty of flair and elements of Helman's trademark style shining through - even more so, in fact, in this&nbsp;Director's Cut .&nbsp;

Jack Goodwin

Frankie Willcock

Joel Honeywell

Zoe Koperski

Paul O'Reilly

Britt Carson

Indie Rock

Inhaler 'We Have To Move On' by David M. Helman 

Kode Media have announced the signing of music video and commercials director David M. Helman to their roster in the UK, and has completed his first project at his new home, a music video for&nbsp;BBC Music Sound of 2020 band, Inhaler.Helman is renowned for his music video work that&nbsp;blends surreal and visually arresting images with nuanced narrative for artists such as Vince Staples, The Weeknd, James Vincent McMorrow, Gucci Mane, Michael Kiwanuka and Travis Scott.&nbsp;The <a href="https://kodemedia.com/directors/david-m-helman?view=we-have-to-move-on-directors-cut" target="_blank">new video for Inhaler's We Have To Move On</a>, shot earlier this year in London,&nbsp;is an example of his ability&nbsp;to combine performance with conceptual cinematography techniques, in his first predominantly&nbsp;band performance video.He also signs to Kode following the launch of his latest commercial project for Jordan, which adds to his ever growing commercial projects, having previously worked with brands such as Puma, GQ, Fox Sports and Havana Club Rum. “We’ve been fans of David’s work for years," says Kode Media MD Alex Harman. "He and I had been chatting for some time, and we finally met in LA last year. We were keen to get a project under our belts before tying the knot, so I’m pleased to now be launching David off the back of his recent promo with Inhaler. It was a lot of fun having him here shooting in London with us in January, it’s great to have him part of the Kode Family.Helman adds:&nbsp;“The team at Kode has an undeniable energy and a real drive for excellence that is infectious. I'm incredibly excited to be working with the Kode team in the UK.”• Watch David M Helman's showreel at Kode Media <a href="https://kodemedia.com/directors/david-m-helman" target="_blank">here</a>

Kode Media

David M. Helman joins Kode for UK representation

David M. Helman strips it all the way back for this gritty, instinctive performance video, starring French-British rapper Octavian and Smoke Purpp in a throng of phone-waving supporters.Last seen directing an ambitious four-part video project for shey baba, Helman has gone back to basics for this visual, designed around the simple social dynamic of a filmed performance. The video is shot on 35mm, but it takes cues from the rough-and-ready style of old school SBTV freestyle videos -&nbsp;lit entirely by phone torches.In spite of this lo-fi process, the video looks luminescent, thanks to inky photography by Hayden Mason and a nuclear grade by Houmam Abdallah.

Jared Lundy @ Checkmate Films

E-Class

Olesya Golub

Houmam Abdallah

Velem

Exile Edit

Laura Jones @ Representt

Black Butter

Octavian 'Take It Easy' by David M. Helman

Octavian-'Take-It-Easy'-by-David-M.-Helman

David M. Helman&#39;s ambitious four-part video for new artist shey baba reflects upon the ages of one man, his memories, transcending the past, and finding love.Shot in Kiev, with cinematography by James Laxton (who also shot Moonlight), Helman creates a powerful interconnected vehicle for Requiem, the LA singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist&#39;s debut album.In each part, Helman focusses on the individual at different ages of his life&nbsp;- he&#39;s a boy in Born Sick, a young man in Vertigo, the older man looking back in Requiem; and then we return to the young man, with his partner, for the uplifting I Want It All. And throughout, baba himself is a mysterious additional presence, performing each song.[vidtoken data:0][vidtoken data:1]&nbsp;This four video project also was executive produced by Claire Stubbs - her last as EP before becoming full-time directors&#39; representative of the rosters of Partizan and the new division Darkroom, under the title of &rsquo;New Business Music Videos &amp; Creative Content&rsquo;. Mayling Wong, staff producer of numerous Partizan videos over the past couple of years, is now&nbsp;Executive Producer Of Music Videos at Partizan and Darkroom.

United Kingdom

Richard Wilson

Partizan

Claire Stubbs

Joe Browne

James Laxton

Jojo King

Nomad Editing Company

James Hackett

Virgin EMI

shey baba 'Born Sick', 'Vertigo', 'Requiem', 'I Want It All' by David M. Helman

shey baba - Requiem

shey baba - I Want It All

Shey-Baba-'Born-Sick-/-Vertigo-/-Requiem-/-I-Want-It-All'-by-David-M.-Helman

Jordan Max rides his motorbike into the wide open, empty spaces of Wyoming, in David Helman&#39;s richly atmospheric video for two tracks from Max&#39;s album Tales Of Us.&nbsp;In the first part, for Me, Mary, My Guitar, Max&#39;s journey takes him through the plains, from day to night, and arriving in Wind River, WM.In Kingdom, elements of a narrative add heft to the atmosphere, and Max&#39;s performances. There&#39;s&nbsp;a girl, a payout at an Indian reservation casino, an assignation&nbsp;at a gas station.But mainly Helman keeps the narrative tantalisingly out of reach, so we focus on Max&nbsp;and his existential loneliness.

Whitney Jackson

Trevor Wineman

Soul

Alt Soul

Jordan Max 'MMMG' & 'Kingdom' by David M. Helman

Jordan-Max-'M.m.m.g-&-Kingdom'-by-David-M.-Helman

MØ takes to life on the ocean wave, with Diplo and&nbsp;other pals, in David M Helman&#39;s video for Sun In Our Eyes.&nbsp;Helman&#39;s video&nbsp;takes a romantic idea - a group of friends sailing away to create their own perfect world on distant shores - and then grounds it in a more realistic dramatic setting, with the group being transported&nbsp;on a distinctly unromantic, working trawler.&nbsp;But there is also a sense of serenity, and the setting entirely suited to&nbsp;MØ&#39;s unfussy&nbsp;personality.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&ldquo;Sun In Our Eyes&nbsp;is a love song - it circles the subject of being unwilling to accept the truth,&quot; she says. &quot;You wanna keep riding the high even though you deep down know it might be wrong and that it&rsquo;s all a self-made illusion. This theme is what the video is inspired by, and it is also one of the subjects my forthcoming album Forever Neverland is dealing with.&quot;

Audrey Davenport

Billy Cummings

Nick Mccarthy

Benjamin Loeb

Rory O'riordan

Peter Delaney

Howard G Steel

Steve Kingston

Aldene Johnson

Scott Butzer

Cabin Edit

Audrey Woodiwiss

Mentl Studio

Elizabeth Doonan

Columbia Records

Sarah Corcoran

MØ ft Diplo 'Sun In Our Eyes' by David M. Helman 

Zayn&#39;s music video persona - diffident, lonesome, absolutely irresistable to girls - may well be the real guy for all I know. It certainly gets a proper burnishing in David Helman&#39;s excellent video for Entertainer.There&#39;s the right balance in this Miami-set drama of atmosphere, romance and peril, as Zayn visits the workplace of the girl with whom he&#39;s having an affair, who is involved with people that neither of them should be messing with.Shot on 16mm, there is a gritty and seedy element mixed with the obvious fantasy that makes it a gripping as well as glamourous.&nbsp;

Cameron Boling

Guido Fodale

Anthony Zubelli

Andres Ramires

Frank Lemaire

William Pierce

Jason Rembert

Shannon Pezzetti

Rory Aledort

Laura Jones @ Partizan

Caroline Clayton

RCA Records

Zayn 'Entertainer' by David M. Helman 

Vince Staples is in a spot of bother but doesn&#39;t appear to be all that vexed by the situation in David M. Helman&#39;s latest clip.Staples, the only man aboard a small boat sinking in the middle of the ocean seems to have either accepted his fate or really knows how to keep calm under pressure as he raps along and awaits the inevitable. With nothing around for miles, a minimalist blue and white colour palette and a wash of serenity from Staples&#39; performance - the clip feels meditative, almost zen-like, in its presentation. Even when the boat is surrounded by sharks, or a distress flare is shot into the night sky.

Jeff Kopchia

Laura Jones

Alec Contestabile

Arcade Edit

Brewster Parsons

Andy Mac

Def Jam

Vince Staples 'Big Fish' by David M. Helman 

David Helman&#39;s video for Michael Kiwanuka is a delirious&nbsp;and beautiful film about&nbsp;bonding and transformation.Starring Keith Stanfield (of Get Out, Straight Outta Compton, and Atlanta fame), the video depicts two young men in the suburbs as they beckon in a cleansing storm. The world seems lonely, as if these two only have each other. A great tenderness is given to the performances, something only underlined by the intimate, voyeuristic nature of the cinematography.On the face of it, this video is merely an aimless drive around an empty town, but on subsequent views the poetry between the scenes becomes more apparent.&nbsp;

Sam Green

Bex Crofton-Atkins

Kris Smale

MPC LA

Electric Theatre Collective

Jimmy L Perry Iii

Lakeith Stanfield

Emily Tedrake

Polydor

Michael Kiwanuka 'Cold Little Heart' by David M. Helman

Michael-Kiwanuka--'Cold-Little-Heart-'-by-David-Helman

David M. Helman collaborates again with James Vincent McMorrow on this moody, subtle character study.Shot in black and white with a 4:3 aspect ratio &ndash; excellent work by DoP Dustin Lane &ndash;&nbsp;the clip takes a dark turn early on when the protagonist takes a huge fall whilst skating. From there onwards the video studies the young inner-city friend group whilst this brooding pain (both physical and metaphorical) hangs overhead. Subtle low rumbling murmurs of sound design enhance the darker moments of this clip.

Kevin Staake

Ryen Bartlett

Dustin Lane

Arcade

Jason Wallis

Pomp &amp; Clout

James Vincent McMorrow 'Get Low' by David M. Helman 

Gucci Mane, Travis Scott and Harmony Korine torch a floating car with the help of David M. Helman.Perhaps torching a car in this video is Helman&#39;s catharsis after <a href="http://www.promonews.tv/videos/2016/09/22/gta-ft-vince-staples-little-bit-david-m-helman" target="_blank">his car-heavy shoot with Vince Staples</a> a few months ago, but he&#39;s managed to create a simple, yet uniquely menacing performance video for Gucci Mane here.If somebody had asked me to distil a Gucci Mane video down to its elemental form, the list would likely not have included night vision, Harmony Korine smoking a cigar, and a floating car on fire in a snowy expanse. Yet all these elements together are somehow very distinctly fitting for Gucci Mane.

Michael Ragen

Lauren Nikrooz

Gloria FX

Hip Hop

Gucci Mane ft Travis $cott 'Last Time' by David M. Helman 

Gucci Mane - Last Time feat. Travis Scott [Official Music Video]

David M. Helman brings a heap of cool to this GTA &amp; Vince Staples clip.&nbsp;A simple performance video sees Vince Staples surround himself with a gang of synchronised&nbsp;BMWs. With dust flying around a minimalist industrial location, the beauty of this video is in its simplicity and the cool-as-hell execution.

freenjoy

Nathan Scherrer

Timber

Jamie Rabineau (lark)

Warner Brothers

GTA ft. Vince Staples 'Little Bit Of This' by David M. Helman

Gta-Ft.-Vince-Staples-'Little-Bit-Of-This'-by-David-M.-Helman

David M. Helman&#39;s new Vancouver Sleep Clinic&nbsp;is a marvellous blend of cinematic mood and VFX, as a girl travels upon a deserted country road - and she&nbsp;happens to be floating a few feet above its surface, as if she&#39;s walking an invisible tightrope...

Steve Annis

Vancouver Sleep Clinic 'Killing Me To Love You' by David M. Helman

Vancouver Sleep Clinic - Killing Me To Love You (Official Video)

David M. Helman directs a beautiful, cinematic coastal dance for James Vincent McMorrow.Set on a Mexican beach at the crack of dawn, in amongst the fishermen - living and dead -&nbsp;this scene is choreographed to perfection. Shot on gorgeous Super 16mm, the rich textures of the coastline come alive.

Ricardo Silva

Greg Reese

The Mill

Celia Rowlson-Hall

James Vincent McMorrow 'Rising Water' by David M. Helman

James-Vincent-Mcmorrow-'Rising-Water'-by-David-M.-Helman

Shot in his home town of&nbsp;Long Beach, California, David M. Helman&#39;s video for&nbsp;Vince Staples&#39; Lift Me Up,&nbsp;from his debut album Summertime 06,&nbsp;captures the&nbsp;sense of tension and instability of the track with shots of the city taken at odd&nbsp;angles showing&nbsp;the rapper&#39;s inability to reach&nbsp;solid ground.When Staples&#39; body&nbsp;isn&#39;t seen tilting this way and that, it&#39;s floored on the ground as&nbsp;the world spins&nbsp;wildly around him. It&#39;s effective stuff,&nbsp;subjecting the viewer to the artist&#39;s&nbsp;own dizzying&nbsp;disorientation as he directly asks&nbsp;the viewer to&nbsp;be lifted up and out of it.&nbsp;

Ruffian Post

Amanda Jones

Chris Watson-wood

Hip-Hop

Vince Staples 'Lift Me Up' by David M. Helman

Vince-Staples-'Lift-Me-Up'-by-David-M.-Helman

David M. Helman explains his video for Dillon Francis &amp; Skrillex&#39;s Bun Up The Dance&nbsp;in simple terms:&nbsp;&quot;Light is a drug&quot;That&#39;s the driving concept for some trance-inducing&nbsp;lighting setups, and some exceptionally high-energy dancing, editing and camerawork.&nbsp;

Pulse Films

Sarah Park

Dillon Francis & Skrillex 'Bun Up The Dance' by David M. Helman

Dillon-Francis-&-Skrillex-'Bun-Up-The-Dance'-by-David-M.-Helman

David M.&nbsp;Helman has delivered this beautifully shot and gorgeously-paced video for up-and-coming British singer&nbsp;Shura&#39;s track 2shy.Featuring subtle&nbsp;video effects such as&nbsp;solar eclipses and&nbsp;unmoving&nbsp;birds caught in&nbsp;mid-flight, the video conjures up a surreal, timeless&nbsp;atmosphere that is perfectly paired with the gentle, melancholic track.&nbsp;

Zak Razvi

Jess Haas

Matt Diamond

Alex Lim

Jordan Raabe

Alec Constestabile

Miho Suzuki

Tanner Merrill

Brian Smith

Malica Chehrzad

James Nguyen

Joe Brown

Shura '2shy' by David M. Helman

Dark rituals, strange hallucinations and&hellip; skin shedding. They&#39;re all there in David M. Helman&#39;s new video for Glass Animals&#39; Black Mambo.It&#39;s an atmospheric, alluring&nbsp;and beautifully photographed piece of work, filmed&nbsp;mostly in&nbsp;Mexico, and in London.

David M. Helman

Director

1 news featuring David M. Helman

21 videos featuring David M. Helman

2022 (1)

2020 (2)

2019 (2)

2018 (3)

2017 (2)

2016 (6)

2015 (3)

2013 (2)

Popular content

Is this your profile?

Feedback

Latest Videos