Colourist

Ricky Gausis

James Blake's cool LA life is disturbed by endless reminders that <a href="https://www.finneasofficial.com/" target="_blank">Finneas</a> is much more successful that he is - in Bear Damon's brilliant video for Say What You Will.“The song is about finding peace with who you are and where you’re at regardless of how well other people seem to be doing,” Blake has explained in a press release. “Comparison really is the thief of joy.”The video is really an expression of that theme, but much less earnest than Blake's statement might suggest. Bear Damon does exploit&nbsp;the sensitivity that Blake is&nbsp;renowned for, but for comic purposes. He does so in a&nbsp; series of beautifully judged sequences that serve to crush James's spirits - beginning with him holding a single&nbsp;award at the Grammys, only to be&nbsp;jolted by the sight of Finneas cradling an armful.Who knew that James Blake could act comedy? Bear Damon, presumably, and maybe Blake suspected it himself. There are various elements that make this an outstanding video - not least the (self-mocking) presence of Finneas. It would be nothing without him. But Blake's own performance of&nbsp;quietly crumbling confidence makes it wonderful. It may or may not be&nbsp;truthful, but it's certainly believable. &nbsp;&nbsp;

United Kingdom

Bear Damon

Salim El Arja

Sacha Benharroche

Couscous

Patrick Golan

Alexis Johnson

Henry Kaplan

Cooper Vacheron

Kodak

Alternative

James Blake 'Say What You Will' by Bear Damon

James Blake - Say What You Will (Official Video)

Andrew Donoho dives head-first into hyperreality, and emerges triumphant in the video&nbsp;for&nbsp;Paul McCartney and Beck's reworking of Macca's Find My Way - by bringing Beatle-era Paul to the modern world, and beyond.&nbsp;&nbsp;The retro-tinged video for Find My Way features mesmerising set pieces, flamboyant choreography and, most crucially,&nbsp;one of the most high-profile and surely most effective and enjoyable employments of Deepfake technology (courtesy of VFX outfit Hyperreal) so far witnessed.[imgtoken data:1]Hallucinatory visions merge into abstract silhouettes and endless computer generated environments, amalgamating in a strangely sensual piece of cinema. The 'realness' of the youthful McCartney as he walks and dances through these environments is utterly convincing, but Donoho's approach is to promote and heighten the sense of wonder rather than add a surrounding reality to overly fool or confuse the viewer.And it's a joy, down to the reveal of Beck as the imposter Paul at the end - in fact, 'Young Paul' is played by Jordan Johnston. Undoubtedly one of the event videos of the year so far.[imgtoken data:2]

Andrew Donoho

Ian Blair

Skully Studios

Craig Bernard

Peter Maez

Ben Kutchins

Nito Serna

Robbie Julian

Drew Valenti

Liam Moore

Lisa Madonna

Moira Frazier

Emilia Werynska

OB Management

Reprobates

Paul McCartney ft Beck 'Find My Way' by Andrew Donoho

Paul-Mccartney-Ft.-Beck--'Find-My-Way-'-by-Andrew-Donoho

Luke Monaghan directs a&nbsp;defiant tale of love lived without regret for Sam Smith's Diamonds.Following their collaborations on <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2019/07/26/sam-smith-how-do-you-sleep-grant-singer/59957#:~:text=Sam%20Smith%20astonishes%20in%20this,era%20of%20shiny%20event%20videos.">How Do You Sleep</a>, <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2017/09/20/sam-smith-too-good-goodbyes-luke-monaghan/49705">Too Good At Goodbyes</a> and <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2015/10/06/sam-smith-writings-wall-luke-monaghan/37255">Writing's On The Wall</a>, this promo finds Smith&nbsp;in a stripped-out bedroom, dancing their heart out as blinding flashes of light pulsate through the windows.&nbsp;Conceptual and introspective, this is not&nbsp;the first time we've seen Smith take on choreography, but it's definitely a step up in skill and ambition. And the choice to bring in choreographer&nbsp;Holly Blakey is an inspired one, resulting in movements that encapsulate the emotional rollercoaster of the narrative.&nbsp;

Luke Monaghan

Alex Jefferson

Black Dog Films

Martin Roker

Savvas Stavrou

Daniel Smith

Rina Yang

Kate Molins

Jonny Lewis

Genki McClure

Arthur De Borman

Ben Reardon

Anne Sophie Costa

Lizzy Graham

White House Post

MPC LA

MPC London

Grace Thorpe

Capitol Records

Holly Blakey

Cinelab Film and Digital

Sam Smith 'Diamonds' by Luke Monaghan

Sam-Smith--'Diamonds'-by-Luke-Monaghan

After making the&nbsp;era-defining This Is America,&nbsp;Hiro Murai's next music video project&nbsp;was always going to be a big deal. And this does not disappoint. Murai's collaboration with FKA Twigs is an&nbsp;action-packed epic affair, embracing Chinese martial arts. It is a brilliant, and beautiful - and brutal - showcase for the artist's unique talents.In characteristic&nbsp;Murai style, and with the help of regular collaborators like DoP Larkin Sieple and colourist Ricky Gausis, the grittily mundane is transformed into something breathtaking. As with so many of his music videos, this is shot entirely at night and again Murai shows his mastery of the specific atmosphere that night creates in the quieter parts of a cityscape. And in this case, the city is London.In a late night café, Twigs encounters a male alter-ego (played by Teake), and their assignation quickly becomes violent. A terrifying swordfight begins within the cafe, with Twigs' and her rival's athleticism taking them headlong through its shopfront window. Then&nbsp;their fight moves across quiet suburban streets, via the&nbsp;swooping, sensual movements of Wushu martial arts - so the conflict begins to hint&nbsp;at a complex backstory to their relationship/rivalry.&nbsp;But within the café again, at close quarters it gets brutal again and there is an extraordinary&nbsp;outcome - arguably not for the fainthearted.&nbsp;[imgtoken data:1]This climactic moment, where Twigs is divided by a samurai sword, is the most obvious contribution of VFX in a piece which, as with much of Murai's work, employs extensive VFX without drawing huge attention to itself. He worked in close collaboration with a team at MPC in Los Angeles to create those crucial sequences. Not only the&nbsp;choreographed fight sequence across buildings, epic smashes through shop windows, and that dramatic final scene,&nbsp;but digital matte painting was also used throughout to enhance the gritty backdrops. &nbsp;The result is a majestic piece of work, a reminder of Murai's phenomenal body of work in the medium.&nbsp;The same applies to Twigs. It is further evidence that she is a great action hero(ine)&nbsp;in the making.

Hiro Murai

Jason Cole

Doomsday Entertainment

Larkin Seiple

Danielle Hinde

Brad Weston

Anita Gou

Nate Matteson

Michael Stirton

FKA Twigs

FRIEND

Luke Lynch

Parallax Editing

Michael Gregory

Luke Tierney

Nicole Powell

FKA Twigs 'Sad Day' by Hiro Murai

Fka-Twigs-'"sad-Day"'-by-Hiro-Murai

Matt Baron lends his cinematic eye to an upbeat and melodic track from Jamaican reggae singer and rapper Koffee in the video for W, shot in and around her Kingston, Jamaica.Baron imagines that a hurricane about to hit landfall on the island - a prospect that brings the community together&nbsp;in a church service where Koffee performs. But the extreme weather event&nbsp;brings a surprising bounty - instead of damage and destruction sweeping across the island, there's a storm of money. It's a unavoidable, naturally-occurring positive event that invigorates rather than devastates.As the video follows Koffee and her community as they prepare for the worst,&nbsp;and then rejoice in the miraculous occurence,&nbsp;Baron gives the story a cinematic scope to create an absorbing and uplifting film. &nbsp;

Matt Baron

Mayling Wong

Partizan Darkroom

Jay Will

Minka Farthing Kohl

David Duran

Jade Brown

Neville Smith

Nicole Marsh

Ayishat Akanbi

Nadia

Gareth Daley

Graham Patterson

Modern Post

B.art Studio

Claire Stubbs @ Mouthpiece

Lisa Foo

Sony Music

Carleene Samuels

Reggae

Koffee ft Gunna 'W' by Matt Baron

Koffee-Ft-Gunna-'&#039;w&#039;'-by-Matt-Baron

6lack's Seasons&nbsp;featuring Khalid is an atmospheric track from his latest album East Atlanta Love Letter. Now, a stunning music video has been released which echoes the smooth sentiment of the song, directed by&nbsp;Emilie Badenhorst, shot by DP Todd Martin and graded by colorist Ricky Gausis, that features&nbsp;both artists and shows the many different portrayals of love against a range of beautiful backdrops.

Emilie Badenhorst

Natalie Mattozzi

Todd Martin

Moving Picture Company

Benjamin Narich

Jordan Cardoso

6lack ft. Khalid 'Seasons' by Emilie Badenhorst

6lack-Ft.-Khalid-'Seasons'-by-Emilie-Badenhorst

Sam Smith astonishes in this instant&nbsp;classic by Grant Singer, choreographed by Parris Goebel. Dragged into a video within a video, Smith ponders heartache and resentment between a troupe of shirtless dancers and a crash test robot.It’s easy to be wistful about a bygone era of shiny event videos. Enormous studio affairs, dripping in extravagance and stuffed with thrilling, superfluous set-pieces. You want Madonna giving a sermon on a swan gargoyle. Prince in his church bathtub. Bjork yelling from the back of a lorry. Next time you’re feeling nostalgic, spare a thought for Grant Singer - this is what he does. Think instead of <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2017/03/07/lorde-green-light-grant-singer/46601">Lorde stomping on top of an Uber</a>. Of the Weeknd <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2016/09/30/weeknd-ft-daft-punk-starboy-grant-singer/43885">storming through a house with a pink crucifix</a>. Or of Troye Sivan <a href="https://vimeo.com/251203610">strutting through a factory in a big silk cape</a>.This may be the second single from Smith’s upcoming project, but this video feels like a statement of intent. There is a parallel between this dance-driven video and My My My, Grant Singer’s earlier video for Troye Sivan. Sivan <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/apr/06/troye-sivan-youtuber-singer-actor-fashion-queer-pride-laura-snapes">spoke glowingly</a> of his experience on My My My, an opportunity for to be visibly and unapologetically queer. Sam Smith already made a foray into the ballroom scene for Promises. But in this video, he is front and centre, fresh from lessons with Parris Goebel, the choreographer behind Justin Beiber’s internet-busting video for Sorry. You’ve never seen a mainstream, male songwriter vogue quite like this.

United States

Grant Singer

Parris Goebel

Anonymous Content

Lark Creative

Guillermo Garza

Dance

Trap

R&B, Soul

Sam Smith 'How Do You Sleep' by Grant Singer

Sam Smith - How Do You Sleep? (Official Video)

Dashing the hopes of alt-righters everywhere that she's their secret queen, Taylor nails her colours to the mast and embraces the LGBTQ community, in the video for You Need To Calm Down.&nbsp;It's a cameo-packed fantasy trailer-park world, with appearances by Laverne Cox, the “fab five” from Queer Eye, Billy Porter, Adam Rippon, some drag queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race&nbsp;(including a Taylor lookalike) and RuPaul himself. And then there's the appearance of Katy Perry, as a burger to Taylor's fries - an&nbsp;orchestrated demonstration that their, er, 'beef' is now a thing of the past.&nbsp;Maccie Ds&nbsp;must be absolutely delighted.There's also the characterisation&nbsp;of a homophobic demonstrators as a rabble of toothless rednecks - which is fun, but is it helpful? At least one commentator <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/taylor-swift-you-need-to-calm-down-pride-lgbt-song-video-a8964286.html">thinks otherwise</a>.&nbsp;This is also the Taylor's first video where she claims a co-directing credit - together with Drew Kirsch, who's super-colourful style has graced videos for the likes of Jai Wolf, John Legend, Valentino Khan and others.

Drew Kirsch

Taylor Swift

Tara Razavi

Fuliane Petikyan

Happy Place

Todrick Hall

Pau Castejón Úbeda

Taylor Swift 'You Need To Calm Down' by Drew Kirsch & Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift - You Need To Calm Down

A gorgeous &#39;visual EP&#39; for singer-songwriter Mereba by Broooklyn-based director and photographer Dawit N.M., which delivers evocative vignettes to accompany clips from her new&nbsp;album The Jungle Is The Only Way Out.With clips of several songs featured - all excellent - a narrative structure comes together of love blossoming and breaking, and Mereba making her escape from the city...

Dawit N.M.

Javier Montoya

Isaac Baumon

Terry Watson

Penelope Strintz

Kay Cunningham

Malanesia Hunter

Mathematic

Marissa Ramirez

Soul

Mereba 'The Jungle Is The Only Way Out' by Dawit N.M.

Mereba-'The-Jungle-Is-The-Only-Way-Out'-by-Dawit-N.m.

Legendary rapper Nas addresses the reality of life in the USA for&nbsp;African-Americans today&nbsp;in Rohan&nbsp;Blair-Mangat&#39;s powerful 16 minute film showcasing&nbsp;several tracks from the Kanye West-produced album Nasir,&nbsp;released earlier this year.Blair-Mangat&#39;s film is epic and impressionistic in its scope, employing drama, documentary, and news and archive footage,&nbsp;as well as Nas&#39;s performances, to create a multi-layered visual interpretation of seven songs from the album. But it&#39;s the&nbsp;theme of black identity and culture, under constant threat of&nbsp;police brutality, that is the constant seam that runs through everything, culminating in the dramatisation of a modern tragedy.Written and directed by Mangat, shot in New York by Nicholas Bupp, and graded by Ricky Gausis, Nasir - The Film is beautifully articulated expression of righteous anger.&nbsp;

Rohan Blair-Mangat

Maggie McLean

Caviar

Nicholas Bupp

Nas 'Nasir - The Film' by Rohan Blair-Mangat

Nas-'Nasir---The-Film'-by-Rohan-Blair-mangat

Andrew Donoho&#39;s third music video for Twenty One Pilots picks up where we left them in his last one, with Tyler Joseph clambering on a burned-out car. It catches alight once more, and so we&#39;re off again on another gripping journey, set amid spectacular&nbsp;mythological landscapes.&nbsp;The&nbsp;video for Jumpsuit explores dark, even dystopian, themes. Donoho uses elements of performance - on the burning car, against craggy Icelandic rock cliffs &ndash;&nbsp;&nbsp;interwoven with a subtle, interpretive narrative to create a highly atmospheric video that&#39;s full of suspense - and ultimately unanswered questions...&nbsp;

Ian Blair / Sara Nassim

Diktator / Truenorth

Ian Blair / Rafnar Hermannsson

Elin Mjoll Thorhallsdottir

Siggi Kjartan

Nate Hurtsellers

Atli Kristófer

Daníel Gylfason

Finnur Gudjonsson

Heimir Sverrisson

Amanda Valentine

Steinunn Thordardottir

Mark Eshleman

Vitaly Verlov

Atlantic

Rock

Twenty One Pilots 'Jumpsuit' by Andrew Donoho

Twenty-One-Pilots-'Jumpsuit'-by-Andrew-Donoho

Donald&nbsp;Glover returns as Childish Gambino with This Is America, and a new video by long-time collaborator and comrade Hiro Murai - a scathing satire on the state of the nation.With everything to Glover&#39;s &#39;Jim Crow&#39; pose to the appearance of a Horseman of the Apocalypse being <a href="http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/39966/1/childish-gambino-this-is-america-meaning-jim-crow-dancing-liberty" target="_blank">analysed and deconstructed </a>all over the internet, the details are there to be debated and discussed. But the themes of violence, gun reverence, chaos and fear - and the fact that this comes from a black man&#39;s perspective - are plain as day. Draw your own conclusions.&nbsp;With it&#39;s anarchic, cartoonish action, set in a gigantic hangar,&nbsp;this is a stretch&nbsp;from the uber-cool urban-set videos&nbsp;by Glover and Murai when Childish Gambino was just starting out, and before they started making Atlanta, their Golden Globe-winning TV show.But at the same time this seems in keeping with what has gone before. Glover is a virtuoso performer, who can be different things at different moments. And this is a seriously absurd comedy&nbsp;for serious times.<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/10/donald-glover-childish-gambino-this-is-america-grim-surrealism" target="_blank">Childish Gambino captures the grim surrealism of being black in America</a>&nbsp;(Guardian)<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESKmRiLjNpg" target="_blank">An expert&#39;s take on the symbolism of This Is America</a> (TIME)<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/10/arts/hiro-murai-atlanta-finale-this-is-america-interview.html" target="_blank">Hiro Murai on &#39;Atlanta&#39; and&nbsp;the This Is America video</a> (New York Times)&nbsp;

Ibra Ake

Fam Rothstein

Brian Freesh

Ernie Gilbert

Hip Hop

Childish Gambino 'This Is America' by Hiro Murai

Childish Gambino - This Is America (Official Video)

The second of Natalie Rae&#39;s new videos for Leon Bridges has the soul singer visiting a series of ordinary folk in their home, like a silent witness to their daily trials and tribulations. But he also seems to be searching for something.The song Bet Ain&#39;t Worth The Hand&nbsp;is based on Bridges&rsquo; experiences of growing up and having trouble standing on solid ground. Regarding the video, Rae has said: &ldquo;People may think that he&rsquo;s searching for something physical, but what he&rsquo;s actually looking for is the last time he felt a human connection to someone.&rdquo;The film&rsquo;s grading by MPC&rsquo;s Ricky Gausis accentuates this emotional sentiment. &ldquo;In the beginning shot, Leon elevates into his own mind and encounters all of these different heart-breaking scenarios,&quot; Gausis explains. &quot;We wanted something more stylized for this first shot and more natural for the remaining shots, to disconnect the two worlds and to emphasize the transition.&quot;&nbsp;

Natalie Rae

Zachary Luke Kislevitz

Sanctuary Content

Preston Lee

Steve Annis

Miles Jay

Sam Ostrove

Cabin Editing Company

Saul Levitz

Leon Bridges 'Bet Ain't Worth The Hand' by Natalie Rae

Leon-Bridges-'Bet-Ain't-Worth-The-Hand'-by-Natalie-Rae

The first of two videos for Leon Bridges directed by Natalie Rae, creative directed by Miles Jay and shot by Steve Annis, Bad Bad News&#39; stars model-of-the-moment Paloma Elsesser, who is catcalled by a stranger on her way home, and is determined to strike back.Elsesser decides to follow and confront the stranger, busting out some dance moves along the way, her story unfolding on the streets of New York. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, Leon Bridges performs&nbsp;Bad Bad News with his band in a rehearsal space.Rae&#39;s concept for the video wass based on Bridges&rsquo; lyrics for Bad Bad News. &ldquo;I wanted to complement and bring to life his ideas,&quot; she says. &quot;In this case we showed how Paloma&rsquo;s story, being catcalled and rising up against the harassment would work well for the song&rsquo;s message. Women are really turning bad news into something good. Leon loved the idea of propelling the momentum of this movement.&rdquo;Steve Annis&#39;s photography was graded by Ricky Gausis at MPC in LA.&nbsp;&ldquo;The shots captured reality in a beautiful, raw way which allowed Paloma and Leon to dance freely and really be in the moment,&quot; says Rae. &quot;Ricky&rsquo;s grading heightened the shots - the red of Paloma&rsquo;s trench coat was enhanced to make it even more vivid and beautiful; the underpass was made even darker and grittier.&rdquo;Gausis says he was keen to enhance the simplicity of the shots. &ldquo;I wanted to make it so that the images looked like they&rsquo;d been loved, but nothing too crazy or heavy. I also wanted to enhance the grainy and dirty element of the locations, for example, accentuating the starkness of the underpass.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Leon Bridges 'Bad Bad News' by Natalie Rae

Leon-Bridges-'Bad-Bad-News'-by-Natalie-Rae

Luke Monaghan presents an old school New York hiphop video with a distinctive cinematic edge for Flatbush Zombies, and it makes compelling viewing.It begins with a body in a deserted carpark at night - it&#39;s the title sequence for Headstone. Then comes what appears to be the flashback: the Zombies in their car, with their homies, on the street. It&#39;s dark and it&#39;s steamy, and it delivers so well on its preformance premise you cannot take your eyes off it.Special mention should go to the DoP Maceo Bishop, for his exceptional nighttime cinematography. It&#39;s one of the best shot videos of the year so far - with a great grade too by Ricky Sausis. But Monaghan deserves the biggest plaudits, for making the Flatbush Zombies the movie stars of their own video.

Ricky Gausis

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