Music Videos I’ve Directed

The best part about making music videos is that it gives me the space to experiment, both visually and narratively. I take music videos very seriously, but there is far more playing involved than there is with a short or feature film. And that playing allows me to test out new ideas and find what works, which I then apply to my movies. Below is a list of all the music videos I’ve directed so far, and what I’ve learned from each of them.

Mint Green (2015)

Performed by Andrew Shapiro

This was an experiment with fantasy. Every film story I had told up until this point could have happened in real life, but with Mint Green, I wanted to play with the idea of positing something fantastical, while putting it in the real world. Obviously, our loved ones don’t come back from the dead, but the goal was to sell that notion here. That was the experiment. Visually, I played a lot with overexposed, white light to give the video an angelic feel.

Lauren Hynde (2016)

Performed by Andrew Shapiro

Lauren Hynde was designed to use color to tell a story. I bathed most every scene in a different color, which culminates with a flashy, neon-soaked argument. The characters in this video are in bad places, and I hoped the rapid change of color would put you in their frantic headspace. After this video, I gained the confidence to be bolder with my in-camera color choices, which has been a staple of my cinematography ever since. Fun fact about this one: I secretly told her to slap him, but I didn’t tell him that it was coming. So his reaction is completely real. There was a lot of trust on this set, thank god.

Fossils (2016)

Performed by Seasons

I really wanted to play with split screen, and Fossils was the perfect vehicle to test that device. Split screen is a great way to show the same event from different perspectives, and how that impacts each character individually. This video was insanely difficult to edit (matching the continuity was tough), but I’m so happy with how it turned out. The “run” sequence is one of my favorite things I’ve ever shot.

None of You (2018)

Performed by ThankQue

None of You was the first music video I directed that I did not write. ThankQue came up with the story, and it was a lot of fun bringing his vision to life. Visually, I was obsessed with finding a way to capture one performer in the frame moving at regular speed, while another person in the frame moved at a sped-up rate. I was insistent on doing this without special effects, and I’m so pleased with the result. I also wanted to see how smoke could give depth to a shot, especially when used in a large space.

E’ery Time (2019)

Performed by Nicolayus Ali

Every music video I have directed was shot in four shooting days or less. E’ery Time was different. Nicolayus Ali and I had the idea to follow his character around for a year, and capture different scenes around Washington D.C. We let the settings inform the look and feel of the video, which is why every scene is captured in a unique way (handheld, glider, fish eye, black and white, neon color, etc.). When the year was done, I had amassed hours of footage, and it was equally fun and challenging to cut that footage down to three minutes.

Thanks so much for taking the time to watch these! If you’re interested, all of my other filmmaking work can be found on my website: http://alexwithrow.com/flicks