Editor

Dominic Leung

Francois Rousselet reunites with The Rolling Stones, for Angry - their first new music in 17 years - to bring the billboards of Sunset Boulevard brilliantly to life with decades of Stones' iconography.Sidney Sweeney plays the 'rock chick' who is having the time of her life, cruising the strip in a vintage Mercedes SL, past those iconic billboards.&nbsp;But the main business of the video, the real star of the show,&nbsp;are the billboards themselves - beautifully designed, crafted and wonderfully executed with outstandingly creative VFX work by the team at Black Kite Studios in London. The most iconic moments of the career of the Stones - six decades of material - come to life in a video for what turns out to be a properly good new Stones track.[imgtoken data:1]Although the eye-catching billboards have almost all disappeared today - they started as hand-painted boards in the early days of Hollywood and then became part of the burgeoning rock billboard scene in the 1960s&nbsp;- the locations have not changed.Rousselet designed the Stones' billboards himself - all 109 of them. Then Black Kite's VFX Supervisor George Brunt, on-set VFX Supervisor Jonny&nbsp;Freeman and senior&nbsp;colourist&nbsp;Richard Fearon&nbsp;were tasked with putting them back on Sunset Boulevard, so they appear from the point of view of the car in which Sidney Sweeney is travelling.[imgtoken data:2]“We took iconic archive footage of the band and used traditional comping and 2D and 3D roto methods to work the moving footage into each poster," says George Brunt, explaining&nbsp;the brief that they were given by Rousselet - who has worked with the Stones before, on the 2016 video for <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2016/12/02/rolling-stones-ride-%E2%80%98em-down-francois-rousselet/45023" target="_blank">Ride Em On Down</a>, starring Kristin Stewart.As well as the archive footage,&nbsp;there was also new live footage to reflect every stage of the band, with the lyrics of Angry as part of the composition of each billboard. Brunt says that a variety of tools were employed in order for the Stones' performance of Angry to come to life with the vintage footage.[imgtoken data:3]“The lyrics of the track were matched to the footage using a combination of&nbsp;lip-syncing and AI," he says. "We used 3D&nbsp;lighting to match the plates and replicate the quality and sheen of a classic billboard.&nbsp;The end result had to look slick, and working with different resolution types is challenging.&nbsp;The devil really is in the detail with this type of work but slick it looks and we love it.”Jonny Freeman was on set for Black Kite, the one day shoot took place on Sunset Boulevard with a camera on the hero car, the team in a truck behind and LA police escorts in front and behind the action to keep the famous street clear.&nbsp;The camera was placed from the point of view of Sydney Sweeney to recreate the sensation of moving among the flow of the billboards on the Strip with the rock icons appearing larger than life the whole way.[imgtoken data:4]"It was essential to get the lighting just right for the VFX team back at the studio," says Freeman. "I went on a tech scout the week before and shot lighting reference images to make sure we had additional light passes to help bed in compositions in the final film."Black Kite’s Rich Fearon, a long time collaborator of Rousselet, was in charge of the grade. The promo was shot on 35mm film, with Christopher Ripley as DOP, and this really enhanced the edgy LA look.&nbsp;“This grade was all about bringing out the brilliant LA light with a lot of contrast in the rich colour, whilst keeping the gritty texture of the film," says Fearon. “It’s always a pleasure to work with Francois and this time was almost an extension of the last Stones’ promo we worked on together, for&nbsp;Ride ‘Em on Down."I almost instinctively knew what he wanted and this was apparent when he saw the first pass and loved it!”

United Kingdom

Francois Rousselet

Hands 

Riff Raff Films

Semera Khan

Rock

The Rolling Stones 'Angry' by Francois Rousselet

The Rolling Stones - Angry (Official Video)

Kasper Häggström creates a brilliantly absurd satire for this&nbsp;previously unreleased Radiohead track.​A spectacularly surreal&nbsp;premise is delivered in the Norwegian&nbsp;director's&nbsp;characteristically precise and measured fashion&nbsp;-&nbsp;people in suits are standing in fields, moors and woods - like grazing animals - being rounded-up&nbsp;by a trio of&nbsp;farm hands. And this leaves the viewer plenty of room to ponder the significance&nbsp;and symbolism of&nbsp;they are witnessing.[imgtoken data:1]Ultimately, it turns out that these creatures are being returned to what would be regarded as their natural habitat - a timely comment on the post-lockdown moment and rush back to 'normality'. But by this point you may be sighing with relief.Radiohead have taken Häggström into a darker level of comedy&nbsp;than&nbsp;we have seen in his previous videos, which is a fascinating development. He looks like a very good match for the great alt-rock&nbsp;band.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Kasper Häggström

Object & Animal

Cinelab Film and Digital

Scott Wright

XL Recordings

Alternative

Indie

Radiohead 'If You Say The Word' by Kasper Häggström

Radiohead - If You Say The Word

Dawn Shadforth hands the irrepressible Sharon Horgan&nbsp;a delicious scenario and magnificent makeover for Metronomy&#39;s Old Skool.Horgan is the 70s housewife hosting a houseparty in deepest English suburbia, where her anxiety and neurosis bubbles away close to the surface - and her husband, played by Ben Crompton, provides a steadying, and somewhat ominous counterpoint.These superbly-sketched&nbsp;characters, and the evening&#39;s events,&nbsp;sits within a visual palette that is nothing less than gorgeous throughout, from Ben Fordesman&#39;s photography to the remarkable fashion styling and hair. Wonderful.

Dawn Shadforth

Trim Editing

Coffee & TV

Somesuch

Electronica, Alternative

Metronomy 'Old Skool' by Dawn Shadforth

Metronomy - Old Skool (Official Video)

Elliott Power has released some visually striking, monochromatic visuals&nbsp;for new single Once Smitten directed by&nbsp;Alex Hulsey.&nbsp;The video zeroes in on Hulsey&#39;s experimentation with&nbsp;ferrofluids, resulting in&nbsp;transfixing sequences of the shiny&nbsp;fluid playing off of the&nbsp;human body. The black, tarlike liquid&nbsp;takes a life of its own, forming into complex scales that slither their way across the otherwise slick smooth human forms.Hulsey also achieved his goal of&nbsp;creating something&nbsp;&ldquo;abstract with dark visuals to match the [song&#39;s] production&rdquo;&nbsp;without the use of CGI.&nbsp;It&#39;s all done through in-camera effects, courtesy of excellent work&nbsp;by DoP David Procter.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Alex Hulsey

Elliott Power 'Once Smitten' by Alex Hulsey

Elliott Power - Once Smitten (Official Video)

There&#39;s love and there&#39;s some blood on the dancefloor in&nbsp;Dawn Shadforth&#39;s marvellous&nbsp;video for Hurts&#39; Lights - a nightclub odyssey&nbsp;where chemistry explodes utterly believeably&nbsp;between two strangers&nbsp;&ndash; the man, played by Theo Hutchcraft (definitely out of his usual ice-cool persona mode), and the feisty&nbsp;girl. And that&#39;s just for starters.&nbsp;It&#39;s a&nbsp;wonderful mix of gritty&nbsp;British drama and&nbsp;fantasy&nbsp;&ndash; Hutchcraft is a revelation, great bullfighter styling by Alex Noble, and edit by Dom Leung -&nbsp;and its thrillingly&nbsp;photographed by&nbsp;Robbie Ryan.[imgtoken data:1]&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Final Cut

Hurts 'Lights' by Dawn Shadforth

Hurts - Lights (Official Video)

Part four of what has become an epic, and quite possibly unprecedented series of music videos for Plan B by Daniel Wolfe. 
After Stay Too Long, She Says and Prayin', expectations for The Recluse could hardly be higher. But it delivers - and then turns it up another notch. 
This one is actually for a song that comes before Prayin' in the concept/story album that is The Defamation of Strickland Banks, but Dan and Ben Drew/Plan B have seized the opportunity to fill in the gaps with a dual narrative structure - after he enters jail for the crime he didn't commit, and flashbacks to the period when still free. 
It's great work, and Drew arguably gives his best acting performance yet. And taken with the rest... what an achievement - by everyone who's been involved in making them.

Daniel Wolfe

Partizan

Plan B’s The Recluse by Daniel Wolfe

One hell of a night on the tiles with Plan B - the charismatic Ben Drew, fresh from his success in Harry Brown - and his crew (including female lead Kaya Scodelario, from Skins), brilliantly captured by Dan Wolfe, and his crew. 
Breathless, relentless... one hell of a video.

Plan B’s Stay Too Long by Daniel Wolfe

After A-Punk a while ago, here's another deceptively simple, beautifully conceptual Vampire Weekend performance video by Garth Jennings. And like A-Punk it just gets more enjoyable and rewarding each time you watch it.
There's no framerate-manipulation this time. The band really did go that fast, up and down the track - powered by four grips running as fast as possible. And here's an indication of Garth's pinpoint preparation: the video was assembled by Dom Leung during the shoot and technically finished as soon as they had the last shot. 
Two and a half minutes of joy.

Garth Jennings

Vampire Weekend’s Cousins by Garth Jennings

Vampire-Weekend’s-Cousins-by-Garth-Jennings

Preston as a vampire! Proper fangs! Eye-boggling Eighties party dresses!
It's a really quite sexy affair from Ollie Evans, servicing the good-looking chap's new post-mod, Siouxsie-sampling direction.

Ollie Evans

Preston’s Dressed To Kill by Ollie Evans

After a long hiatus, Dominic Leung returns to promo directing with this wonderfully woozy, superbly photographed video for the reinvigorated Tricky.
Set in a 1960s dive with Tricky as the sharp-dressed lady's man sounds a bit unlikely, but Dominic pulls it off. It's also beautiful - shot by Nick Wood - with a camera that's decidedly under the influence.
And, of course, a great edit by Dom too. He's back.

Tricky’s Puppy Toy by Dominic Leung

Fabulous colour-splattered video for Robyn directed by Rankin and Chris Cottam that always looks great despite the mess, and has smart ideas chucked around with the same abandon as the paint.
Love that the sprayed-on band stay deadpan throughout, leaving the emotion to the wonderful Robyn - who gets to stamp on the camera. Did Hype ever get that shot
Top drawer pop stuff, from a top drawer team including producer Juliette Larthe, DoP Denzil Armour-Brown and editor Dom Leung.
Dang di dang diggy diggy.

Watch: <a href="http://www.hsilondon.co.uk/clip.aspxid=759">Quicktime movie</a>

Rankin &amp; Chris

Robyn’s Cobrastyle by Rankin & Chris