Detective, superhero, Mandela... and now hucksterish TV shopping salesman. Idris Elba can do it all - as he demonstrates in Jamie-James Medina's bright, breezy and multi-layered video for Big Talk, the actor's collab with Manchester producer duo Solardo.In the video, Idris is the charismatic host of BIG TALK, broadcasting live on lo-fi cams from a basement studio. As Solardo and two girls man the phones, he is delivering an evangelistic sermon for the financially interested - and his financial advice is entirely based around the mysterious substance of Ambergris - the unique form of waste product created by whales that can be used in making perfume.Medina employs some familiar devices of the shopping channel aesthetic, camerawork, stock footage, in-camera FX and titles - merging with 80s/90s music video greenscreen FX. But within the visual fun, there is something rather more serious going on. The insidiousness of the host and his message is where Idris comes into his own, enabling him to get his teeth into the character. As Jamie-James Medina explained in his treatment for the video: "Idris is the host of BIG TALK - a little show about BIG ideas. He produces a weekly sermon for the financially interested. He is part financial advisor, part spiritual guru. And all hustler. Beneath the views on the day’s business news, our host is operating a surreal and dangerous game of deception."On this broadcast, he seems to only be interested in one very specific natural resource: ambergris aka whale vomit. In its purest form, the intestinal slurry can be found bobbing through the ocean, where it slowly hardens under the sun. Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, described the smell of whale’s vomit as 'a faint stream of perfume.' It is this stream — the crystalized ambergris — that washes ashore and has become a highly coveted perfume ingredient, used to fix scent to skin. Indeed, a group of fishermen in Yemen stumbled upon a small chunk of the stuff in the belly of a dead whale in 2021, which they sold for $1.5 million."Our host looks into the camera and says, 'If you’re ready to storm the beaches in search of AMBERGRIS, then I have a deal for you! Call us right now on 0898-BIG-T£LK!' As the track continues to bang, we watch as the host pulls a brick of ambergris from his pocket and delivers a verse from Melville’s Moby Dick."A message on the dangers of human greed wrapped up into an alluring package - and it's a banging track. What more could you want?

Chris Fowles directs an innovative and intriguing promo for singer-songwriter Henry Moodie, combining normal screen shape and vertical video in one clever concept. For Drunk Text, Fowles has Moodie sitting in the front seat on the upper deck of a bus during two different journeys - a day in April, and a night in November - captured from the same camera position. Meanwhile, behind him, a series of interconnected stories unfold among a number passengers who are also on both journeys.The regular 16:9 screen is also divided into three sections, which enables Fowles to use split-screen to cut between journeys, and emphasise the small dramas and interactions between the characters. And Moodie always remains in the central section of the 'triptych', performing the heartfelt Drunk Text."The concept was designed specifically for new video mediums like TikTok," Fowles confirms. "We wanted to experiment with using the format itself to tell the story."So when viewed vertically, you’ll only see the main performance. But when viewed with the widescreen you reveal all the stories and context."In doing so, Fowles has been entirely successful. There is a real complexity to the soap opera unfolding behing Moodie that makes it worth watching again. But in the dovetailing of both narrative and conceptual ideas it also makes a real contribution in addressing the issue of competing video formats.

Chris Breheny - aka Moncrieff - plays a tormented taxi driver in Joel Barney's video for What Am I Here For?He gets a fare from a young couple - who turn out to be an ex lover and her new partner. As the journey progresses, it takes an increasingly surreal turn, as we begin so see fleeting flashbacks of Chris slow dancing with the girl. It's unclear whether he is imagining the scenario or if it is a real memory.At the end of the video when Chris turns to reveal no one is in the back of the cab, he spots himself in the headlights, dancing alone."We wanted to narrative to feel a little confusing and non-linear," says Joel Barney. "The track is about a breakup. Chris drove from London to Ireland to try win a girl back. When he got there, she was with a new man and had moved on. That left Chris feeling pretty lost. So we wanted to try and communicate that story in an interesting way."It would have been easy to just take the true narrative of the track and turn that into a video, but we wanted to push it toward somewhere a little more interesting. As if he is driving in a never ending loop, alone."

Gabriella Kingsley pays homage to Nina Simone in the artistic visual for I Put A Spell On You, to mark what would be the legendary musician's 90th birthday.A cast of three dancers bring the concept to life, which aims to celebrate and empower black women, elevating Nina Simone’s legacy of championing black talent and beauty. The dancers also allude to Simone's compelling presence while performing in front of vibrant LED screen, which create five distinct visual worlds that showcase different aspects of Nina's legacy.Poised, atmospheric and captivating, the video is a testament to Simone and her legacy, reimagined for modern audiences. From the cinematography by Jomar O'Meally and colour work by Jonny Tully to styling by Misi Africa, and adds a contemporary edge. “Working on (this) iconic track was a dream come true for me," says Kingsley. "Concept-wise I knew straight away I wanted to capture strong, beautiful, black women and that’s what sparked the idea of recreating her iconic looks, because who represented that better than Nina herself.“Asmara was cast for her powerful contemporary dance, which is just mesmerising to watch and she really knows how to tell a story through her movement. Sophia is known for her popular Afro dance moves which is a trend right now in the dance world and I felt it was important to appeal to the younger audience. And last, but not least, Priscilla, who has not danced for years, but her body structure and posture is just phenomenal. She is tall and slim and can create these beautiful shapes and poses."The crew and cast were meticulously chosen and they really executed my vision perfectly. Overall the process working with her estate, Verve and Untold Studios was a truly nourishing and liberating experience and I hope the world enjoys it as much as I did honouring the queen and legend that is Nina Simone.”

Following his directing debut with (pls) set me on fire, Enter Shikari frontman Rou Reynolds directs aits sequel - another strongly conceptual performance video - for It Hurts.From the claustrophobic locked-off shot in his previous outing, Reynolds employs another largely one-take approach, but allows the camera to roam across a large space in which a number of random dramatic vignettes are playing out - all of which have big consequences for the participants.“In typical Shikari fashion, I threw myself in at the deep end with directing, and decided to shoot two videos in one day," explains Reynolds of the making of this and the previous video. “It was an incredibly intense experience, but we had a super-talented, passionate, focused team, and were able to get a great result.“Personally, I found it rewarding to see my ideas brought to life and create a narrative connecting the two videos. I love the attention to detail that directing allowed, and the ability to bring some of the song’s themes to life in more depth.”

Luke Losey continues his excellent run of recent videos for techno legends Orbital with a charming, textural promo for Are You Alive?, featuring Penelope Isles. Following the UKMVA-nominated animated promo for Smiley and slice-of-life grittiness of the Sleafords Mods collab Dirty Rat, this one is rather more serene, combining performance with patterned square overlays, creating a simple yet pleasing effect."It's a simple minimal analogue looking piece, a bit of funky dystopian retrofuturism," explains Losey. "Someone remarked it looks like the kind of video they would be watching in a bar in the Star Wars series Andor - which is, of course, a great compliment."A great compliment indeed, and a video well worth the watch.

Joe Connor directs an innovative and beguiling promo for Ellie Goulding's Like A Saviour.Set against a desert backdrop cycling through different times of day, we see Goulding and a set of dancers perform slick choreography whilst the environment around them transforms. Making use of the latest production technology, the entire video was shot against a virtual LED screen, with the sand set built right in front (and on top) of it, allowing the creative team to completely control every aspect of the visual. Aside from the magic of the technology, Goulding and the dancers hit every mark, creating an evocative video that perfectly complements the emotive track. "Ellie came to me with a brief that dared me to think a little differently," explains Joe Connor. "I wanted to throw myself in front of the latest technology and play with what was possible using the large Virtual Production Volume screens."We’ve all seen the images of the Mandalorian, but I felt that there was so much room to use this technology for artistic expression. I wanted to create a desert space where time constantly shifted, from day to night and back to day again. This felt like a really exciting and dynamic starting point to work from. "Working with D-Neg studios, we built a large-scale, 3D desert in Unreal Engine and then built a detailed, real-world foreground using tonnes of sand to blend into our 3D world. The ability to shift through the time of day was enhanced by David Procter’s real-world lighting, which was synchronised with the constantly changing lighting on the screen. "What the team has created is a video which feels unlike any other Ellie Goulding video. It’s a great example of cooperation and collaboration in the pursuit of a singular visual idea."

The full spectrum of human emotion is on display in a small photobooth, in Sayna Fardaraghi's evocative promo for Tom Grennan. The video for Grennan's Here sees the pop star as a DIY handyman, fixing and sorting out an aging photobooth, as a variety of different characters enter and exit, each with their own stories and purpose.There are romantic couples, friends, strangers, self-conscious prom queens, robbers... each taking centre stage in their own stylised vignettes. With energy and emotion packed into the concept - all tied together by several quickfire montages of still images, which expand upon the characters - this is an impressive debut pop video by Sayna Fardaraghi, who recently signed to Forever."I've always wanted to create an intimate connection between complete strangers through shared memories, moments and experiences," says Fardaraghi. "A photobooth became the perfect microcosm for that for me. It's something so simple yet so effective and hasn't been often explored cinematically."The photobooth in the music video is a room that experiences the good, the vulnerable, and sometimes the bad. It's that ephemeral moment that we've all had at some point in our lives, and bringing that to the screen accompanied by Tom's incredible song, his energy and the array of featured talent has been a pleasure to work with. "I couldn't have asked for a better array of talent and crew to bring this to life. It brought so many folks together and was packed with beautiful on-camera surprises."When I spoke to Tom we discussed how it should be a range of scenarios and emotions that are more real than fictional, exploring more dark moments and not just all light and frivolous. I went through the scenarios I had in mind and made sure they're all at some point relatable and 'real life' than pure fiction and otherworldly."One of my favourite parts came when discussing the development of the peak of the song with my DOP Charlie Knight. We spoke about how integral the photobooth flash needed to be, and went through a series of tests with different bulbs to find the perfect one - I mean perfect colour, brightness intensity, flash size, etc. My goodness was it so worth it! "The trickiest part was the peak of the song and aligning the images as closely as possible. If you freeze on the hands you'll find that the next frame matches it as closely as possible, but still shows a different moment frozen in time. This took a long while to perfect, but truly has paid off and is such an integral part of the music video. Big thanks to Toby Heard our editor who was a dream to work with!"