Set Builder

Holly Jo Beck

Chris Hopewell directs a wonderful 2020 reimagining of Yusuf/Cat Stevens's seminal hit&nbsp;Father &amp; Son.&nbsp;As the song reaches its 50th anniversary, the new version features Yusuf/Cat as he is now singing the role of the father,&nbsp;brought together digitally with a recording of his younger self,&nbsp;originally recorded at his historic performance in the Troubadour Club, Los Angeles in 1970.If the recreation of this wonderful song is momentous, then Chris Hopewell has risen to the occasion with its video. Like everything else he does, it's stop motion model animation. But he achieves a moving and utterly believable drama from the characters he creates and the world around them.The video depicts animated versions of the Father and Son in a house, which bereft of a female presence, with an inability to connect to each other.&nbsp;Exploring love, loss and a sense of urgency as the clock ticks away, the regret is palpable, and perfectly visualised through the 3D concept.&nbsp;The attention to detail is brilliant, and the anachronistic sense of time and space makes the visual all the more universal.&nbsp;&nbsp;

United Kingdom

Chris Hopewell

Rosie Brind

Black Dog Films

Jacknife Films

Martin Roker

Jon Davey

Tom Weller

Cadi Catlow

Folk

Yusuf / Cat Stevens 'Father & Son' by Chris Hopewell

Yusuf-/-Cat-Stevens-'Father-&-Son'-by-Chris-Hopewell

Chris Hopewell reunites with Radiohead - for whom he made the video for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AQSLozK7aA" target="_blank">There There</a> back in 2003 - for the video for Burn The Witch, a beautifully executed recreation of the classic children&#39;s TV shows Camberwick Green and Trumpton, with the storylines of other, far more disquieting British productions of the late 1960s - Witchfinder General and The Wicker Man.The treatment may well have had the compelling brevity of the one for Alien (which was famously pitched as &quot;Jaws in space&#39;). But only time will tell whether it was quite that straightforward. With Radiohead removing their social media sites and then posting messages to fans before the video&#39;s release (&lsquo;Sing the&nbsp;song of sixpence that goes&nbsp;burn the witch&rsquo;&nbsp;and &lsquo;We know where you live&rsquo;) there is the distinct possibility this is the opening salvo of the band&#39;s bigger message. We shall see.In the meantime, this is a welcome return to music video directing for Chris Hopewell, who created this wonderful rendition of the stop-motion style pioneered by Gordon Murray and animators&nbsp;John Hardwick and Bob Bura, out of his own Bristol-based studio Jacknife. As he has been spending much of his time designing posters, its a return as surprising as it is welcome.[imgtoken data:1]

Holly Jo Beck

Set Builder

Videos featuring Holly Jo Beck

2020 (1)

2016 (1)

Popular content

Is this your profile?

Feedback

Latest Videos