Maldives 2012 [Video]

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to go to the Maldives with my family. A stupidly beautiful part of the world, tiny islands filled with white sand and surrounded by crystal blue waters. My younger brother Gavin go his GoPro and put together a video, mainly filled with the stunning array of fish hidden in the coral around the islands.

Maldives 2012 from Gavin Watson on Vimeo.

Jake Davis X Adrianne Ho X FiveStory.

Oh to be Jake Davis. He seems to spend most of his time taking photos of a videos of the gorgeous Adrianne Ho, you know, that Adrianne Ho. Tough life.



So for their latest venture, Davis took Ho down to NYC shop FiveStory. It looks like a shop full of beautiful shiny things that I will never be about to afford. Somewhat like Adrianne herself. Hmph.

Croyde 2012

Last weekend I went to a very wet and a very windy Croyde in Devon to go surfing. Was a lovely time with almost all of my family. Here's a few of my favourite snaps from the weekend:

Behind The Scenes: Barack Obama.

Being the Official White House photography must be one of the most interesting jobs in the world. You get to see almost every aspect of perhaps the most powerful person on Earth on a daily basis, everything from taking down the world's most wanted, to clearing up oil spills to, of course, playing with the new family dog. This duty is taken on by Pete Souza. Souza's photos give you a sneaky look of what it actually takes to be Mr President.

The Intergalactic Travels of the Madbury Club.

So this is where The Madbury Club have been...



Everyone's (mine at least) favourite bloggers and all round good guys have decided to get off the internet this summer and go do some stuff. A rule we should all abide. In classic Madbury style, this trailer is full of fun, goofs and general cool shit all piled into a beautiful and considered video. Can't wait to see the finished product, no doubt I will make me infinitely jealous.

Shwood - Scrap Surfing.

This post is simply because I'm going surfing this weekend and I can't bloody wait. (And because it's a lovely video, featuring a beautiful board) I might see if I can knock a little video like this up whilst I'm there.



I will not be making my own board though...

Menorca 2012 Snaps.

Occasionally on my blog I like to get a little self-indulgence. Well, this is one of those occasions as I present a few of my favourite photos I took whilst on a much needed holiday in Menorca (on my shiny new camera).

(Technically a screen shot but I like it nonetheless)

All Frank Ocean Everything.

Frank Ocean - Pyramids - SNL 9-15-12 by IdolxMuzic

There has been no one faster rising in the past year or so than Frank Ocean. From the most hyped hip-hop group of recent years, Odd Future, Frank Ocean has created his own and deserved presence. This presence has seen a critically acclaimed mixtape, followed by an equally acclaimed debut album and collaborations with Jay Z and Kanye West. He notably also was perhaps the first R&B/hip-hop to come out as bi-sexual, a massive step for the industry. His rise seems to have hit new heights the past 24 hours as he was given the honor of the opening show of Saturday Night Live's latest season, performing with John Mayer, smashing it. And then releasing his latest, in a string of amazing videos, for Pyramids.


Frank Ocean - Thinkin Bout You - SNL 9-15-12 by IdolxMuzic

See his performance on SNL of Pyramids (top) and Thinkin' About You (above). And then below is the video for Pyramids, which see a rather trippy Frank ride across the desert and into a strip club, full of some very bootilicious, yet slightly creepy girls.

frank ocean [pyramids] from christopher francis ocean on Vimeo.

COMUNE Visit Mt Bachelor.

Spring Break Mt. Bachelor Expedition. from Kevin Castanheira on Vimeo.

With stunning landscapes, crisp white powder and slick riders, it's never been difficult to make snowboarding videos look impressive. However COMUNE looks like they've raised the bar with some nice framing, lens-flare and focus-shifts, giving their adventures on Mt Bachelor a serene and nostaglic feel. It really feels more about good friends and good times, rather a "OMG LOOK AT THAT AIR!!" Red Bull style video (not that that's a bad thing...). It makes me desperate to go this season.

Alt-J: Fitzpleasure.

ALT-J "Fitzpleasure" from COSA on Vimeo.

Scenes of gothic and relgiious undertones that wouldn't look out of place in a Kanye (or some other supposed Illumanti-related) video, form much of Alt-J's Fitzpleasure. It's create to see that the band's artistic visual spreads from their songs - forming one of my favourite bands of the year - to their videos. (Directed by Guillaume Caignard)

Why Mono: The Power Of Simplicity.

"Make It Simple, But Significant"
Don Draper.

Why Mono? A discussion with creatives. from Callum Preston on Vimeo.

Yes I did just become the guy who works in advertising who quotes Don Draper. BUT I really like that line, and as a planner, it's something that I always try to remember.

It's definitely something to always remember when producing work in whatever form that may be, ads, photos, stories, whatever. Just because it's simple, doesn't mean it's stupid. Often far from it. In the creative world, the simplicity of black and white has always carried such power. And I think it's something that can sometimes be taken forgranted. It really makes you focus on the subject, you see lines and shadows often hidden by colours. It lets you make up your own mind and work it out for yourself, which I guess is what all great art does.

Talib Kweli, Curren$y and Kendrick Lamar: Push Thru

With a lot of hip-hop getting dark and dirty these days (see A$AP Rocky, OF, Kanye) it's real nice to get a breath of fresh air. This track feels really nice and airy, despite some pretty mean vocals from the master Talib Kweli, Curren$y and the up and coming master Kendrick Lamar.



The track is matched by some really clean and crisp visuals as each rapper takes you around their hometown New York, Louisiana and LA respectively.

Sigur Rós: Varúd.

For those that have been following the Sigur Ros Valtari Mystery Film Experiment, it's been varied and bizarre to say the least. From seeing Shia LaBeouf naked whilst playing with butterflies in an underwater world to an educational video on how to perform the heimlich manoeuvre, it's an odd collection. But I imagine this is exactly what Sigur Ros wanted when they decided to allocate small budgets to various film directors to interpret their album Valtari.

Sigur Rós: Varúð from Sigur Rós Valtari Mystery Films on Vimeo.

The latest video, for my favourite song off the album Varúd, is perhaps my favourite video so far too. It's far more straight forward and less surreal than the others, as you follow a girl with gold hair casually skipping through the streets of New York. It has a mixture of normality, oddness and magic that I think director Ryan McGinley pulls off so well.

Dan Harris - A Dedication.

Having received some bad news today, it really felt right to me that Washed Out brought out a video to A Dedication.



A beautiful video for a beautiful song. Make sure you appreciated what you've got.

RIP Dan.

Muhammad Ali X Yasiin Bey (X Louis Vuitton)

In the words of Hypebeast "There stands only a handful of hip-hop emcees who have been able to successful transcend the musical culture and find high-fashion relevance. Yasiin Bey is one that immediately comes to mind as a longstanding personality known just as much for his outspoken position in the culture as well as his smooth flowing rhymes."

Yasiin Bey's (aka Mos Def) latest demonstration of his talents is a couple of short performances of quotes by a man with just as sharp and smart tongue, Muhammad Ali. Though not perhaps in the same league, there are many similar traits between Bey and Ali; provocative, mindful, intelligent, witty and semantically superb.

Louis Vuitton "Word" - Directed by Stuart McIntyre from Steam Films on Vimeo.

Bey brings such energy to the show, it feels like Ali is in the room. Credit also has to go to Stuart McIntyre for the direction of the video as the mood and pace perfectly reflects the speeches. Not entirely sure what Louis Vuitton have to do with this, but it's something...

Louis Vuitton "Dream" - Directed by Stuart McIntyre from Steam Films on Vimeo.

LOVE Issue 8 Preview by Sølve Sundsbø.

LOVE Issue 8 Preview by Sølve Sundsbø from LOVE on Vimeo.

In the form of an eerie and odd live fashion-shoot, LOVE magazine have released a video preview of their latest edition, Issue 8. Featuring the visuals of the wonderful, and equally odd, Grimes, Sølve Sundsbø puts together beautiful piece, even if you're not quite sure what just happened...

London 2012 Olympics & Paralympic Ads

Incase you hadn't noticed, this summer is all about the London 2012 Olympics. Because of the nature of sport, it has always been a fantastic subject area to advertise around. However that does mean you get almost every brand under the sun trying to be a sports brand.

And as the Olympics are the greatest sporting event in the world every ad under the sun is now an Olympic ad. This has unfortunately led to a lot of dire and dull ads on our TVs, computers and bus stops.

However, as there always is in ad world, a small glimmer of hope. Adidas and Channel 4 have both produced incredible ads for the Olympics and Paralympics, respectively. Both ads capture the what the events are about. They don't sell too hard, they're not cheesey, and although both are very emotional (as is sport) they feel very genuine and relavent to the games.

Adidas - Take The Stage



Channel 4 - Superhumans

Vans X The Diggest: NYC

There's a lot to appreciate in this video, some amazing riding, great soundtrack and some lovely shots. But what I really like in this Vans film is the feel of it. You can feel New York City through it. The realness, the grit, the feel that the city is yours for the taking. And that is a direct reflection of the brand and of BMXing, making the film a real natural fit between the three, which makes it all the genuine.

Prada X Ben Kingsley X Helen Bonham Carter X Roman Polanski

For Prada's latest project, a short film, they decided to go all out and get actors Ben Kingsley and Helen Bonham Carter to team up with Polish director Roman Polanski. In a beautifully considered and carefully put together piece, Bonham Carter goes to see her pyschiatrist Kinglsey who fails to listen to her but instead falls for her Prada coat. In a slightly bizarre scene he finds the coat irresistible and simply must try it on. Despite a dodgy end line, a lovely piece of content by the fashion house.

Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros: Man On Fire

Really enjoyed the simple and warm nature of this video for Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros. The visuals were directed by actor and filmmaker Brady Corbet, who recently starred in Lars von Trier's film Melancholia. In an almost documentary, observational style, Corbet captures different types of dancers from all across New York simply doing what they love.