Director

James Copeman

James Copeman has directed some appealing offbeat sexiness in his colour-coded pop video for Bloc Party&#39;s Virtue.&nbsp;The clip boasts pleasing colour combinations as&nbsp;turquoise-skinned people get up to sexually suggestive&nbsp;shenanigans in vibrantly-coloured spaces.&nbsp;To the pulsing beat of the music,&nbsp;a a hand inches&nbsp;towards a groin, fingers dip into egg yolks and a lady&#39;s tongue moves towards a rather&nbsp;phallic looking cactus...

United Kingdom

Agile Films

Kat Cattaneo

Colm O'Rourke

Jojo Copeman

Sarah Marie Collins

Lucie Red

Ria Hanish-Oaks

Nikki Porter

Final Cut

Houmam Abdallah

Electric Theatre Collective

OB Management

Carrie Sutton

Bloc Party 'Virtue' by James Copeman

Bloc Party - Virtue (Official Video)

Having established himself as a director with his videos for <a href="http://www.promonews.tv/videos/2008/03/05/mystery-jets-young-love-james-copeman" target="_blank">Young Love</a> and Two Doors Down a few years back,&nbsp;James Copeman has reactivated his longstanding association with the Mystery Jets for their track Telomere.The video is&nbsp;populated by bodies caked in&nbsp;mud, with neon lights, lens effects and contemporary dance movements adding expressive&nbsp;candour to the piece.

Ria Hanish-Oakes

Amber Millington

Gary Long

Tom Nowell

Zoe Klinck

Amy Beton

Kate Jones

Caroline International

Indie

Mystery Jets 'Telomere' by James Copeman

James Copeman invites&nbsp;a large and varied cross-section of the public&nbsp;to freely perform (either solo or in groups)&nbsp;to Ben Pearce&#39;s What I Might Do in this entertaining and watchable promo.

Black Dog Films

Jacob Swan Hyam

Charlie Herranz

Kharmel Cochrane

Nathan Perry-Greene

Cut+Run

James Bamford

The Mill

Caroline Clayton

Dance

Ben Pearce 'What I Might Do' by James Copeman

&nbsp;James Copeman captures the urgent, rebellious lyric of Foxes&#39; electro anthem Youth in this lively promo.&nbsp;The UK director stages the wide-eyed songstress in a black-and-white environment before the intro gives way to a vivid montage celebrating the spirit of youth - with colourful imagery of bonfire parties, eye-cathing costumes and a pair of Mickey Mouse ears... &nbsp;

Svana Gisla

Niels Thastum

Tina Pawlik

Ryan Beck

Luke Morrison

Sony Music

Elizabeth Doonan

Foxes 'Youth' by James Copeman

Foxes - Youth

James Copeman translates the sunny pop of Eliza Doolittle&#39;s Big When I Was Little with this breezy, colourful promo which sees the UK singer dress up in an assortment of 90s-inspired garb whilst performing the track with friends.

Gareth Thomas

Ruth Crawford

Kim O'Neill

Laura Dominique

Liz Taw

Natricia Bernard

Parlophone

Sam Seager

Eliza Doolittle 'Big When I Was Little' by James Copeman

Eliza Doolittle - Big When I Was Little

James Copeman delivers a striking video for London five-piece Vuvuvultures&rsquo; Safe Skin, centred around their photogenic singer Harmony Boucher, who delivers a strong performance &ndash; and exposes a good amount of skin herself in the process.
It&rsquo;s his second video for the band, following <a href="http://www.promonews.tv/2012/07/09/vuvuvultures-ill-cut-you-by-james-coperman/">I&rsquo;ll Cut You</a> last year, and a definite step-up in the slickness stakes. With some sharp photography from Ben Fordsman, the promo for Safe Skin shifts from mainly monochrome to effective bursts of colour for dramatic effect, with neat skin-on-skin kaleidoscopic visuals &ndash; with post work by James himself &ndash; as the soundtrack escalates. Very watchable.

Ben Fordsman

Nadine Artois

Vuvuvultures ‘Safe Skin’ by James Copeman

Vuvuvultures - Safe Skin (Official Video)

With a compelling performance from model Harmony Butcher - and a supporting cast of hot zombies - James and Unit Post warp her face and replace her eyes with a pair of angry, lipsyncing mouths. Harmony becomes Vuvuvultures sexy yet monstrous spokesperson for I'll Cut You. Which is a good combination...

Ben Hsiung

Karl Hui

Yan Murawski

Sam Kir

Ida May

Aimee Croysdill

Darren Baldwin

Denise Flavell @Unit Post

Rob Ellis, Jon Berridge, Chris Chitty

Chris Lumsdale

Simon Astbury

All @ Unit Post, Barna

Vuvuvultures 'I'll Cut You' by James Copeman

Vuvuvultures-'I'll-Cut-You'-by-James-Copeman

Magnetic Man's grime/dubstep smash Anthemic sees James Copeman take a holiday from his more lighthearted approach to show a darker side - and his post-production skills.

Rob Mercer

Callum Johnston

Leo Stamps

Marcus Domleo

Dave Litchfield

Caroline Story

Adam Powell

Semera Khan

Magnetic Man feat P Money 'Anthemic' by James Copeman

Helen Potter

Andalu Vila

Alberto Borque

Sergio Escuin

Aubrey Woodiwiss

Vato Gonzalez' Badman Riddims by James Copeman

James Copeman takes Wolf Gang, aka singer Max McElligott, to a slightly sinister, devil worshipping place where slithering temptresses seem to come together to perform some sort of a ritual.Driven by the pounding track, they all come together in one big performance with rather impressive smoke rings shooting about the place...

Ed Rutherford

Lou Corcoran

David Leighton

Dan Curwin

Wolf Gang's Dancing With The Devil by James Copeman

Eliza Doolittle's cheeky Skinny Genes gets a brilliant treatment from James Copeman in this funpacked promo. 
With great art direction by Anna Rhodes, there's an exhaustive supply of visual metaphors for naughtiness. Although the lightswitch is a new one on us...

Anna Rhodes

Lily Gooding

Liz Thaw

Avigail Claire

Vid Price

Nicola Brown

Eliza Doolittle’s Skinny Genes by James Copeman

A forlorn-looking Example out and about in London does his thang in this James Copeman-directed promo to accompany the half-tempo ballad Two Lives - with some nice helicam action over Primrose Hill.

Duncan Russell

Example’s Two Lives by James Copeman

Paloma Faith is the thoroughly frustrated assistant/partner of a domineering bewigged magician in an English seaside hell - with only her flamboyant outfits to comfort her - in James Copeman's promo for Smoke And Mirrors (the song, not the post house). 
But then comes her very satisfying revenge. Karl Willet styled Paloma's amazing costumes, and the grade was conducted at... Prime Focus.

Eamonn Hughes

Karl Willet

Paloma Faith’s Smoke And Mirrors by James Copeman

James Copeman delivers this kitsch spoof of UK TV cop shows for Example's pounding and urgent Last One's Standing - complete with oversized mobile phones, moustaches and big hair.

Sarah Tognazzi

Chris Sabogal

Will Barnes

Jim Wright

Ben Rogers

Example’s Last Ones Standing by James Copeman

The follow-up to Vickers' debut No. 1 single (and the second track from her chart-topping album Songs From The Tainted Cherry Tree) is the poppy The Boy Who Murdered Love. 
James Copeman delivers a bouncy, half-animated slice of fun with Vickers - who has come a long way since X Factor - giving a great performance.

Margo Mars

James H

Claire Stubbs

Diana Vickers’ The Boy Who Murdered Love by James Copeman

Example (aka Elliot John Gleave) has a beautiful girlfriend - but he's still not quite sure.... 
James Copeman illustrates Example's situation in the electropoppy Kickstarts - produced by Sub Focus, already championed by Zane Lowe and Radio 1 - and its universal application through intuitive use of split screen and quick edits. Lovely stuff.

Alex He

Richard Mott

CJ Hassay

Example’s Kickstarts by James Copeman

With a cast that includes their real fans (recruited via MySpace and a fansite), they were nominated for Best New Band at the Kerrang! Awards 2009. Kiss And Tell is taken from the band's album Take Off Your Colours.

Watch: <a href="http://www.beam.tv/beamreel/cFYpswVyDy">here</a>

Lisa Joseph

Hannah Edwards

Max Burgess @ The Mill

You And Me At Six’s Kiss & Tell by James Copeman

Talented tunesmith Gwilym Gold and his band get a James Copeman special - warm, aged film look, embellished with James's stylish animated flourishes. The lad does great titles.
The Mill's Aubrey Woodiwiss's warm grade should get a shout-out too, because this wasn't shot on film at all.

Meanwhile, James has also shot Razorlight, featuring some typically unbridled rock postering by Johnny Borrell, gorgeous model Rebecca playing his posh totty muse, and more of James's titles - this time in chalk.
And great photography by Richard Mott - this one was shot on 16mm - and fine edit by Darren Baldwin. All in all, a proper old-fashioned pop vid.

Julia Frost

Megan Ayers

Caspar Campbell

Katie MacGregor

Karin Peterson, Cara Randall, Vicki Russell

Ed Line

Glassworks

Phil Lee

Splice

Golden Silvers’ Arrows Of Eros and Razorlight’s Burberry Blue Eyes by James Copeman

Colour-saturated performance vid for the latest pop outfit with a terrible name shows its darker side when the lovely turns all psychotic.
She actually chainsaws teddy bear in half for chrissakes! Surely there's a law...

Tamsin Glasson

Tim Mannion

Daniel Trapp

Michelle Kelly

Jo Starzmore

The Magistrates’ Heartbreak by James Copeman

James Copeman puts the charm of his Super 8-shot videos for Noah, Laura Marling and Emiliana into a mainstream Gallic pop setting for French artist Emma Daumas.
Don't know much about Emma, but she's being unusually brave wearing spectacles last seen in Abigail's Party.
J'suis Conne also features a donkey and the weirdly emotional sight and sound of a steel drum. It clearly wants to be in the Caribbean, but they opted for Black Island Studios in delightful Park Royal instead.

Christopher Sabogal

Bryony Birkbeck

Hannah Phillips

Jo Budden

Max Burgess

Julie Yadi

Emma Daumas’s J'suis Conne by James Copeman

First the big pop one: Sneaky Sound System is a glossy, good-looking, well crafted, Daft Kylie-meets-2001 confection for a Aussie dance outfit creating infectious, very-big-over-there, soon-to-be-huge-over-here electro-pop.
Lots of cool LED, and some very cheeky costumes from stylist Hannah Edwards.


It's a delight. Emiliana takes us through The Art Of Living, and the worst thing you can say about it is this involves painting patterns on snail shells. It's almost certainly shot in Super 8mm and looks blooming marvellous, especially with James's graphics and effects work all over it. If Big Jumps becomes Emiliana's biggest record in the UK so far (it should be) this is going to be a big help.

CJ Hassay for Warner Music and ELMLOWE Ltd

Dan Sherwen

Sneaky Sound System and Emiliana Torrini by James Copeman

It's a departure for James Copeman - neither the Mystery Jets nor lovely Mercury-nominee Laura Marling are involved.

Game of chess

Max Burgess, Box TV

Elkie Brooks

Biffy Clyro’s Mountains by James Copeman

Just because the Eighties gets referenced all the time in any number of cool vids, James Copeman isn't fooled. He's done his homework. He knows the truth.
James's new video for Mystery Jets, after the excellent Young Love, captures the real tacky awfulness of 98% of Eighties vids. The jackets, the hair, the blown-out lighting, the sheer bloody literal mindedness... Bleagh!
And just to top things off, MJ's Two Doors Down includes a genuinely awful Eighties saxophone break, like in a song by Spandau Duran - with James himself playing sax in the vid!
He clearly has no shame. Nice jacket, though...

Mystery Jets’ Two Doors Down by James Copeman

Premiered at BUG 06, James Copeman's wrestling-themed video for N&amp;TW is a joy to behold. We particularly like Mr One Eye, but he doesn't get that much screen time.
James was also interviewed at BUG by Adam Buxton, who'd done his homework. Adam discovered that he has been known to respond to comments made about his videos on YouTube: his exchange for the Mystery Jets' Young Love vid with "Akyho" is a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/comment_servletall_comments&amp;v=qz-FoGp3p0s&amp;fromurl=/watch%3Fv%3Dqz-FoGp3p0s" _blank="">classic</a>. 
This one just gone up on YouTube so we'll see if James will be wading in once more. Let's hope so - it really is probably the best way of dealing with the videonerds.

Dan Sutherland

James Copeman and Max Burgess

Shown at BUG 06: Noah & The Whale’s Shape Of My Heart by James Copeman 

Shown-at-BUG-06:-Noah-&-The-Whale’s-Shape-Of-My-Heart-by-James-Copeman-

The new video for the Mystery Jets features a charming and colourful band performance while they lie flat out on the studio floor - courtesy of some completely visible hidden helpers and a mysterious contraption that moves the band in and out of shot. And teenage new folk hope and guest vocalist Laura Marling joins the party halfway through.
It was directed by James Copeman, who has quickly amassed a collection of notable work since he directed a £500 video for Noah And the Whale on Super 8mm in a pub some months ago. He's also directed a couple of Marling videos, all while holding down a day job making animation and motion graphics, currently at Box UK.
Young Love is certainly graphic, and motion graphics play a part from the very start when the titles are swept away by one of the white-suited helpers. That really does set the tone for what follows...

James Copeman on making the video for Mystery Jets' Young Love
"I had a lot of contrasting ideas: retro performance video, synchronised swimming, split screens and typography.
"Then my friend Dan Sutherland showed me references from a mood board. One of the images was of a guy lying on the floor shot from really high up. It made think. Blaine the lead singer has difficulty walking without crutches. This way the the whole band could move and dance and perform together.
"At first I only intended to see the band members, and tried to avoid seeing the "helpers". But when it became obvious we would see them I decided to give them more of a role, like dressing the set, or even holding instruments and mics for the band.
"A welcome side affect of shooting down on the floor was the band members and Laura couldn't see us, so they relaxed infront of the camera and started to be silly and have fun, and I was able to capture a really natural and fun performance from them.
"I asked a good friend of mine Joseph Starsmore - who is a carpenter/fabricator/props/general Don Juan - to make me a sort of dolly that was comfortable to lie on, but also narrow, and with a handle so it could be pushed.
"He said 'OK', and few days later he came back with a big wooden dolly - it looked like a giant Victorian toy, all made of wood. Quite beautiful. I wish I had the space to keep one."

Ildiko Dienesch

James Copeman/Alex White

Mystery Jets' Young Love by James Copeman

Promonews Podcast

James Copeman

Director

Videos featuring James Copeman

2016 (1)

2015 (1)

2013 (4)

2012 (1)

2011 (3)

2010 (6)

2009 (3)

2008 (6)

Popular content

Is this your profile?

Feedback

Latest Videos