- Philip G. Atwell
Philip started out in 1999 as an American music video director but also touches on short films in Hollywood. His popular videos are all working with Hip Hop artists such as Eminem and 50 cent. He has helmed many music videos for hip hop artists. He also produced and co-wrote 'Murder Was the Case', a short film involving Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg released by Death Row records in 1995.
The reason I chose Philip G. Atwell to research as a director is due to him directing videos which involve portraying a story and not just performance. An example of this is 'Eminem - Guilty Conscience', 'Eminem - Cleaning Out the Closet' and 'Eminem - Stan'. He does a really good job in story telling which is an aspect I am interested in when it comes to music videos as I believes it brings a purpose to the video instead of the typical shots. It grabs attention and I believe makes people relate to the music video more which creates recognition, respect and popularity.
Eminem - Stan
My favourite part of the video are of the scenes in 'Stans' basement. It really captures the atmosphere through the lighting, mise en scene and the camera movement. The lighting has intense flashes, it represents the weather, but also very cleverly it represents 'Stans' unstable mental wellbeing as he comes across as 'possessive'. The lighting makes you feel a bit crazy and gives you an insight of what Stan is feeling. The camera movements are slow to really emphasise what is being seen to portray his feelings. Also the biggest aspect of these scenes are the props being used, it instantly develops what the story is about and captures the intensity of some fans, which this is what the video was all about. All of these aspects plus more, are what really captures the viewers attention. This is what I like about this certain director.
This video has inspired me to use these conventions of story telling to interest viewers, and how lighting and props can capture a certain atmosphere.
- Jake Nava
Jake Nava is an English Music Video Director based in North London. He is very famous, working with stars like Usher, Beyonce and Arctic Monkeys. He was voted 5th for 'Entertainment Weeklys Top 10 Music Video Directors' in 2011.
The reason I chose Jake Nava is because he plays very well with pace to create a mood. For example 'If I Were a Boy' by Beyonce, was directed by Jake Nava and the pace matched the song incredibly with beautiful visuals. Where as 'Arctic Monkeys - Arabella' was fast pace, with quick cuts and more intense movements to match the songs tempo and feel. He also works with great lighting and camera angles for really nice gradients, working on very nice black and white images.
Arctic Monkeys - Arabella
The reason I like this video was due to the colour grading and editing matched the theme of the 'old school' video very well. The track is quite aggressive and up tempo, which is matched perfectly to the straight cuts. The exposure on the video is really nice and is very consistent.
Another reason I like this video is due to the surreal editing. It has odd flickers, random visual 'noise' added and framing differentiations. This surreal aspect was created to match the 'jumpy' feel to the song. But from watching it closely I have realised that these surreal effects could be added into a storytelling based visual to create a mood or portrays someone's feelings. Which interlinks good with the Eminem video, as this editing could represent 'Stans' possessive feeling. This has really inspired me to look into these editing skills more, and match it with the feelings of the actor(s) that will feature in my video.
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