Production Company

Park Pictures

<h3>The Park Pictures director travelled to a remote region of Lanzarote with singer-songwriter/cellist Kelsey Lu and actor Garance Marillier to make videos,&nbsp;visualisers and a jawdropping short film for Lu's new album. We spoke to her about how the extraordinary project&nbsp;came together. Main photo: Rachel Jones-Williams</h3>Savanah Leaf could have picked a more straightforward way to return to the world of making visuals for music. Instead,&nbsp;she chose a passion project - one that is itself a vehicle for passion, in its many forms.The Anglo-American director who won a BAFTA for Outstanding Debut for her&nbsp;first feature <a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/earth-mama/" target="_blank">Earth Mama</a> has now made a remarkable suite of visuals for the new album by her good friend, the LA-based singer/composer/cellist Kelsey McJunkins&nbsp;-&nbsp;better known as Kelsey Lu. That has involved videos, visualisers and finally, the fully realised short film for the album So Help Me God that offers an intense&nbsp;exploration of a relationship in the starkest of settings.Filmed in a deserted part of Lanzarote, we witness Lu and French actor Garance Marillier playing lovers at the edge of destruction at the edge of the world; a volcanic relationship played out on the volcanic slopes of this breathtaking island.&nbsp;The first release from the project, the video for <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2026/03/20/kelsey-lu-running-pain-savanah-leaf/94459" target="_blank">Running To Pain</a>, sets the scene of an emotional dance taking place between the two against extraordinary&nbsp;landscapes, playing out in long takes - the otherworldliness underlined by the incongruous, high fashion clothing worn by the protagonists.&nbsp;Followed by one-take visuals for the songs <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2026/04/22/kelsey-lu-portrait-lady-fire-savanah-leaf/94707" target="_blank">Portrait Of A Lady On Fire</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-aB7XGSq9Y" target="_blank">Cutting Off The Head Of A Ghost</a> - which focus upon intimacy, sensuality and Kelsey Lu's emotional turmoil - and further visualisers, all these different fragments have now been brought together into creating a complete picture. It's&nbsp;the full nearly 17-minute short film to accompany So Help Me God.&nbsp;[vidtoken data:0]<blockquote>I wanted to show the ebbs and flows of the album through the metaphor of a toxic relationship.</blockquote>Containing six songs from the album, it's the full story of the destruction of a relationship and in some ways it's darker and uncompromising than the preceding visuals. There is more emphasis when passion becomes twisted, and when pain is clear to see.As in Earth Mama - for which Kelsey Lu composed the music - Savanah Leaf is focussing&nbsp;upon an individual who is in the eye of a storm, and who needs to find a way out of suffering. But the So Help Me God film&nbsp;has its own specific atmosphere and haunting quality. So we asked Savanah a few questions about how she made this memorable film for her friend's new album.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;PROMONEWS: Kelsey Lu composed music for Earth Mama - is that how you met?SAVANAH LEAF: Yes, Lu and I met when I was looking for a composer for the film. We met in a little restaurant in Brooklyn, and instantly we became close. We were giggling the whole time, sharing life stories, it just felt like an instant connection as soon as we sat down to eat.&nbsp;What was the starting point for the making of the So Help Me God film?&nbsp;SL: We had been discussing the album for a while, just as friends. I was listening to the music and giving thoughts, but also just listening and celebrating how beautiful it was.I really felt like it was so cinematic from the first time I sat on her bed and listened to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec3wtCzZGNw" target="_blank">Reaper</a>. Then it took maybe around seven months from her asking me to do the project, to us completing it. It went through many different ideas and forms, until the final project was realized.&nbsp;[imgtoken data:1]Above:&nbsp;High fashion in ashes - on the So Help Me God shoot.&nbsp;Photo credit: Alima LeeWhat led you to this story of the characters’ tempestuous and disintegrating relationship and your approach? What were the primary emotions that you wanted to achieve?SL: From the very beginning, Lu and I were discussing how the album felt like a shedding of a skin - a rebirth. It felt very raw, and unleashed these visceral emotions in so many different ways.I wanted to show the ebbs and flows of the album through the metaphor of a toxic relationship. One [that]&nbsp;could be broken down into separate videos with each song, but then collectively could come together as a singular film - almost like a small musical with tasters of each of the songs on the album. We used the reference of the film <a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/the-inner-scar/" target="_blank">The Inner Scar</a>&nbsp;by Phillipe Garrel as an interesting example for this.<blockquote>[For the long takes] I prepared as much as possible... and then trusted Lu and Garance to show up and perform.&nbsp;</blockquote>When did Garance Marillier get involved in the project?SL: Once the film treatment had been written and we had loose dates for the shoot, we started thinking about casting. Garance came up because we were discussing actors who are great with movement and have a physicality to their performances that are grounded and yet wild and unhinged.Lu and I both loved the film <a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/raw-2016/" target="_blank">Raw</a>&nbsp;and were extremely excited by the potential of working with Garance. So when she said she wanted to do it, it felt like a perfect collaboration.[imgtoken data:2]Above: Savanah Leaf (left), Garance Marillier (centre) and Kelsey Lu.The amazing location in Lanzarote is crucial to the feel of the film. Was the setting part of the original idea or did it come later?SL: We had budget restrictions, so we costed out a few different places around the world. Ultimately we landed on Lanzarote because of how beautiful the landscape is, but also how violent it feels as well. I mean it's quite literally bubbling beneath our feet. It created this physical obstacle for them to perform within, and became almost like a character in the story.&nbsp;Another distinctive aspect is the remarkable wardrobe, adding greatly to the visual aesthetic. Are these original pieces created for the film? Who was responsible for those, and the styling?SL: Lu and I had spoken a lot about creating an ugly, dark fantasy in the clothing of the film. Edda Gudmundsdottir did the styling with Lu, and together they created a language in the clothing that also incorporated the physicality of the land itself.We had lots of obstacles in just getting the clothing to this tiny Lanzarote island, and so Edda&nbsp;had to find a lot of creative solutions. She made a lot of the costumes [herself] - from the iconic heels with mud all over them to the deteriorating suit at the end of the film. Some of my favourite pieces were what she made while in Lanzarote.[imgtoken data:3]Above: Kelsey Lu's beach look.&nbsp;Photo credit: Alima Lee<blockquote>Lanzarote... became almost like a character in the story.</blockquote>There are some bravura sequences - lengthy takes in spectacular landscapes, but not overly choreographed. How did you approach these?SL: We had big ideas for long tracking shots, and durational dolly shots. This is something I have been doing since my film Earth Mama and I wanted to expand on these ideas in new ways.We approached them by doing a lot of prep, blocking with my cinematographer, and then we often only had the time for a couple takes. So in large part I would try to prepare as much as possible, give as best direction as I could, and then trust our actors (Lu and Garance) to show up and perform. And they really did!When did you shoot it, and how long did you have to shoot it? Who were your important collaborators on the shoot?SL: We shot last year in November for four days. In those four days we made 2 music videos, 8 visualizers and a short film. It was insane. I'm still confused how we made that happen. But I do have to give a big thanks to my cinematographer Ryan Marie Helfant, my producers Jill Ferraro, Mia Jarrett, and Park Pictures’ Shelley Jones and Fran Thompson.[imgtoken data:4]Above: Savanah Leaf (left) and Kelsey Lu.&nbsp;Photo:&nbsp;Garance Marillier<blockquote>It took around seven months from her asking me to do the project to us completing it.​</blockquote>On the back end we had so many incredible people that worked in edit, VFX and colour grade (Thomas Grove Carter, Ben Elkaim, Jason Wallis, and many more). Everyone truly gave this project so much time and energy, and I feel very lucky that they trusted me to guide them along the journey. &nbsp;What were the big challenges of the shoot? And as you were also drawing several music videos from the shoot as well as the short film, what challenges did that present?SL: So many. I couldn’t pin-point one thing.&nbsp;I mean we were on a tiny island, with limited resources, and it felt like everything every day was falling apart. From our locations, [to] getting clothing on the island, to just getting food for dinner because everywhere was closed...And yet - we did it! We always found a way. That's truly a huge thanks to the team around us, because I couldn’t have done it without them.• Kelsey Lu's new album So Help Me God is out now; Savanah Leaf is represented for music videos and commercials at Park Pictures.

Savanah Leaf

FOUR DAYS ON A VOLCANO Savanah Leaf on directing the film for Kelsey Lu's 'So Help Me God'

Kelsey Lu - So Help Me God (Short Film) 

Craig Parkinson -&nbsp;star of Line Of Duty and much more -&nbsp;becomes an observer of human behaviour, looking in at the residents of a tower block&nbsp;from the window cleaning gantry outside, in Jake Erland's stunning promo for Dave Grohl's returning rock behemoths Foo Fighters.In the video for Window - Foo Fighters' first release in three years and the first from the new album My Favorite Toy&nbsp;- Parkinson is a window cleaner, working his way across the higher floors of a tower block, impartially witnessing the worlds of the inhabitants within, who reflect the many ways in which we live today.[imgtoken data:1]From the bodybuilder's workout&nbsp;to the&nbsp;content-creating influencer&nbsp;to the grieving mourners, romantic dinner daters and more -&nbsp;Parkinson sees them all from his unique vantage point. And this powerful concept works because it is clearly not faked. He really is on that gantry, way above the ground; and it's&nbsp;captured on camera both outside and inside the tower block. It's almost enough to give you vertigo just watching it.Filmed in Bulgaria&nbsp;over two days, both the actor and crew - particularly Jake Erland and his DoP Jack Exton - went to the great lengths (or heights) to make this work, testing their own personal courage, however safe and secure they were in reality.&nbsp;&nbsp;[imgtoken data:2]<blockquote>The whole film was only only possible with Craig's endless patience and professionalism.&nbsp;</blockquote>As Jake explains below, achieving this&nbsp;idea that Dave Grohl conceived, meant coming to terms with a fear of heights that he did not know he had.PROMONEWS: It’s a great concept. What were the big challenges in shooting it?&nbsp;JAKE ERLAND: Haha yeah, does what it says on the tin - c/o of Mr Dave Grohl himself. [The] whole thing was a bit of a nightmare to make, 9 sets in empty floors 12 and 14. Poor old Craig had to travel down from floor 24 [in the gantry]. Lots of teething problems [on] Day 1, but we were pretty good at getting him in and out by the end.[imgtoken data:3]&nbsp;In particular, can you reveal how you shot the exteriors of Craig on the gantry?JE: 40 metre cherry picker - I didn’t think I was scared of heights and even going up on that I was sweaty-palmed hahaha. Shout out to Mr Jack Exton, who it turns out is not afraid of heights at all.&nbsp;And did it require Craig to have an extremely good head for heights?JE: I mean, I can’t believe he did it. I am a massive Line Of Duty and Misfits fan. TBH I think we all underestimated how fucking high it would be, lol. The whole film was only only possible with Craig's endless patience and professionalism.&nbsp;

United States

Jake Erland

Chris Murdoch

Trim Editing

Rock

Foo Fighters 'Window' by Jake Erland

Foo-Fighters-'Window'-by-Jake-Erland

The second visual from the Savanah Leaf-directed longform project accompanying the new Kelsey Lu album So Help Me God. It's a single-take performance by Kelsey that appears to take place moments after a tempestuous&nbsp; scene&nbsp;with her lover, played by&nbsp;Garance Marillier,&nbsp;from the <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2026/03/20/kelsey-lu-running-pain-savanah-leaf/94459" target="_blank">video for Running To Pain</a>.The set up is like a painting, the camera is locked off, and Kelsey barely moves either while performing Portrait Of A Lady On Fire. But as befitting the track that shares its name with <a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire/" target="_blank">the acclaimed romantic drama</a>, the theme of desire and longing comes through strongly. It feels&nbsp;like a pause before more fireworks.&nbsp;

United Kingdom

Soul

Kelsey Lu 'Portrait Of A Lady On Fire' by Savanah Leaf

Kelsey Lu - Portrait Of A Lady On Fire (Official Music Video)

The first chapter of the new collaboration between Savanah Leaf and Kelsey Lu, ahead of the release of the artist's second album&nbsp;So Help Me God, is an introduction to a sensual and explosive relationship of two women, played by Lu and French actor Garance Marillier (Titane, Raw), within a stark, alien landscape.Filmed in Lanzarote, the video for Running To Pain touches upon the highs and lows of the pair’s tempestuous relationship, often in long takes on the island’s volcanic slopes, intercut with moments of performance from Lu.It’s beautifully done, with lovely cinematography by Ryan Marie Helfant, wardrobe styling by Edda Gudmundsdottir&nbsp;and magnetic&nbsp;performances by Lu and Marillier, who have tremendous on-screen chemistry. In her direction, Savanah Leaf shows the skill and sensitivity that made her feature debut <a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/earth-mama/" target="_blank">Earth Mama</a> so special - and a BAFTA winner.Lu, a composer as much as a singer-songwriter who has created original scores for film and TV, also&nbsp;wrote the score for Earth Mama. This&nbsp;is an indication that another hugely impressive collaboration between the artist and director is under way.&nbsp;[imgtoken data:1][imgtoken data:2]

Kelsey Lu 'Running To Pain' by Savanah Leaf

Kelsey Lu - Running To Pain (Official Music Video)

Jake Erland joins forces with co-director ABOVEGROUND for a richly cinematic new music video for beabadoobee's team-up with American alt-rock band The Marías.The video for All I Did Was Dream Of You showcases Bea moving through a series of dreamlike vignettes in a variety of wintry&nbsp;settings, culminating in&nbsp;a spectacular moment&nbsp;of her car flipping and exploding into flames.&nbsp;[imgtoken data:1]Shot in sub-zero weather conditions in Vilnius, Lithuania, the story unfolds&nbsp;across a frozen lake off a decommissioned nuclear power plant, snow-laden forests, a tiny bar on the outskirts of town, and a local produce market. The pivotal scene, when the car flips over and explodes, was captured entirely in-camera.This is the sixth music video collaboration between&nbsp;Bea and Jake Erland, following the videos created for the 2024 album This Is How Tomorrow Moves. It also represents a radical departure in cinematic ambition in their creative partnership. ABOVEGROUND, who has previously directed several videos in Lithuania, becomes&nbsp;a valuable addition to the team with this one.An exciting new beabadoobee campaign is under way with a bang.

ABOVEGROUND

Anchous

Indie

Alt Rock

beabadoobee ft The Marías ‘All I Did Was Dream Of You’ by Jake Erland & ABOVEGROUND

beabadoobee - All I Did Was Dream Of You (Official Video) ft. The Marías

Andrea Arnold makes a very rare appearance as a music video director - possibly her debut -&nbsp;for old friends Sleaford Mods team-up with artist and performer Sue Tompkins, in the familiar territory of the Dartford estate where she shot her seminal Oscar-winning short film&nbsp;Wasp.Shot by long-term collaborator Robbie Ryan - the DoP on her acclaimed features Red Road, Fish Tank, Wuthering Heights, American Honey and Bird, the&nbsp;film for No Touch, shot on a mix of 16mm and 35mm, features the duo performing the track alongside locals and dancers in the falling leaves of British November.The video also features Sue Tompkins, visual artist and&nbsp;former lead singer of Glasgow rock band Life Without&nbsp;Buildings, who becomes the latest female vocal foil to Sleaford's frontman Jason Williamson, following the likes of Billy Nomates, Amy Taylor from Amyl &amp; The Sniffers&nbsp;and,&nbsp;most recently,&nbsp;Gwendoline Christie.[imgtoken data:1]“I had such a lovely day making the video with the Sleafords and Sue Tompkins," says Arnold, who featured both the Sleafords' track Jolly&nbsp;Fucker and a cameo by Jason Williamson in&nbsp;her latest film Bird - also shot in Dartford."The shoot reminded me of my days out to Margate with my family. It was bonkers, chaotic and funny and we got chips on the way home. I had such a good time working with them all. Although we all do different things we were all somehow connected. Like our work and lives all intermingled somehow. Lovely.”Jason Williamson has commented that the song "is colourful and full of heavy&nbsp;realism, a kitchen sink drama," and that it&nbsp;“couldn’t have been captured by anyone else. Andrea Arnold fits perfectly with its soft nightmare theme."He adds: "It is a song about isolation, loneliness and crushing self-harm that we all try to navigate, I suppose, under the rigid structures of conformity. Andrea took us back to her old neighbourhood, which also felt very familiar to me. The video, like her films, doesn’t end in total black out, but it trails hope too.”

Andrea Arnold

Kodak

Sleaford Mods ft Sue Tompkins 'No Touch' by Andrea Arnold

Sleaford Mods Ft. Sue Tompkins - No Touch (Official Video)

<h3>It's been one of the success stories of the year. The Jake Erland-directed videos for Olivia Dean have helped propel the singer to new heights. Now we can find out how VFX work at post house Anchous assisted the in-camera ingenuity in three videos, and contributed to their impact - courtesy of Before &amp; After comparison reels.&nbsp;</h3>London-based Anchous worked with Jake Erland on three of his videos for Olivia Dean this year - Lady Lady, the smash hit Man I Need and So Easy (To Fall In Love) - and the idea in each one was to make the ambitious 'one-shot'-style structure as&nbsp;seamless and natural as possible.So that Olivia appeared to wander effortlessly through choreographed scenes of backstage activity or rehearsals in a theatrical&nbsp;performance, or a Hollywood musical, the VFX work had to be invisible."Overall, the biggest challenge was maintaining the organic, non-artificial feeling of a true one-shot music video - keeping the illusion that everything was captured fully in-camera," says Arsenii Pronkin, Anchous founder, EP and senior editor. He also reveals that the&nbsp;essential method was to work with two different takes of the same tracking shot to craft the 'perfect' combination of both.&nbsp;"Matching motion between the two takes was tricky, and in the moments where that wasn’t possible, we had to stitch together transitions from five or six different shots while still making the final piece feel completely seamless. But thankfully Jake and Rowan [Mackintosh King, the producer]&nbsp;did their best with the shots and pre-planning the transitions. So it was a very smooth process."<blockquote>Matching motion between two takes was tricky...&nbsp;where that wasn’t possible, we had to stitch together transitions from five or six different shots.</blockquote>In fact, you&nbsp;can find out how good the clean-up work has been in the three videos by viewing the Before &amp; After comparison reels here - accompanied by Arsenii Pronkin's words on the specific challenges posed by each video.Lady Lady[vidtoken data:0]"The toughest part was definitely the floor transition. We didn’t want to rely on a fade-in/fade-out, so we used multiple takes to capture as much of the different floor positions and reflections to make the transition feel natural."Man I Need[vidtoken data:1]"Here it was all about the masked transitions, which were quite complex. They weren’t the typical “hide it behind someone’s back” or “person passes in front of camera” type of tricks - these ones required much more precise planning and execution with the matching position."So Easy (To Fall In Love)[vidtoken data:2]"The challenge was the final shot, where we had to replace almost every lightning flare with a larger one. The actual replacement isn’t hard, but doing it across a continuous 40-second shot - tracking every light stomp and making sure all the flares stay consistent in size."Pronkin points out that a different skill set is required&nbsp;for using VFX to clean up live action shots, rather than creating 'visible' VFX."Some of the tools are the same," he says. "But you just need to be a lot more efficient with&nbsp;being able to make&nbsp;two or three options with the&nbsp;very slight touches of changes in the transition."No doubt that the cleanup is easier than full CG. But tracking a 40–50 second shot and then blending it into another 30-40 second shot is still no joke, ha ha."But Pronkin adds that Anchous have also worked with Jake Erland on another project which did require decidely more visible VFX work: the <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2025/04/03/joy-crookes-i-know-youd-kill-jake-erland/90585" target="_blank">Joy Crookes' video for I Know You'd Kill</a>."We had some&nbsp;very&nbsp;fun blood and gunshot VFX moments - that was super cool to work on."• More about Anchous <a href="https://www.anchous-editing.com/about" target="_blank">here</a>

Arsenii Pronkin

VFX Breakdown: Arsenii Pronkin of Anchous on Olivia Dean's videos

Olivia Dean - Lady Lady

Olivia Dean - Man I Need

Olivia Dean - So Easy

Following in the footsteps of the UKMVA-nominated Nice To Each Other, Lady Lady and Man I Need, Jake Erland's new video for Olivia Dean recreates the style of a classic Hollywood musical - but this is the most sophisticated and perfectly realised of the bunch.As in previous videos, Olivia is the focal point in choreographed sequences in So Easy. It suits her perfectly. Only here, she moves into different scenes and there is a sense of a narrative - a picturebook version of everyday life, like in a Stanley Donen movie,&nbsp;in which Olivia has an important role: matchmaking other people's love lives.Erland and his returning team, including production designer Furmaan&nbsp;Ahmed and choreographer Meshach Henry, have been given a bigger canvas for this video - likely&nbsp;due to the success of their previous videos in helping Dean enjoy a chart-topping hit with her second album, and helped by shooting this on a stage in Sofia. They have certainly risen to the challenge to make something lovely.[imgtoken data:1]&nbsp;&nbsp;

Olivia Dean 'So Easy' by Jake Erland

Olivia Dean - So Easy (To Fall In Love)

Olivia Dean joins ballerinas in rehearsal in the second video directed by Jake Erland for the London singer's new album.&nbsp;The video for Lady Lady is a gentle, considered visual, blending choreography and performance in an intimate, introspective way.&nbsp;With the track's themes of celebrating the universe and the collective strength of women, the concept features&nbsp;Royal Ballet principal dancer Francesca Hayward, and has an overarching message of passing down knowledge and celebrating both individuality and community.&nbsp;A beautiful concept that builds upon Erland and Dean's collective videography with a new aesthetic and vibe.&nbsp;

Alternative Pop

Olivia Dean 'Lady Lady' by Jake Erland

Olivia-Dean-'Lady-Lady'-by-Jake-Erland

Iggy London returns to music videos with an effervescent affair for rising R&amp;B star&nbsp;Sekou.The delightful video for Catching Bodies features the young British singer strutting their stuff&nbsp;through a London estate&nbsp;on a hot summer's day, through the buzz of everyday life - and performing mostly to the camera on a shot tracking along the street.Iggy provides a uplifting sense of the joy in a sizzling summer's day in the city, elevated by the colour palette of Peter Bishop's cinematography and Tim Smith's grade.&nbsp;Above all, it's a vehicle for Sekou's distinctive personality and a song that should keep the summer vibes going for a while longer.[imgtoken data:1]

Iggy London

Mouthpiece

Sekou 'Catching Bodies' by Iggy London

Sekou-'Catching-Bodies'-by-Iggy-London

Jake Erland's latest for&nbsp;Olivia Dean continues in the uplifting musical theatre atmosphere&nbsp;of his previous videos for the singer's soon-to-be-released new album, The Art Of Loving - a smooth and smart combination of performance and craft.In fact, the video for Man I Need takes the 'backstage' ambience of Olivia's video for <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2025/07/08/olivia-dean-nice-each-other-jake-erland/91763" target="_blank">Nice To Each Other</a> and brings it up a notch in sophistication. Olivia once again moves between scenes courtesy of&nbsp;theatrical devices and in-camera sleight of hand, but the transitions and scenery has a more front-of-house feel.And once again, Olivia Dean provides an on-screen warmth and relatability that has been a feature of her videos from the start. A great addition to the successful&nbsp;video campaign for her much-anticipated new album.&nbsp;

Olivia Dean 'Man I Need' by Jake Erland

Olivia-Dean-'Man-I-Need'-by-Jake-Erland

<h3>Director/DoP Jake Erland’s recent video for Olivia Dean elevates the singer's charming on-screen presence by referencing Hollywood musicals and classic fashion shoots. We asked Jake some questions about the project. On-set photography by Honor Evans.</h3>In the video for Nice To Each Other, Olivia Dean walks onto a rehearsal stage&nbsp;where stagehands move the two-dimensional flats that will create the scenery for a show. Her choreographed interaction with the scenery and stagehands enhances the sense of wistful romance in her performance.With production design by Furmaan Ahmed and choreographed by&nbsp;Meshach Henry, and shot in long takes by the director/DoP in the style of a Fifties musical, it is a terrific showcase for Olivia Dean's screen presence. And that's as delightfully mood-enhancing here as it has been in previous Erland-directed videos, including the UKMVA-nominated video for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2024/08/08/olivia-dean-time-jake-erland/89266" target="_blank">Time</a>, and their next one for new single <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN_Vyg_wURY" target="_blank">Lady Lady</a>.[vidtoken data:0]​PROMONEWS: What inspired the idea for the video?&nbsp;JAKE ERLAND: I’ve been working across the whole album with Emily [Braham], Olivia’s manager and creative director. We have an amazing creative partnership and we sketched out the world based on Olivia’s idea of black and white sets.Then I was watching&nbsp;Wicked, and there’s this cutout picture book transition they do in the film. It made me think about 2D sets and perspective and that’s where this came from.[imgtoken data:1][imgtoken data:2]<blockquote>It turns out [that] having sets on wheels and amazing dancers makes reset and takes pretty easy!</blockquote>What were the biggest challenges during production?JE: This wasn’t too hard - turns out having sets on wheels and amazing dancers makes reset and takes pretty easy!&nbsp;Plus total trust in Olivia's performance and Furmann Ahmed (art) and Mesh Henry (choreo) to be so fab at what they do and make these ideas work - without them I’d be lost.To be honest I think maybe this was my favourite shoot in a while. I think a big part of that is trust the team and when you don’t know what’s gunna be possible, don’t plan too specifically what it’s gunna be. Sometimes things can just come together and it can be nice![imgtoken data:3][imgtoken data:4]What are you most pleased with about how it's turned out?JE: I think all of it. Usually it’s the work of mine that people like that I hate and obsess about. I can see the issues. But this one was perfect for me and I’m happy people loved it. Big shout out to Park [Pictures], Rowan Mackintosh King and Olli Hill on production and AD department.[imgtoken data:5][imgtoken data:6][imgtoken data:7]• Jake Erland is a director and cinematographer based at <a href="https://parkpictures.com/director/jake-erland" target="_blank">Park Pictures</a>

BTS: Jake Erland on Olivia Dean’s Nice To Each Other

Olivia-Dean-'Nice-To-Each-Other-'-by-Jake-Erland

Jake Erland reunites with Olivia Dean for the first track from her new album The Art of Loving, with a video that channels Hollywood musicals and classic fashion shoots and plays to the singer's great strength.In the video for Nice To Each Other, Olivia walks onto a rehearsal stage&nbsp;where stagehands move the two-dimensional flats that will create the scenery for a show. Her choreographed interaction with the scenery and stagehands enhances the sense of wistful romance in her performance.[imgtoken data:1]With production design by Furmaan Ahmed and choreographed by&nbsp;Meshach Henry, and shot in long takes by the director/DoP in the style of a Fifties musical, it is a terrific showcase for Olivia Dean's screen presence. And that's as delightfully mood-enhancing here as it has been in previous videos - including the UKMVA-nominated video for <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2024/08/08/olivia-dean-time-jake-erland/89266" target="_blank">Time, also directed by Erland</a>.[imgtoken data:2] &nbsp;

Semera Khan

Olivia Dean 'Nice To Each Other' by Jake Erland

Music video and film worlds collide in Jake Erland's latest collaboration with Joy Crookes.&nbsp;The video for I Know You'd Kill is a thrilling, no-holds-barred spectacle, boasting backlit fight scenes, gravity-defying flips - and Joy as we've never seen her before.&nbsp;Battling an unidentified assailant, she holds her own whilst tearing up her apartment-turned-battle zone, captured in a combination of brilliant overhead shots and frantic closeups.And, as well as plenty of action-packed set-pieces, it's another video by Erland showcasing Joy Crookes' winning personality.&nbsp;

Joy Crookes 'I Know You'd Kill' by Jake Erland

Joy-Crookes-'I-Know-You'd-Kill'-by-Jake-Erland

Fatherhood is examined in a tender montage of vignettes, in&nbsp;Saddiq Abubakar's promo for Tom Misch.&nbsp;The video for Old Man features a selection of real life fathers and sons, ending with a breathtaking scene between&nbsp;the artist and his dad.&nbsp;Cinematic and absorbing, the visual lingers on simple everyday moments and connection, bringing to life snapshots of stories in a universally relatable way.&nbsp;Lovely work.&nbsp;

Saddiq Abubakar

Tom Misch 'Old Man' by Saddiq Abubakar

Tom-Misch-'Old-Man'-by-Saddiq-Abubakar

Jak Payne directs an evocative promo for Demise Of Love - a collaboration between producers/alt rock pioneers&nbsp;Daniel Avery, James Greenwood's Ghost Culture and Working Men's Club.The video for Strange Little Consequence sees WMC's&nbsp;Syd Minsky Sargeant&nbsp;perform whilst flanked by Avery and Greenwood within an abstract studio set - designed by art director Fin Sullivan&nbsp;- that's falling apart, littered with falling debris as it disintegrates around the three figures.&nbsp;Tied together by a breathless, quick-cut edit, it's a rousing promo with plenty of fun visual moments - and a great introduction to the new project.&nbsp;

Jak Payne

Demise Of Love 'Strange Little Consequence' by Jak Payne

Demise-Of-Love-'Strange-Little-Consequence'-by-Jak-Payne

Joy Crookes and Kano deliver the joy and heartache of a life together in a series of moments, within the same four walls, in Jake Erland's compelling video for Mathematics.The artists portray a couple going through the life-changing phases of a relationship – young love, marriage, birth and death - all happening within their home. And&nbsp;we switch between periods, back and forth, as the action takes place within an almost theatrical framework - the same rooms of their council flat, shot on a locked-off camera. So the table used for a birthday party will later host a wake for a&nbsp;lost loved oneThis device is a winner, allowing for Erland to create almost painterly compositions as cinematographer as well as director of the piece. And it provides the contained space for the transfixing acting performances of the two artists.[imgtoken data:1]In this respect, Kano's talents are well known, due to his role in Top Boy. But he is matched by Joy Crookes,&nbsp;who portrays a young woman's ups and downs in a way that suggests she also has great potential as an actor. She has great chemistry with Kano, and the meaningful yet unheard exchanges between them provides good reason to return to this again and again.The&nbsp;visuals overall underscore a track that also feels transcendent,&nbsp;with Crookes expressing the pain of trying to be on the same page with someone you love. After <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2025/01/21/joy-crookes-ft-vince-staples-pass-salt-jake-erland/89735" target="_blank">Pass The Salt</a>, released last month, Mathematics is the second of a tryptich of videos by Erland for the new album. And after this, it's going to be fascinating to see what they come up with next time.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Joy Crookes ft Kano 'Mathematics' by Jake Erland

Joy Crookes - Mathematics (Official Video) ft. Kano

It's been a while, but OK Go are back for their first music video-cum-visual art project in several years - seemingly prompted by Donald Trump's return to power.The band's frontman Damian Kulash co-directs the visual for A Stone Only Rolls Downhill with Chris Buongiorno, which begins with a title (in a familiar font) simply stating: 64 Videos on 64 Phones. It then presents the four members of OK Go through a varying, increasingly complex arrangement of phone screens, moving from phone to phone , or have a number of screens composite part or all of the image, and employing an escalating number of phones for ever-greater and ingenious compositions, also involving hand-based choreography.In other words, it's very clever. Not as spectacular as some previous outings, but just as magical and distinctively OK Go-like as ever. There's a peek behind the scenes, on how this very complex job was created and project managed&nbsp;in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY7hI-mPqr8" target="_blank">BTS video</a>.&nbsp;However, unlike their previous videos the visual is also a poignant counterpoint to a lyric that's akin to a person gently breaking some very bad news: 'I wish I could tell you it'll all be just fine.' It's pretty clear what that refers to."We invested all this time and effort into this so that you could have three minutes of wow in your day and a real sense of joy about other humans in the world,"&nbsp;Kulash expains in the BTS. "That's a very precious commodity now."&nbsp;OK Go have responded to the world going to shit in a very OK Go way.[imgtoken data:1]

Damian Kulash, Jr.

Chris Buongiorno

OK Go 'A Stone Only Rolls Downhill' by Damian Kulash & Chris Buongiorno

OK Go - A Stone Only Rolls Downhill (Official Video)

Jake Erland directs a vibrant performance promo for Joy Crookes.&nbsp;Opening in a deep red room, the video features a captivating showcase of Crookes' performance skills, encapsulated in mini vignettes adorned with minimalist art direction.&nbsp;Overlaid with lyrics for Vince Staples' featured section, the video employs a balanced use of colour, camera movement and beauty lighting&nbsp;to create a laidback yet completely absorbing aesthetic.&nbsp;Brilliant work across the board, and a rousing comeback for the London-based artist.&nbsp;

Joy Crookes ft Vince Staples 'Pass The Salt' by Jake Erland

Joy-Crookes-'Pass-The-Salt-Ft.-Vince-Staples'-by-Jake-Erland

Jake Erland directs (and shoots) the video for Olivia Dean's Time - very close to a runway at Heathrow Airport...

Olivia Dean 'Time' by Jake Erland

Olivia-Dean-'Time'-by-Jake-Erland

Iggy London directs a vibrant performance promo for Mabel.The video for Vitamins centres on a carefree band performance, introduced with a series of intimate, enigmatic portraits of characters who appear later in the video.&nbsp;The effervescent aesthetic is achieved through inspired art direction, with abstract patterns and block colours taking centre-stage, complemented by creative cinematography from start to end.&nbsp;A brilliant project - and the&nbsp;Drector's Cut expands on Mabel and her band's&nbsp;central performance in an interesting way.&nbsp;

Mabel 'Vitamins' (Director's Cut) by Iggy London

Music Video CreditsDirector: Jake Erland.&nbsp;Producer: Rowan Mackintosh King.&nbsp;Production Company: Park Pictures.&nbsp;Executive Producer: Shelley Jones.&nbsp;Label: Dirty Hit.&nbsp;Commissioner: Jon Moore.&nbsp;Styling&nbsp;&amp; Creative Direction: Patricia Villirillo.&nbsp;Service Co: Mr Positive Tokyo.&nbsp;Executive Producer: Peter Grasse.&nbsp;Service Producer: Shinzo Higashiyama.&nbsp;Production Manager: Yukika Tasaki.&nbsp;Production Assistant: Karen Egawa.&nbsp;Production Assistant: Sheena Egawa.&nbsp;Production Assistant: Ruka Terao.&nbsp;Production Assistant: Michiho Tasaki.&nbsp;Location Coordinator: Hiro Kuni.&nbsp;Location Assistant: Aika Nakae.&nbsp;Key Grip: Yudai Sato.&nbsp;1st AC: Takahiko Kohyama.&nbsp;Prod Driver: Ryohei Egami.&nbsp;Lab Processing: Imagica.&nbsp;Edit: Arsenii Pronkin.&nbsp;Grade: Tim Smith.&nbsp;Colour Producer: Ollie Ireland.&nbsp;Special Thanks: Natsuki Kato &amp; Erika Murphy.

beabadoobee 'Ever Seen' by Jake Erland

beabadoobee - Ever Seen (Official Video)

Moonchild Sanelly and her gang of accomplices run wild and cause egg-related havoc all over town in Jabu Nadia Newman's terrific video for the South African artist and dancer's highly infectious Scrambled Eggs.From the start, the&nbsp;Capetown-based director transfixes the viewer with her bold and supercool take on contemporary South Africa, as the gang's invasion of a downtown cornershop has the edginess of a heist movie before turning into something more comedic and performance-based.With great camerawork, glam and choreo, Newman keeps the breathless narrative moving towards a daring climax, showcasing Moonchild Sanelly's great performance, and chemistry with her similarly blue-haired pals&nbsp;in the process.&nbsp;We suspect&nbsp;few eggs may have been harmed in the making of this video. Nevertheless, it's really&nbsp;eggs-cellent...<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rz6Cfwl5CFs?si=5azH-d400BN-Yjd4" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>

South Africa

Jabu Nadia Newman

Funk

Moonchild Sanelly 'Scrambled Eggs' by Jabu Nadia Newman

Moonchild Sanelly - Scrambled Eggs (Official Video)

Jake Erland directs a captivating video&nbsp;for beabadoobee, highlighting Bea's star quality with a Hollywood-style&nbsp;street scene, and a touch of Groundhog Day.Bea performs Take A Bite, the first single from forthcoming new album&nbsp;This Is How Tomorrow Moves, amongst the hustle and bustle of life on a busy European city street, with the stylised look of a studio-set Hollywood musical.Exuding a mixture of drama and glamour - with Erland working as DoP as well as director -&nbsp;her performance gains an additional sense of mystery as the street scene moves from day to night and then blacks out entirely. Then Bea returns to the&nbsp;street corner where she started, to repeat the move&nbsp;twice more, with the scene slightly more chaotic each time.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This is both a visually arresting and nostalgic concept and&nbsp;echoes other videos Erland has shot for her - like the London-set song-and-dance based <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2023/11/03/beabadoobee-laufey-night-remember-jake-erland/83982" target="_blank">A Night To Remember</a>. But while retaining&nbsp;the texture of her edgier, grungy roots, its a definite statement about the next chapter for&nbsp;beabadoobee.[imgtoken data:1]

Indie pop

beabadoobee 'Take A Bite' by Jake Erland

beabadoobee - Take A Bite (Official Music Video)

Holly Blakey returns to music videos, directing and choreographing a mesmerising dramatic dance piece for&nbsp;alt-rock outfit Goat Girl.&nbsp;The video for Motorway follows a trio of characters whose interactions on a dark night lead to a unpreditably coming together in movement. Characteristially&nbsp;it is an unpredictable yet compelling combination of performances, seemingly unstructured and&nbsp;apathetic at first, yet building to a powerful, frantic&nbsp;climax.&nbsp;Adorned with bizarre makeup and styling, the video feels uncanny in the best way, representing the almost otherworldly nature of the track.&nbsp;Highly conceptual yet utterly absorbing, the video is an essential showcase&nbsp;of Holly Blakey's talent for direction and dance.

Holly Blakey

Alternative

Goat Girl 'Motorway' by Holly Blakey 

Goat Girl - motorway (Official Video)

Jake Erland, one of the most exciting new directors working in British music videos -&nbsp;most recently directing the Rachel Chinouriri video for Never Need Me featuring Florence Pugh -&nbsp;has now signed to Park Pictures in London for music videos and commercials.Erland is a director and DoP who started out&nbsp;shooting skate videos and evolved his signature style through a prolific long-term collaboration with London brand Palace.&nbsp;His dynamic vision as a cinematographer has evolved into a strong directorial voice, leading him to work with numerous brands&nbsp;including&nbsp;Samsung, On, Rapha, Dior, Tommy Jeans, Salomon, Vans, Louis Vuitton, and John Paul Gaultier.Erland has also directed&nbsp;and shot several acclaimed videos in the past year or so, for the likes of Shygirl, Rachel Chinouriri and Beabadoobee. His video for Beabadoobee's Glue Song was nominated at the UKMVAs last year. His recent Chinouriri video for Never Need Me, with Florence Pugh as the singer's best friend and 'wingwoman',&nbsp;went viral with press in Elle, Wonderland, Grazia, Cosmopolitan, W Magazine and Daily Mail.Park Pictures - co-founded by director and cinematographer Lance Acord and home to a roster of Academy Award-winning directors including Emmanuel Lubezki - is renowned&nbsp;as ‘the cinematographer’s production company’ and doubles down on that reputation by signing director and cinematographer Erland, who is signed at Park for the UK and repped for music videos at Mouthpiece.&nbsp;“Park London is thrilled to add Jake to our roster,"&nbsp;says Park London's MD Fran Thompson.&nbsp;"I am drawn to the energy and playfulness in his work.&nbsp;As a DOP/director he’s really the perfect fit.”Founded in 1998 by Acord and executive producer&nbsp;Jacqueline Kelman Bisbee, and based in LA, New York and London, Park has been producing award-winning work for clients such as Apple, Nike, Google, Adidas, Verizon, Beats, Spotify, Amazon and Volkswagen for over 20 years.&nbsp;Park has also produced numerous features and documentaries, with over twelve chosen as Official Selection at Sundance.&nbsp;&nbsp;“I’m so excited to start this journey with Park,” adds Erland. “I never planned to be a director, it’s something my career has evolved into naturally. So to join Park, a company with an ethos so aligned to my own, feels like I've found the natural home for my practice. I can’t wait to see where it goes from here but I rest easy knowing that I have this wonderful team behind me and an iconic roster to inspire me.”• Watch Jake Erland at Park Pictures <a href="https://parkpictures.com/director/jake-erland" target="_blank">here</a>

Park Pictures London signs Jake Erland

Mitski builds herself a tower in AG Rojas's return to music videos with My Love Mine All Mine, shot by Evan Prosofsky.Firstly we see the artist in an empty&nbsp;industrial space, stacking chairs&nbsp;higher and higher, into an improbably tall tower. Eventually, she places an egg under the bottom chair, and proceeds to climb this precarious structure.The track is the first single from Mitski's new album, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We -&nbsp;comprised of songs written in bursts over the years since&nbsp;Mitski openly contemplated retirement from the music industry, with bravely vulnerable lyrics expressing the universal feelings of aching for and moving toward love.On first viewing the video feels more in the orbit of the singer-songwriter's canon of intriguing, often theatrically intense music videos than the visually poetic work that Rojas is known for. But within this interior setting, the director delivers on his reputation&nbsp;for creating memorable imagery with a strongly symbolic idea that dovetails beautifully with Mitski's sensitive delivery.[imgtoken data:1][imgtoken data:2]

AG Rojas

Mitski 'My Love Mine All Mine' by AG Rojas

Mitski-'My-Love-Mine-All-Mine'-by-A.g.-Rojas

The London office of Park Pictures has welcomed acclaimed director&nbsp;Roger Guàrdia to its roster.&nbsp;Guàrdia is renowned for creating hypnotically atmospheric&nbsp;worlds with a meticulous eye for detail in commercials and music videos.&nbsp;Born and raised in the suburbs of Barcelona, Roger got into filmmaking in his youth, making music videos for the most exciting contemporary artists in the underground scenes he was a part of.He has collaborated with music labels Warp, Captured Tracks, and Sony Music, creating music videos for artists like Battles, Bad Gyal and Mourn, which have garnered him nominations for top awards including at the UKMVAs. Most recently, he directed&nbsp;Rosalía's collaboration with Romeo Santos on <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2022/09/14/romeo-santos-rosal%C3%ADa-el-pa%C3%B1uelo-roger-gu%C3%A0rdia/78319" target="_blank">El Pañuelo</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;His commercial clients include the likes of Nike, UNICEF, Converse, Adidas and Stella McCartney.&nbsp;His 2021 campaign for Zara Origins – a visual experience based on Aphex Twin’s ‘Avril 14th’, in which the masters of the classical perform an arrangement of the song in a swimming pool, alongside a diverse cast of models wearing the brand’s collection – garnered numerous awards and nominations.Guàrdia’s move to Park Pictures London signals an intention to focus on more European projects rooted in areas like fashion, music and culture, where he has established a solid presence and audience. He has&nbsp;spent the past three years being represented by the production company in the US. He is represented by CANADA in Spain and other territories.“Roger is a director unlike any other on the Park roster,” says Park London's Managing Director Fran Thompson. “His unique perspective and style allows to engage on a whole new range of scripts and we’re excited to develop some agenda-setting projects with him and be part of his evolution as a director.”"I'm happy to expand my relationship with Park Pictures and join them in London," adds&nbsp;Guàrdia.&nbsp;"I really like the team’s background, vision, and approach. I can't wait to collaborate and create good projects together.”• Watch Roger&nbsp;Guàrdia's showreel at Park Pictures <a href="https://parkpictures.com/directors/roger-guardia" target="_blank">here</a>

Roger Guàrdia

Roger Guàrdia joins Park Pictures in London

Iggy London directs a&nbsp;visual exploration of girlhood, growing up and self-love, in his affecting promo for Grace Carter.&nbsp;The video for Pick Your Tears Up contains several intimate portrait vignettes&nbsp;of Carter and her friends, capturing them in a transitory, poignant manner.&nbsp;Carefully blending character study and an abstract, elevated aesthetic, the video exists somewhere between a music video and documentary, and is instantly captivating and moving.&nbsp;A beautiful complement to the track, which perfectly visualises an intangible, yet universal, set of emotions.&nbsp;

Cinelab Film and Digital

Grace Carter 'Pick Your Tears Up' by Iggy London

Grace-Carter-'Pick-Your-Tears-Up'-by-Iggy-London

Hector Aponysus directs an evocative promo for Petite Noir, featuring Sampa the Great.&nbsp;The video for Blurry sees the artist - real name&nbsp;Yannick Ilunga - perform in an industrial setting, whilst a series of experimental vignettes play out on-screen.&nbsp;Shot in 16mm black and white, and inspired by the spirit of 70's performance artists such as Carolee Schneemann, Marina Abromović and the work of William Kentridge, the film attempts to capture a sense of Petite Noir's interior and exterior experiences of the world, contemplating the meaning of shadow projection and evoking visions of claustrophobic unease.Beautifully abstract with a refreshingly inventive aesthetic, it's a brilliantly creative collaboration between the artist and director - who won the Best Live Video prize at the UKMVAs last October.&nbsp;

Belgium

Hector Aponysus

Singer-songwriter

Petite Noir 'Blurry' by Hector Aponysus

Petite-Noir-'Blurry'-by-Hector-Aponysus

Roger Guàrdia directs a darkly romantic&nbsp;promo for bachata artist Romeo Santos&nbsp;and&nbsp;Rosalía's collaboration with&nbsp;El Pañuelo.&nbsp;Across a series of interconnected vignettes, we see the artists perform individually - and briefly together - intercut with the dramatic interplay of two dancers, who are simultaneously part&nbsp;of and an exception to the world on-screen.&nbsp;Imbued with a contemporary gothic style, the video is washed in a vibrant red and black colour palette, and boasts slick set design, breathtaking fashion and a truly captivating aesthetic.&nbsp;[imgtoken data:1]Guàrdia connects the distinctive vignettes through colour choices, cinematography and an abyss-like backdrop, which is seemingly endless and full of haunting beauty in every direction.He was inspired by a line in the lyrics of the song,&nbsp;El amor ciego te quita poder, which means 'blind love takes away your power.' Guàrdia notes that “it came to my mind the vampiric side of passionate love. It can be really intense, illogical, emotional, until it sucks all your energy away.”

CANADA

Romeo Santos, Rosalía 'El Pañuelo' by Roger Guàrdia

Romeo-Santos,-Rosalía-'El-Pañuelo'-by-Roger-Guàrdia

The human race's symbiotic relationship with nature is explored in AG Rojas' video for Naeem.&nbsp;Exploring the potential of intergenerational healing, the complex and mysterious video - Bon Iver's first live action visual in seven years- focuses on two sets of family members who each encounter a floating rock in the middle of a road. A Father sets his dying adult son in front of this rock, and a Mother encourages it to open up the next day to provide water to cleanse her baby son.&nbsp;Intentionally ambiguous, Naeem is full of symbolism with reference to religion, femininity and intergenerational trauma, and each viewer's perception of the events will no doubt be informed by their life experience. Touching upon powerful and important ideas, the video meditates on the state of our planet and people, and the cycle of life and death that every living being encounters throughout our shared journeys. The word Naeem can be translated as "happiness" or "comfort", suggesting a return to a peaceful existence, the status quo of our earliest ancestors.&nbsp;The power of change and potential for peace is the message we are encouraged to take away from this project, and the importance of questioning life at every corner to ensure we are acting in a way that is mutually beneficial to both the universe and to ourselves.&nbsp;

Bon Iver 'Naeem' by AG Rojas

Bon Iver - Naeem (Official Music Video)

Kanye hangs out with his Dad on his ranch in Wyoming in Jake Schreier's video for Follow God.&nbsp;

Jake Schreier

Hip Hop

Kanye West 'Follow God' by Jake Schreier

Kanye West - Follow God

Jake Schreier enters a watery world in Francis and the Lights&rsquo; video&nbsp;for Never Back, in which&nbsp;frontman Francis Farewell Starlite&nbsp;performs a meditative ritualistic practice in a swimming&nbsp;pool, juxtaposed with the lounge chairs and hammock of the poolside nearby.As the video opens, Francis stands on his tiptoes in the brilliant water of a Los Angeles pool with only his nose breaking the surface, then descends to stand on the bottom of the pool. Francis&rsquo; geometric shape is emphasized with a visual of his mirrored body standing and legs rising the opposite way, towards the sky. The camera pans out at various points to a tranquil scene where Francis lies in a hammock while his underwater self experiments with movement, attempting to conquer his glittering blue environment.Shot at The Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, the video - the latest by former Francis and the Lights bandmember Schreier, who last year won a UKMVAs for his Haim video for <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2017/06/23/haim-want-you-back-jake-schreier/48381" target="_blank">Want You Back</a>&nbsp;&ndash; is a visualisation of the&nbsp;song lyrics that reference whales who live in the water but still breath air, concluding with the refrain, &ldquo;We can never go back, tho. We can never go back in time.&rdquo;

Francis And The Lights 'Never Back' by Jake Schreier

Francis-And-The-Lights-'Never-Back'-by-Jake-Schreier

In a poignant and powerful video for Sam Fender&#39;s track Dead Boys, director Vincent Haycock depicts&nbsp;a&nbsp;portrait of young men, each experiencing their own troubles and despair, each&nbsp;facing&nbsp;sinister, suicidal scenarios.The combination of character,&nbsp;sometimes ferocious&nbsp;action and still life compositions&nbsp;produces a highly atmospheric and haunting visual, with Haycock&#39;s eye complimented by Rina Yang&#39;s camerawork.&nbsp;A brilliantly executed video that aims to raise awareness for the taboo subject of a very important subject.&nbsp;

Vincent Haycock

Fred Bonham Carter

CHEAT

Sam Fender 'Dead Boys' by Vincent Haycock

Sam-Fender-'Dead-Boys'-by-Vincent-Haycock

Kamasi Washington has created an instant jazz classic with Street Fighter Mas. Now AG Rojas has made a brilliant video for it, that puts Kamasi&#39;s warm yet rather&nbsp;enigmatic personality at its heart - together with his obsession with the king of vintage arcade games.Kamasi gets fine support from BattleCat too as his more excitable foil&nbsp;in a story of stately simplicity, beautifully composed shots and a general mood of gentle surrealism that works perfectly with the vibe of the song.If you don&#39;t have a smile on your face after a minute, check your pulse.&nbsp;

Alexa Haywood at Free Agent UK

Kamasi Washington 'Street Fighter Mas' by AG Rojas

Kamasi-Washington-'Street-Fighter-Mas'-by-Ag-Rojas

AG Rojas has created a beautifully-shot meditation on the effect of ethereal beauty in his second video for Florence + The Machine - an emotion that we tend to call Love.As counterpoint to a lovely performance by Florence, this is a story&nbsp;of a glorious work of art: an ancient&nbsp;statue, and its journey from he point of rediscovery in the last century. It&#39;s&nbsp;gazed upon and adored, sometimes loved, but sometimes unseen &ndash; and eventually it&#39;s transformed.&quot;This song is about the ways we look for love in things that are perhaps not love, and how attempts to feel less alone can sometimes isolate us more,&quot; says Florence about Hunger.&nbsp;&quot;I guess I made myself more vulnerable in this song to encourage connection, because perhaps a lot more of us feel this way than we are able to admit. Sometimes when you can&#39;t say it, you can sing it.&quot;While she sings it, AG Rojas has expressed it in this gorgeous video.

Florence + The Machine 'Hunger' by AG Rojas

Florence + The Machine - Hunger

Vincent Haycock returns to music videos with an epic display of extraordinary visuals for Kelsey Lu.Shot on Vancouver Island, it starts strangely and slowly, with Lu shovelling dirt in a steaming mud swamp, wearing an increasingly spoiled white dress. But this draws you in to a haunting showcase of songs from the singer and classically trained cellist, delivered in a series of spectacular settings, as she wears a mind-boggling array of couture.Beautifully shot by Haycock&#39;s regular collaborator Evan Prosofsky and styled by Mindy Le Brock, this is a masterful way to invite the viewer to escape into Kelsey Lu&#39;s world and discover her music.

Kelsey Lu 'Shades Of Blue' by Vincent Haycock

Kelsey Lu - Shades of Blue (Official Video)

AG Rojas heralds the return of Florence + The Machine with an intense and intimate&nbsp;study of an unusually contained Florence Welch, like an old-time photographic shoot, for Sky Full Of Song.Rojas pairs Florence with props upon a hardwood floor, building metaphorical links to the song&#39;s lyrics. It&#39;s beautifully captured by the camera of Evan Prosofsky in a luminous black and white.

Florence + The Machine 'Sky Full Of Song' by AG Rojas

Florence-+-The-Machine-'Sky-Full-Of-Song'-by-Ag-Rojas

One-take videos are no longer a rarity, that&#39;s for sure. And that&#39;s probably why&nbsp;the element of jeopardy that was associated with them, that sense&nbsp;of something momentous happening in real time, is not a given any more. But Jake Schreier&#39;s video for Haim&#39;s Want You Back aspires to be a modern-day&nbsp;Unfinished Sympathy.&nbsp;We&#39;re on Ventura Boulevard&nbsp;at dawn, and as Este Haim starts walking, then joined by sisters Danielle and Alana, it&#39;s uncannily deserted. And as the girls walk and occasionally sing, they are throwing dance moves that exactly reflect different parts in the song.The way its made, in one continuous steadicam move, means&nbsp;it&nbsp;is&nbsp;clearly, imperfectly authentic.&nbsp;That in itself makes Want You Back compelling, and overall, it&#39;s the Haim event we&#39;ve been waiting for. As they reveal, it took a while to get it right.&bull;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/video/3023789/haim-want-you-back-video-original-concept/" target="_blank">MTV</a>: Haim reveal how a car accident inspired their &#39;Want You Back&#39; video&nbsp;<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">big thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/jakeschreier">@jakeschreier</a> for directing this one take magic on ventura blvd. we went with take 14 btw <a href="https://t.co/EZt4Iwo1SF">https://t.co/EZt4Iwo1SF</a> <a href="https://t.co/OMCMsE0V5a">pic.twitter.com/OMCMsE0V5a</a>&mdash; HAIM (@HAIMtheband) <a href="https://twitter.com/HAIMtheband/status/877943658166747136">June 22, 2017</a></blockquote><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">&nbsp;</blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Soft Rock

Haim 'Want You Back' by Jake Schreier

HAIM - Want You Back (Official Video)

Jake Schreier&#39;s marvellous video for Chance The Rapper&#39;s Same Drugs&nbsp;features the rapper at the piano, with the same accompaniment as at his homecoming Magnificent Coloring Day concert last September in Chicago - a big-eyed puppet, who breaks out into&nbsp;Eryn Allen Kane vocals in the song.It&#39;s Muppet-tastic, of course, and not just because of the performance, complete with old style TV look. When the &#39;TV show&#39; element ends, Chance strolls out of a TV studio populated by puppet-crew, as the song plays out - and it&#39;s as poignant as it is&nbsp;funny.

Chance The Rapper 'Same Drugs' by Jake Schreier

Chance the Rapper - Same Drugs (Official Video)

Carrying on their seemingly untouchable video reputation, and clearly not deterred by the&nbsp;recent parody by AJJ, OK Go are back, to step up their video game with more feats of shock, awe, meticulous planning and downright visual bliss. It begs the question will they ever run out of ideas?Hopefully not, as this video is truly a treat to watch. Using high-speed cameras, digital rigs and triggers and a whole heap of maths, the bulk of the video unfolds over a period of time that took just 4.2 seconds to shoot (well, more or less). But a hell of a lot happens in that time. Paint flies everywhere, flipbook animations lip sync to the track, some guitars explode, people fly through the air...All in a day&#39;s work for OK Go. Or several months work, as it almost certainly was. And a&nbsp;full breakdown of the mind-bending clip as written by director/singer Damian Kulash, Jr. can be found&nbsp;here&nbsp;(including a helpful spreadsheet breakdown of all the timings, for you stats enthusiasts).

OK Go 'The One Moment' by Damian Kulash, Jr.

Florence has come out the other side of the wreckage. For the&nbsp;final chapter of The Odyssey, the film project created to&nbsp;accompany her album How Big How Blue How Beautiful&nbsp;- and also <a href="http://florenceandthemachine.net/" target="_blank">now available to view in full</a>&nbsp;- Florence and Vincent Haycock have&nbsp;come up with a forward-looking&nbsp;finale.The chapter to accompany Third Eye&nbsp;begins&nbsp;on an image of Florence being carried away from fiery rubble, and this revisits many of the themes from the previous chapters one last&nbsp;time. But Florence is now untethered to the demons that had followed her up till now.&nbsp;The video is just a great closing statement -&nbsp;life-affirming and filled with cheer. It&nbsp;takes place at&nbsp;nighttime&nbsp;on the street&nbsp;in front of a dazzling&nbsp;concert hall,&nbsp;where we follow Florence down&nbsp;into the depths of the&nbsp;basement.&nbsp;There,&nbsp;she&nbsp;gets swarmed by dancers&nbsp;once again, in a scene that&nbsp;is highly reminiscent of What Kind Of Man and Delilah.&nbsp;But quickly the tone quickly turns lively and reverent, and then poignant when&nbsp;Florence is led by a musician&nbsp;back onto the&nbsp;stage.

Indie Rock

Florence + The Machine 'Third Eye' by Vincent Haycock

Florence + The Machine - Third Eye (The Odyssey – Chapter 9)

AG Rojas, ably assisted by his regular DoP Michael Ragen, has&nbsp;created a sensitive portrait of real, mostly loved-up Detroit youth, into which English singer Aluna Francis has been seamlessly introduced,&nbsp;for Skrillex &amp; Diplo ft AlunaGeorge&#39;s To Ü.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Dance

Skrillex & Diplo ft AlunaGeorge 'To Ü' by AG Rojas

"TO Ü" | Skrillex & Diplo feat. AlunaGeorge

Frequent Florence + the Machine collaborator Vincent Haycock, who&nbsp;previously helmed the initial chapters of&nbsp;How Big How Blue How Beautiful&nbsp;series - including&nbsp;<a href="http://www.promonews.tv/videos/2015/03/27/florence-machine-st-jude-vincent-haycock" target="_blank">St. Jude</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.promonews.tv/videos/2015/02/16/florence-machine-what-kind-man-vincent-haycock" style="text-decoration: underline; outline: 0px;" target="_blank">What Kind of Man</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.promonews.tv/videos/2015/04/15/florence-machine-ship-wreck-vincent-haycock" target="_blank">Ship to Wreck</a>&nbsp;- captivates us with this ten-minute piece&nbsp;featuring the tracks&nbsp;Queen of Peace and Long And Lost.&nbsp;The&nbsp;short&nbsp;film&nbsp;feels&nbsp;part of&nbsp;the same world&nbsp;Haycock and Welch&rsquo;s have created for&nbsp;The Odyssey series, although it was shot in&nbsp;Scotland&rsquo;s lush Isle of Easdale.&nbsp;This consistency is due in part to the continued&nbsp;exploration of conflict through contemporary dance employed&nbsp;to express each&nbsp;facet of the story.In&nbsp;previous videos,&nbsp;Welch is seen fighting against the painful dissolution of a relationship&nbsp;and what is left of herself afterwards, but this new proposition takes&nbsp;us back into her past, during her&nbsp;formative experiences as a child. The drama depicts the&nbsp;clash of a youthful Welch&rsquo;s compassion against the violent feuding around her. The raw emotional performance of Welch is artfully set against the&nbsp;striking winter landscapes of Scotland.The Odyssey is&nbsp;set to cover all tracks in the album through this year and into&nbsp;2016, and will culminate in a long, chaptered musical film.&nbsp;

Indie, singer-songwriter

Florence + The Machine 'Queen Of Peace' and 'Long & Lost' by Vincent Haycock

Florence-+-The-Machine-'Queen-Of-Peace-And-Long-&-Lost'-by-Vincent-Haycock

Vincent Haycock has directed this understated yet quietly powerful short film for the U2 track Song For Someone, starring Woody Harrelson as a prisoner who is being released from the relative security of jail after years of incarceration,&nbsp;back into the&nbsp;outside world.With camerawork by Steve Annis, the core of the video is a single shot of&nbsp;the increasingly emotional Harrelson leaving the confines of prison, passing through the gate and meeting the person who&#39;s there to take him away - his daughter (played by the actor&#39;s real-life daughter, Zoe Harrelson), who greets him with an awkward handshake, and monosyllibic responses to his tentative comments.&nbsp;&nbsp;It&#39;s subtly played, and fully believable. Premiered on <a href="http://www.sundance.tv/series/rectify/blog/2015/07/watch-the-full-short-film-song-for-someone-featuring-music-by-u2-starring-woody-harrelson" target="_blank">Sundance TV</a>,&nbsp;Vince Haycock&#39;s film thematically links to RECTIFY, SundanceTV&rsquo;s Peabody award-winning series that follows the story of Daniel Holden and his family as they struggle to move forward after Daniel&rsquo;s release from 19 years on death row.&nbsp;

Natalia Maus

U2 'Song For Someone' by Vincent Haycock

U2 - Song For Someone

AG Rojas&#39;s ambitious and arguably controversial video for Run The Jewels&#39; Close Your Eyes (And Count To Fuck), featuring Zack de la Rocha from Rage Against The Machine, addresses the controversy over American police brutality towards the African American community by imagining it as a one-on-one conflict&nbsp;between two individuals - the white cop and the black citizen.It&#39;s beautifully crafted, with amazing cinematography by&nbsp;Michael Ragen.&nbsp;It&#39;s also a surprisingly&nbsp;ambiguous exercise, in which the personalities of the actors (Shea Whigham&nbsp;and&nbsp;Keith Stanfield)&nbsp;and the extreme&nbsp;physical demands of their roles - has an inevitable impact on what we&#39;re seeing. It&#39;s not quite a case of mutual hatred, and in fact, there is no &#39;bad guy&#39; here. It may seem to run&nbsp;counter to the fierce polemic for which RTJ&#39;s Killer Mike and El-P (to say nothing of De la Rocha) have become renowned.&nbsp;But they say it gels with their views that&nbsp;it&#39;s the whole system, rather than rogue individuals, that is the problem.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&quot;This video represents the futile and exhausting existence of a purgatory-like law enforcement system,&quot; says Killer Mike&nbsp;&quot;There is no neat solution at the end because there is no neat solution in the real world. &nbsp;However, there is an opportunity for dialogue and to change the way communities are policed in this country. &nbsp;Salutes to AG Rojas for his unique take on the subject matter and to Shea and Keith for giving us their all and bringing it to life.&quot;[imgtoken data:1]

Alternative, Hip Hop

Run The Jewels ft Zack de la Rocha 'Close Your Eyes (And Count To F**k)' by AG Rojas

Run The Jewels feat. Zack de la Rocha - "Close Your Eyes (And Count To F**k)"

Sir Paul&#39;s reflections on the start of his relationship with John Lennon gets a thankfully non-literal but parallel interpretation by Vincent Haycock in the video for Early Days.It captures&nbsp;the energy, excitement and&nbsp;vibrant creativity of a group of kids getting together to play music and becoming a band. The era is also the same&nbsp;as when McCartney met Lennon&nbsp;- the mid to late 1950s. But Haycock has transposed the story of the origin of The Beatles to the cradle of rock&nbsp;&#39;n roll, in the Mississippi Delta, where the director spent a month scouting locations.He directed the performance element with McCartney in Los Angeles, where Sir Paul jammed with a group of veteran blues musicians including Del Atkins, Roy Gaines and Lil&#39; Poochie - plus his pal Johnny Depp, appearing (very briefly)&nbsp;in his third Macca video. But its certainly the dramatic element, beautifully photographed by Evan Prosofsky, that resonates.&ldquo;It&#39;s a memory song for me, about me and John in the early days,&quot; McCartney said in an <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/see-paul-mccartney-jam-with-johnny-depp-in-early-days-premiere-20140707" target="_blank">interview with Rolling Stone</a>. &quot;But Vince came up with this great idea: Instead of having young lookalikes of me and John walking the streets of Liverpool, guitars slung over our backs, and literally acting out the song, what if it was any two aspiring musicians? I thought that was such a cool idea.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp;