Directors - Experimenting - Working across Music Video, Commercials and Film

On this page I've collected examples from Directors who work across Music Video, Commercials (Let's forget what Bill Hick's said about marketing for now), Video Art, Short Films and Features. Often using the shorter form outlets of music videos and commercials to experiment with bold ideas and aesthetics.

Also see Music Videos to Watch section on Poool, to search for videos by Director, theme, tags…

Bruce Conner

‘It's been said that MTV owes Bruce Conner a paycheck. Decades before music videos were part of popular culture, the experimental filmmaker pioneered techniques of non-narrative montage and high-speed editing, cutting thousands of images to a pop music soundtrack.’ MOCA

COSMIC RAY (1961). With thousands of images precisely cut to Ray Charles' hit song "What'd I Say" (1959), Conner created an explosive homage for the blind musician.

Barbara Rubin

‘New York’s avant-garde art and film scene of the early 1960s may have been dominated by the likes of Jonas Mekas and Andy Warhol, but “Barbara Rubin and the Exploding New York Underground” offers a fascinating recontextualization of that history, focusing on young Barbara Rubin’s integral role in shaping the era’s blossoming counterculture.’

Mirrorball

‘Back in 1999, Channel 4 aired Mirrorball a TV series that showcased the best promo directing talent across the globe. Two series and one animation special were made, featuring the talents of Spike Jonze, Mike Mills, Michel Gondry, Jonathan Glazer, Jonas Akerlund and Chris Cunningham.’ Dangerous Minds

Spike Jonze

Chris Cunningham

Michel Gondry

Jonathan Glazer

Will Hooper

In guest lecture Will discussed how his agency Blink Productions worked with Directors across Music Videos and commercials, he also discussed his pitch for Skittles advert.

Rob Savage

‘Rob Savage is a multi-award winning filmmaker working in features, television and commercials. He wrote, directed, shot, co-produced and edited micro-budget feature film Strings at age 17, which premiered at the Rome Film Festival.’

His video for Dear Reader's - ‘Took Them Away’ won Best Music Short - London Short Film Festival 2014 (Winner).

See Guest Film talk with MamFromage below.

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