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Sure, most of the charm and/or visual fireworks often happen on set of a music video, with the energy brought forth from a performer, or the framing of a shot or the lighting and location. But sometimes, the magic doesn’t truly happen until the footage hits the edit suite. This year’s crop of nominees for Best Post-Production found their wow factor in the cutting room…so let’s take a gander, shall we?

Buck 65 - Dang (Christopher Mills) [Watch]

Two things are gonna happen when you watch this video. One: you’ll be like, “whaaaaaaat?!” Two: you’ll be like, “cooooool”. The ‘what’ because the clip is so trippy and the ‘cool’ because it looks stupendous. Buck plays this 70s sports commentator dude while at the same time taking on a host of fantasy-like characters in a boxing ring. There are a lot of zooms and jump cuts and an overall feeling of chaos; at one point I think they’re in hell and then at the end he might be in heaven. Good vs evil? Who knows, but we’re not talking about meaning here, we’re talking about effects - and this is a green screen triumph in all its glory.

Classified - Hard To Be Hip-Hop f. Maestro & DJ IV (harv) [Watch]

Class and Maestro will charm your pants off with their effortless rhyming and swagger, but the graphics and colours really make this video shine. The dudes do their thing beside a giant microphone and paint can, in cars or by a BBQ, but the clip finishes off with some super cool visual effects that make their grown-up sized props seem way smaller than you think. Btw, I’ve never heard anybody make Halifax sound so badass than when Maestro says he’s “back in the ‘Fax.”

illScarlett - Nothing Special (Chris Sargent, Steve Mottershead) [Watch]

When you hear a song as fast-paced and searing as this one, you almost expect a frantic performance video to go with it. But this clip manages to capture the energy of the song doing something completely different: stop motion. Alex, as the voice and focal point of the song, stays almost completely still throughout most of the video while everything else around him remains in constant motion. But don’t worry, there’s also a short performance break down that the song pretty much demands!

Sam Roberts - Them Kids (Dave Pawsey) [Watch]

Not gonna lie, this has got to be one of the coolest clips nominated this year, and it’s all because of its post-production. The video features terrific shots inspired by the SIMS games amidst shots of Sam all gussied up, singing “kids don’t know how to dance to rock & roll” for a swarm of swing dancing teens. Is Sammy saying that darned kids are too wrapped up in video games and stickers and hula hoops these days? (The answer is yes) Whatever the message is, this video is truly one of the coolest to cross our TVs this year.

The Saint Alvia Cartel - Blonde Kryptonite (Davin Black) [Watch]

One part concert poster inspired, one part side show and one part Pink Floyd video, The Saint Alvia Cartel have thrown together something eye-popping. Maybe “thrown together” isn’t the right term here; director Davin Black and his team must have taken ages to render this animated clip (based on live action shots). Largely based on concert posters, the video throws in trippy animations in between, like marching switchblades and bomber planes. This right here is one hot package.

Previous:
Best Cinematography
MuchLOUD Best Rock Video
MuchVIBE Best Rap Video
VideoFACT Best Independent
Best International Video - Artist
Best International Video - Group

Posted on Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 at 4:30 pm by Wendy and is filed under MMVA2008.

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