Warren Fu on why music videos still matter and who’s killing the game

Visionary music video director Warren Fu is in Australia next week for the second CLIPPED Music Video Festival as part of VIVID. The first international guest at the festival, as well as one of the judges for the CLIPPED video awards, Fu has worked with Daft Punk, Julian Casablancas and a host of other musos – and began his career at Lucasfilm, including designing characters for the Star Wars prequels.

Before he hits our shores, Fu told TMN about his favourite music videos, why the form is more vital than ever, and how to nail your video on a tiny budget, whether you’re a director or a band.

What’s the first music video that really made an impact on you?

Michael Jackson’s Thriller. My brother and I were so excited to see it. My mom borrowed the VHS from a neighbor, and when we popped it in, the tape happened to be on the part where there was dark blood pouring out of a zombie’s mouth.

My brother and I immediately got freaked out and shut it off.

What do you think is the best and/or most important music video made in recent years? Who is killing the game in terms of collaboration, vision and craft?

There are too many to think of just one… but the first that comes to mind is Arcade Fire’s Afterlife by Emily Kai Bock:

Game-killing collaborations:

• Hiro Murai and Donald Glover [aka Childish Gambino]
• Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn [Gorillaz]
• Dexter Navy and A$AP Rocky
• Grant Singer and The Weeknd

How has the importance of music videos shifted since you first started making them?

We are seeing music videos less and less on television, yet they are just as popular as they have ever been. The difference is that people want to see their videos on demand instead of waiting for their video to come on the air [on TV], so people are watching them on Vevo and YouTube.

Music will always be the driving force behind youth culture, and I think that videos will always play an important role in shaping the visual aesthetic of music.

How closely do you feel the story and/or aesthetic of a video should align with the sound of the music? Do they need to “match” for it to work?

No, not necessarily. It depends on what the goal is. There are times where a beautiful song pairs well with an equally beautiful image, say for example, like in Nabil’s Holocenevideo for Bon Iver.

And there are times that a video concept works in a very unexpected way, like Eric Wareheim’s Wishes video for Beach House. I guarantee you that video is NOTHING like what Beach House had in mind when they wrote that song, but it works it a very unexpected and unsettling way.

What should a band focus on when they’re working with a director/creator on a video? And what should creators know about working with an artist, in turn?

The hope is that the band will trust you and your vision for the song. But there are always various levels of engagement, depending on the artist. Some that I have worked with prefer collaborating on every step of the way, others have just shown up to set and have a look on their faces like they’ve never seen, read or heard of the video concept, but “Sure…OK. Whatever you want man.”

The directors should really do their research on the artist, if they aren’t already a fan. I discovered this the hard way early on. I spent an all-nighter writing a treatment only to find out later that the artist had done something already in that realm already, albeit many years ago.

In some ways, you are helping to shape the next step in the artist’s career so they are putting a lot of trust in you. The least you can do is become familiar with what they have already done, then think about what new direction to take them in.

If you had a budget of $1000 to make a video, what would you spend it on?

Lighting rentals, and making sure your friends helping out are fed.