Working with a five year old can be difficult, especially in a role that requires a range of emotions and a story to be told almost exclusively through facial expressions. That's why when working with five year old Talula Paulson, star of "Stubborn Love" by The Lumineers, director Isaac Ravishankara… Read More

Last months when we talked to Nicolas Heller, he described to us what he calls “Guzman effects.” Named after editor Ben Guzman, these are ways to “spruce up the visual and give it more of a ‘music video’ feel.” We wanted to find out more about how Ben works, to… Read More

In “Open” by Rhye, director Daniel Kragh-Jacobsen tells the story of a young couple going through a less than perfect portion of their relationship. Daniel is able to tell this story, not through dialogue, but through the subtle actions and exchanges between the actors. We talked to Daniel about the… Read More

There are many ways to lure unsuspecting extras into your music video. For "Level" by Zombie Nation, director Bradonio turned to the old standby "sexy belly prop trick," as well as the classic "hustling people getting out of taxis move." The result is a hilarious music video with some great… Read More

In “New Piano” by Sumsun, director Alex Pelly combines beautiful driving and nature footage with superimposed shots of the artist – shots that were actually a lot more difficult to achieve than they seem. We talked to Alex about the concept behind the video, Palm Beach County, and getting the artist… Read More

Directors Fredo Tovar and Scott Fleishman of Aplus Filmz have been working with Ab-Soul, Kendrick Lamar, and TDE for years now. Because of that, they’ve built a relationship that has allowed them to not only direct the style of music videos that the label needs for promotion, but also to… Read More

Coming up with a music video based on the image of a butt isn’t a new thing. In fact, about 85% of rap videos from the 90s started with this very concept. Despite that, director David Wilson started with the idea of a butt and allowed it to grow into… Read More

Director Alistair Legrand has a special affinity for making creepy music videos. So, when the members of Data Romance decided they wanted something creepy for their “Can't Keep Your Mind Off” video, they turned to Alistair to direct it. We talked to Alistair about directing the video, auditioning 50 girls for… Read More

For a cinematographer to put out consistently amazing work is a difficult task on it’s own. Shooting 100 videos in two years is crazy difficult. Getting nominated for the MVA for best cinematography four years in a row, that’s pretty much impossible. However, these are all things that cinematographer Steve… Read More

The music video art form allows filmmakers and artists to explore some really different styles and subjects over the course of a few videos. Just over a month ago, we chatted with Michael Lawrence about he and Alex Amoling’s fun and hilarious “I Turn On” by Slam Donahue. Their latest… Read More

It’s not often that someone can make both their directorial debut and their artist debut in the same video, and then have that video premiere on a major YouTube channel like Three/21 Media, but that’s exactly what happened with Shawn Collins and his video for “Jews & Blacks.” Although it… Read More

In “Fake Gold Chain” by New Beat Fund, director Chris Buongiorno takes the simple trick of putting your knees in your shoes to appear shorter and turns it up to 11. Thanks to some rotoscoping and some patient actors, this video ends up being both hilarious and remarkably convincing. We… Read More

Way back in February 2011, Mike Diva was a guest on the very first episode of the Music Video Land podcast. He was there (alongside Pedro Flores and Josh Harraway) to talk about his music video for "I'm on Crack" by the Left Rights. Two years later, IMVDb and Mike… Read More

To some, car stereo systems are an obsession, but can the power of extreme bass reunite you with your emotionally distant wife via an alternate dimension where Henry Rollins fights you? You'll never know until you watch “Pierce The Morning Rain” by Dinosaur Jr., which features a suburban dad, played by James Urbaniak, being… Read More

One of our favorite pieces of video equipment is the SnorriCam. Partially, because it is able to produce some really interesting looking footage and provide perspective like no other camera rig can. But mainly, we love the SnorriCam because it requires the artist to strap a giant, often homemade rig… Read More

The first time we talked to Carlos Lopez Estrada, he told us that “Me Voy” by Jesse and Joy was shot in his roommate David’s bedroom. The last time we talked to him, he discussed getting Isaac Ravishankara to come with him to Mexico, basically without any food, to star in… Read More

The last time we talked to director duo LAMAR+NIK, it was about their “Magnolia” video, which features 188 cardboard boxes made into Lushlife's lyrics. This time around we’re talking to them about “Never Going Back” by Samantha Crain, a video that features 3,800 hand-cut images of Samantha. We talked to LAMAR+NIK about the… Read More

Since back when MTV first came around, stop-motion animation has been used in music videos with great effectiveness. In fact, stop-motion has been such a staple of the music video world for so long, it’s hard to imagine someone finding something new to do with the technique. That is, unless… Read More

The band Hollerado has made some sweet music videos that require elaborate pre-planning. Some of their videos, however, particularly when collaborating with director Michael Maxxis, take a different production approach. "Showing up at a location with no idea what you're going to shoot" different. We talked to Michael about their most… Read More

Daniel Gray Longino and Eric Notarnicola bring us “MEOW” by Anamanaguchi, a video so packed full of fun and ridiculousness that we'd never be able to encapsulate it all into one intro - believe us, we've tried. Please enjoy the video, and then the interview with Daniel and Eric below. Doug:… Read More

A lot of music videos try to be sexy. The videos that try too hard, but ultimately fail, can sometimes be fun to watch. But the videos that are even more fun to watch are the ones that seem to effortlessly succeed at their sexiness, both with the actors and… Read More

These days, having guns in your music video can toe a pretty delicate line of potentially sensationalizing violence. One sure fire way to avoid any misconception is to replace bullets with lipstick, add in a bunch of bright colors, and open the video with a shot of an awesome fluffy… Read More

Director Edouard Salier’s music video for “Waiting For A Sign” by Scratch Massive feat. Koudlam features some of the most badass kids to ever be in a music video. It's a video that keeps you captivated, regardless of if you’re watching fights, elephants, or just shots of the landscape. We talked… Read More

Fans of this blog might know Jason Baum from our interview with him about “Concrete Wall,” the Zee Avi music video he directed last year. What you might not know (or maybe you do know, I literally have no idea), is that Jason actually spends most of his time as… Read More

Sometimes music video directors can’t stay away. Even when they’re on vacation, when a good opportunity comes their way, they just can’t pass it up. Like Matt Alonzo for example: near the end of 2012, he thought he was done directing videos for the year, until DJ Ill Will hit… Read More