Critical Mass ‘Generation Vex’
There aren’t many videos that turn out so close to one’s initial mental image. For that reason, and for the craziness of it, I love this video. We had an excellent compact team for the 2 day shoot and Sola did a top notch job with his head.
I’m proud to add that the video won the Independent Music Awards ‘Short Form Video’ category in 2015.
Role: Director, DoP, Editor SFX
Paul McCartney ‘222’
A video I’m particularly proud of. My first of three music videos for the great man.
Role: Director, Editor/SFX
Molotov Jukebox ‘Tick Tock’
My second video for Molotov Jukebox, filmed in Andalusia, Spain. The mountain scenes were shot around Orgiva near a friend’s beautiful farm. We co-opted their flock of sheep for a shot, but failed to get the bloody creatures to obey our herding. The graveyard scenes were filmed in Casares, with the very kind permission of the mayor. Natalia and the band got a lot of strange looks from people paying their respects, but everyone seemed to enjoy the oddity of it all.
Role: Director, DoP, Editor
The Kooks ‘The Sofa Song’
My second video for the Kooks, made just as they were becoming household names in the UK.
The original idea was to make a video based on David Hockney’s beautiful photo collages. Luke Pritchard, lead singer of the Kooks, was enthusiastic about the concept but, as one might expect, the management/promotional team wanted something less avant garde and more accessible. It was a bit of a tug of war and I think the final result strikes a decent balance between the two poles.
Role: Director, SFX
The Fireman ‘Sing the Changes’
My second music video for Paul McCartney, this one under his ‘The Fireman’ alias. We filmed him on the top floor of his MPL offices. It took a few takes as he’d forgotten the words to his own song when we started filming! I guess that happens when you’re that prolific…
The idea for the video was inspired by Magritte’s collection of paintings showing night and day juxtaposed, one within the silhouette of a dove and the other without.
Role: Director, Editor, SFX
Switches ‘Message From Yuz’
My first video for short-lived, but great fun Indie outfit Switches.
Role: Director, Editor, SFX
Jakwob feat. Smiler ‘Right Beside You’
This video was initially gutted by the label and then regrettably cancelled altogether. Too camp and repulsive, I suppose… Personally, I really like it and so completed it as I’d intended it to be.
Role: Director, Editor, SFX
Molotov Jukebox ‘Laid to Rest’
My first video for Molotov Jukebox.
Role: Director, DoP, Editor, SFX
Atlantics ‘Clean the Sun’
I had a great time making this video, trawling the wonderful Prelinger Archives for material. For no good reason, I also made a 3D version of this video (in the classic anaglyph style) which was a headache-inducing experience.
Role: Director, DoP, Editor, SFX
Molotov Jukebox ‘Something for the Weekend’
My third video for Molotov Jukebox. For a few years, I’d had this idea of an infinite zoom out from a series of reflective surfaces. Each shot was filmed with 3 cameras at different levels of zoom, which were then compiled into a giant image in After Effects. It was an ambitious idea done on a shoestring budget, so the video is a bit rough around the edges but retains a certain charm for it. And, of course, there’s the mankini…
Role: Director, DoP, SFX
The Switches ‘Drama Queen’
Tragically, I’ve lost my original copy of this video so here is a version lifted from YouTube.
I love this video – the anarchy, the frenetic energy and the madness of it – but it didn’t play too well with the label. It was released nonetheless.
As a silly aside, I got really sick during the post-production process after rushing through a downpour on the way to a meeting. The bug I succumbed to then did a tour of the post-production team. It’s a testament to the team that the video was still delivered on schedule!
Role: Director, SFX
Sunny Hardon ‘Oceanheart’
My original idea was quite different.
We filmed a variety of takes of Sunny in different get-ups and the plan was to cut between them. I forget why, but I wanted one take where he had a bald wig. The bald wig turned out to be deeply unsatisfying, so in the final hour of the shoot, Sunny agreed to shave all his hair off (eyebrows too, you’ll notice). There was something so vulnerable about him after he’d been shorn and he then gave this fragile, marvellous performance. So the video had to became a one take.
Role: Director, DoP, Editor, SFX
The Kooks ‘Eddies Gun’
This was my breakthrough video and I still can’t quite believe the good people at Virgin Records, fronted by commissioning legend Carole Burton-Fairbrother, gave me the job. When it was released, I sat patiently through a whole afternoon of MTV to catch it playing live (it was my first proper video, after all). As word of the Kooks grew, the video became a big success and played everywhere.
Role: Director, SFX
