I Want My BFI
For anyone old enough to remember, the first of August will mark thirty three years since MTV first went on the air in the US and forever changed the way people listened to music for generations to come. Although MTV didn’t make its way to Europe until 1987, the concept of pairing cinematic art with our favourite songs had already caught on and a new art form was born.
Despite holding annual video music awards, these days anyone tuning in to any one of the various versions of MTV around the world is far more likely to find themselves gawking at a group of shallow, over tanned, over sexed ‘actors’ drinking themselves in a stupor in order to win each other’s affection. Unfortunately, a large number of people find this sort of television entertaining enough to tune in every week, so we’re forced to turn to YouTube for our music video fix.
Although a lot of videos rely on high budgets and shock factor to improve our ability to stomach another repetitive, mediocre song, there are still artists and directors out there dedicated to carrying the torch of quality music videos into the next decade and beyond. For those looking to be part of a great community of musicians and film makers in London, we highly suggest checking out BUG: The Evolution of the Music Video. Launched in April of 2007, BUG is an ongoing series of bi-monthly events at the BFI on Southbank that seeks to highlight the absolute best of recently released music videos from well-known directors as well up and coming talent that you may have missed.
The event’s latest instalment, BUG 43, which was held on July 17th featured a variety of solid fan favourites, like indie band Ok Go, who are known for their creative videos, as well as up and coming acts such as London’s own Jungle, who are quickly gaining world-wide recognition for their mesmerizing dance video concepts. My personal favourite turned out to come from Canadian Punk rockers Pup and their brilliantly shocking, angsty, guitar driven video for Guilt Trip .
Also worth a mention is actress and comedian Sarah Pascoe’s ability to carry the show all on her own. Although a guest host, she was unbelievably funny to the point that her performance was worth going to see whether you care about music videos or not. You can check out all of the new videos here and in the meantime, keep on the lookout for the next BUG event at BFI.
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