Land on your own moon

April 16, 2009 10:04 AM

Ok, it's an advert but it's a 'directed by Chris Cunningham' advert...

Information on the making of here.

(David Lynch also recently did an advert for Gucci)

Mirrorball - A Channel4 television series on music video directors - Chris Cunningham episode (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Unfortunately the sound is a bit out of synch.

Videos
'Personally' - 12 Rounds
'Come To Daddy' - Aphex Twin
'Flex' - Aphex Twin
'Monkey Drummer' - Aphex Twin
'Rubber Johnny' - Aphex Twin
'Windowlicker' - Aphex Twin
'Second Bad Vilbel' - Autechre
'Back With The Killer Again' - The Auteurs
'Light Aircraft on Fire' - The Auteurs
'All Is Full of Love' - Björk
'No More Talk' - Dubstar
'Tranquillizer' - Geneva
'Sheena Is A Parasite' - The Horrors
'The Next Big Thing' - Jesus Jones
'Something To Say' - Jocasta
'Afrika Shox' - Leftfield and Afrika Bambaataa
'Frozen' - Madonna
'36 Degrees' - Placebo
'Only You' - Portishead
'Come On My Selector' - Squarepusher

Advertisements
BMW
ITV - Sport Is Free
Levi's - Photocopier, 'Up And Down'
Nissan - 'Statistics'
NUS 'Fetish'
Orange
PlayStation 'Mental Wealth'
PSP
Telecom Italia 'Quiet'
XFM 'Clip Clop'

Live at electraglide2005

Directors File, Wikipedia, previously

Cunningham portal

Some of this is NSFW.

posted by fearfulsymmetry (32 comments total)

"captures the seductive and ultra-feminine notes of the new fragrance while emphasising its call to strength and self confidence. A young woman in a diaphanous Flora print dress stands waist high in the middle of a seemingly unending mass of pristine [AND FAKE] white flowers, illuminated from behind by the setting sun. Taking on the power of nature she controls the movement of the wind to bring the field to life before shape-shifting into a ephemeral, Rorschach-like butterfly of dancing fabric and golden light."

I guess I'm jaded... what a wank... Seeing the description above after seeing the advert I realize I didn't see any of that stuff. Eye of beholder, or something... Or just a dumb commerical...
posted by njohnson23 at 10:11 AM on April 16

I'd love to give him twenty or thirty million dollars and say, Chris, go make me a horror movie. It would scare the stink off of shit.
posted by Bookhouse at 10:12 AM on April 16 [2 favorites has favorites]

Why isn't that guy making movies?
posted by xmutex at 10:14 AM on April 16 [1 favorite has favorites]

Yes, but is it art?
posted by GuyZero at 10:17 AM on April 16

What. And then the flat, uninterested monotone at the end.

Chosen at random, the BMW looks neat but makes no sense. But I guess he's the director, not the writer.
posted by DU at 10:19 AM on April 16

Really? Cuz that's exactly what happens in the one minute video. Then again, I like Cunningham and would have been overjoyed had he been able to direct the film version of Neuromancer. With Richard James doing the soundtrack. It's pretty much the only thing I'll go fanboy over. Besides Timtams.
posted by now i'm piste at 10:21 AM on April 16

Why isn't that guy making movies?

Shooting movies is really hard work and can take months, with (comparatively) low compensation considering how many working days are invested in the process. Directing commercials and music videos takes comparatively little time (most are shot in one day), and pays very, very well. Top commercial directors make upward of $100,000 / shooting day, and about half that for each prep and post day.
posted by dersins at 10:22 AM on April 16

Is this an ad for perfume or for allergy medicine?
posted by Nelson at 10:23 AM on April 16 [1 favorite has favorites]

Yeah, directors of videos and commercials never go on to make feature films.
posted by Artw at 10:30 AM on April 16

Is this an ad for perfume or for allergy medicine?
posted by Nelson at 1:23 PM

Side effects may include shape-shifting into a ephemeral, Rorschach-like butterfly of dancing fabric and golden light, nausea and headaches.
posted by orme at 10:30 AM on April 16 [2 favorites has favorites]

I love of a lot of that guy's stuff, but that seemed suuuuuuper cheeseball. A model trying to act, and an fx guy with a fan.
Thanks for the awesome list, tons here I haven't seen.
posted by Stonestock Relentless at 10:31 AM on April 16 [1 favorite has favorites]

From a 2005 Interview:

'It's just embarrassing. All I ever do is talk about films and then not make them. As a result I thought: just shut up about it - make a film then talk about it when it's done. But it's got to be something that I'm absolutely frothing about. After three or four years tinkering with other people's material I came to the conclusion that I just had to develop my own material from scratch.'

posted by now i'm piste at 10:32 AM on April 16 [1 favorite has favorites]

Some of this is NSFW.

Did you get the short film from the TATE?
posted by Artw at 10:37 AM on April 16

Pepsi Blucci.
posted by ColdChef at 10:39 AM on April 16 [2 favorites has favorites]

Maybe taking the brown acid isn't such a bad idea, after all.
posted by CynicalKnight at 10:42 AM on April 16

Did you get the short film from the TATE?

You mean Apocalypse at the Royal Academy? That was 'Flex' (see Aphex Twin above).
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 10:44 AM on April 16

You’ve also overlooked his earlier career as no-very-good-Simon-Bisley-knockoff Chris Halls.
posted by Artw at 11:27 AM on April 16

I was gonna pee all over this 'cause the ad aint so - but the rest of the list, well, it's a pretty great list. Thanks.
posted by From Bklyn at 11:37 AM on April 16

Ok, it's an advert but it's a 'directed by Chris Cunningham' advert...
The link? Or the post?
posted by Thorzdad at 11:46 AM on April 16

Man, I thought there was something off when I watched that Gucci ad on tele, the dancing seemed so goofy and then there was SUPER DREAM SEQUENCE at the end, now it makes sense, Lynch.
posted by doobiedoo at 11:46 AM on April 16

xmutex: "Why isn't that guy making movies?"

Bad luck. He would've done the visual effects for Kubrick's AI, but then Kubrick had to go and slip this mortal coil.
posted by mullingitover at 11:50 AM on April 16

Dude does awesome robots. That's one of his in the (pretty awful) Judge Dredd movie.
posted by Artw at 11:55 AM on April 16

Use of the wind makes me think of Mirror, which has an amazing scene where the wind seems to come out of nowhere, sending a shockwave across the grass that coincides with the character turning around. Directors must live for such perfect moments.
posted by malevolent at 11:56 AM on April 16

The David Lynch one is pretty great, actually, having now watched it 4 or 5 times, but it sure doesn't make me want to actually buy anything associated with it. It mainly makes me want to watch it again and then not ever go to sleep.
posted by penduluum at 12:00 PM on April 16

You’ve also overlooked his earlier career as no-very-good-Simon-Bisley-knockoff Chris Halls.

That's pretty much covered in the Directors File under 'Folio'
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 12:22 PM on April 16

Why isn't that guy making movies?

Story telling and selling a product are two completely different things. Sorry if that sounded like snark. I like Cunningham and think he's immensely talented but the world needs less music video directors working in narrative fiction.
posted by cazoo at 12:53 PM on April 16

Fuck you Fincher and Scott!
posted by Artw at 1:19 PM on April 16

More like "Fuck You Michael Bay and McG", but I'd happily include Fincher in the fuck you's as well.
posted by dersins at 1:42 PM on April 16

On the Jocosta video for Something to Say, the audio is messed up on the left channel. You may think it is bad modern rock, but just turn off the left speaker, and turn up the volume a bit, and you get the wonderful staticy warbling from the right, as if they were manipulating the deficiencies of mp3 encoding as the very method for making the track. Quite brilliant, really.
posted by idiopath at 1:47 PM on April 16

More like "Fuck You Michael Bay and McG"
posted by njohnson23 at 3:17 PM on April 16

Now he thinks he's a DJ or something.
posted by Artw at 11:18 PM on May 4

Well he has produced a couple of tracks on The Horrors new album
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 6:42 AM on May 5