Directors Research

James Copeman

After several years as motion graphics designer and animator for clients such as E4, MTV, 4music and The Box he began directing music videos and his first video was for the critically acclaimed UK band Noah and The Whale. His style is noticeably distinct; his work consistently delivers charming and warm performances and strong colour palettes. He often uses his background to embellish and heighten the visuals.

Noah and The Whale- 5 Years Time

What I find impressive about James' work is the way in which he manipulates the perception of an image. I particularly like his use of making the 'Noah and The Whale - 5 years time' video look old fashioned and dated, within this I like the way in which he has used stop-motion to create a disjointed feel to the video. Throughout his work there is clear continous use of major post production techniques being used which is most evident in Diana Vicker's- 'Boy who murdered love'

Toby Lockerbie

" I don't particularly like crazy, nonsensical music videos, I do however love clever, creative videos and engaging cinematic and that's what I aspire to in my projects."

Toby is known for his work that he has done with Rizzle Kicks, with him making their first video 'Down with the Trumpets' which uses the technique of 'screens within screens' to great effect to make the shots and the movement within them more dynamic.  Furthermore, within this I like the use of graphic matches to change the mise en scene as although the camera shot isn't moving it allows the image to cut in a different and interesting way.

Since then he has continued to work with the band making several other music videos with them, one of which is 'When I was a Youngster'. With this video I like the which he plays upon the title of the song to continually cut between what is portrayed to be the singers in the past and the now present. By doing this he is clearly able to illustrate the theme of reflection/reminiscing. 

My favourite of his work, is the 'Prophet' video, which can be seen above, as his use of stop motion, and light manipulation to add animations to the video is a stunning combination of techniques.

Sources:
http://www.tobylockerbie.com/
http://www.loveandhate.co.uk/HOME.html