Nexus Sign Directing Duo Fx & Mat

Nexus sign directing duo Fx & Mat

Richard Fenwick Joins Passion Pictures

Richard Fenwick Joins Passion Pictures

Ivan Sijak Interview

Pretty Cool People Interviews: Ivan Sijak (brought to you by Submarine Channel)

Happy New End!

French collective Bonzom (Passion Paris) celebrates the impending end of the world in this happy-go-lucky short. Riffing on B-movie posters from the bronze age of sci-fi, “Happy New End” blends hilarious writing and voiceover work with a campy cast of characters and a fantastic flair for details.

The premise—and the rapid succession of sight gags—reminds me of the old Tex Avery cartoons I adored as a kid that proposed how various technologies of the future would “improve” our lives. Bonzom’s put their own twist on that time-honored tradition, and they deserve their own cheers for a job well done!

Pretty Loaded

Pretty Loaded, a collection of preloaders curated by Big Spaceship (Thanks, Dirk!)

Justin Blyth

Justin Blyth launches his portfolio site with some dopeness.

David Lobser: +/- “Unsung”

Director David Lobser refashions a bit of Alice in Wonderland in this charming music video for +/-’s “Unsung.” Kissed with subtle CG, the visuals are as gentle and unassuming as the song itself. David did a great job balancing the beauty of leading lady Jessica Stoller with the folksy charm of her surroundings.

This video touches on something we’ve been mumbling about here at Motionographer Headquarters: We’re in the midst of a slow but steady renaissance of the music video. It’s not being driven by labels or even by a renewed interest in the creation of music videos. (Directors and bands have never stopped making music videos, regardless of who was watching them.)

What’s changed are the means of distribution (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) and promotion (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). The game has fundamentally shifted away from a top-down, broadcast model to a bottom-up, grassroots model.

This is a huge boon to bands (and potentially to labels). The old promotional model was to force a video or song onto the air in the hopes that by throwing a wide enough net, you’d catch a few buyers. Now, videos are passed like hot potatoes from friend to friend—and friends are much more inclined to pay attention to each other than to a television station that only seems marginally interested in their lives.

The result is a high viewer-to-fan conversion rate without the associated costs of broadcasting. Some music labels, like Universal Music Group, have figured out a way to make it work for them; others are a bit slower to catch on. Regardless, bands are benefiting from the direct, trackable exposure that web distributed videos are giving them.

I realize this is all old news to you. I’m preaching to the choir. But what seems to be happening is still exciting: After being estranged by MTV and VH1, music videos are reentering the mainstream via the web. It’s something everyone predicted years ago, but now it seems to actually be happening. Hooray!

Thanks to Kristian Mercado for the tip on the video.

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