A short while back, Ian from 7inch Cinema got in touch about a cool festival they organise, with an interesting idea. Here's his explanation:

"hello Antville,

From the 11th to the 15th of March, Birmingham (UK) will be home to the third edition of the Flatpack Festival - an unholy mishmash of shorts, animation, music docs and live cinema in venues all over the city. We use warehouses, bars and galleries, and our main screening venue is the century-old Electric Cinema. If forced, we might come up with themes like 'imaginative use of limited resources', or 'fuzzy areas where film bumps into other artforms'.

Some of the stuff in this year's lineup which you might find of interest:

• Romain Gavras' Justice documentary 'A Cross The Universe', and a bunch of their videos
• animator David O'Reilly talking about 'Son of Rambow' and his twisted web-soap 'Please Say Something'
• an amazing documentary about Italian street artist Blu called 'Megunica'
• hotly-tipped Swedish vampire flick 'Let The Right One In'
• a night in the spirit of 1900's film-shows featuring Georges Meliès et al and an outfit called Paper Cinema who use cut-out characters to create live animation.

I've been finding good stuff for our shows on this site for years, so this time I thought I'd come clean and ask you lot if you would curate a programme of music videos for us... We thought it would be great to have a screening event which reflects the talent and passion which you find on Antville (although maybe with a bit less fighting). The programme will need to last about 70 minutes, and the final selection will be subject to what we can clear from labels and prod companies (so it's probably worth having a few extra as backup). We'll invite along some of the directors featured, and Antvillers who contribute to this experiment in group curation will be very welcome to a free ticket if they can make it to Birmingham on 13th March.

Um, that's it I think. I'll hand over to progosk who can give you a bit more detail on how this might work. The full programme will be up online in February, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

Ian / Flatpack Festival"

In practice, the idea goes something like this: keeping in mind Flatpack's ethos,

• propose a theme that you consider particularly relevant to current music videos and make a list of videos that exemplify that theme (min. 5, max. 10 videos)
• you can also suggest other videos for themes that have been proposed
• videos should be chosen from 2008 antville award Nominees (simpler list is here) - or strong contenders for December 08 and January 09 Faves.

Once proposals are in, consensus is reached on best themes&list (if need be, we can poll for it).

Flatpack will be donating a congruous nugget towards antville's future server-welfare (a subject of current discussion - but that's a story for another day).

Now - get curatin'!

         

Wow, this is quite cool. :)

And, to throw some gasoline on the fire, I think an interesting theme would be '4 minutes in a single space - videos that maintain interest despite being restricted to one scene'.

This seems particularly relevant to the modern video because, given current budgets, the primary creative struggle seems to be 'what can I do with just my artist and a tiny sound stage'.

Or, at least, that's my daily struggle. ;)

K

         

Theme: neo-Gondry.

Metronomy - A thing for me, Dir. Megaforce NSM PSM - Clap your brains off, Dir. Frank Beltran Pivot - In the blood, Dir. Alex Smith CSS - Move, Dir. Keith Schofield Kraak&Smaak - Squeeze me, Dir.s Andre Maat & Superelectric Bodies Of Water - Under the pines, Dir. Andy Bruntel Goldfrapp - Happiness, Dir. Dougal Wilson Vampire Weekend - A-Punk, Dir. Hammer&Tongs Late Of The Pier - Focker, Dir. Daniel Brereton Sebastian Tellier - Divine, Dir. Ace Norton Connor Oberst - Souled Out!!!, Dir. Alan Tanner Why? - A sky for shoeing horses under, Dir. Ben Barnes

plus two from December 2007: Alphabeat - Boyfriend, Dir. Daniel Eskils Hot Chip - Ready for the floor, Dir. Nima Nourizadeh

         

Okay, so decision made then? Neo-Gondry it is. :)

K

         

"4 minutes in a single space" sounded promising - list the vids kal.

hey everybody, wtf, don't all crowd in together here...

         

Is it a strict requirement that the videos have to be from last year?

Neo-Gondry list seems solid.

Some ideas for "Single space," not all strictly recent:

Deathcab For Cutie "I will follow you into the dark" The Knife "Pass This On" Cut Off Your Hands "Oh Girl" YACHT "Summer Song" ^^not entirely one room, but close Mountain Goats "Woke Up New"

Third Idea - Passage of Time Peter Sommer - 8660 Woodhands Cat Power - Where is my love? Green Spirit <a href"videos.antville.org">Low vs Diamond - Heart Attack

Any other suggestions for vids where the passage of time is narrative based instead of slow motion/trickery?

         

if it's strict requirements that are keeping folks from pitching in, by all means: break'em.

         

more "single space": Beyoncé - Single Ladies Francis and the Lights - The Top Metronomy - Holiday The Bird & Bee - Polite Dance Song Yeasayer - 2080/Tightrope Omaha Bitch - Orgasmic Troopers

more "passage of time": No Age - Eraser The Checks - Tired From Sleeping

         

We could do a fun with puppets category… some that come to mind:

Bjork – “Wanderlust” dir. Encyclopedia Pictura Beck “Youthless” dir. Kris Moyes Efterklang – “Illuminant” Dir. Tobias Strech LCD Soundsystem – “New York I Love You” dir. Simon Owens

I could also see a “badass” themed one:

Bloody Beetroots – Cornelius dir. Mathieu Danet Justice – Stress dir. Romain Gavras Kano Hustler dir. Nez Kanye West – Flashing Lights dir. Spkie/Kanye Thunderheist – Jerk It dir. That Go

         

More Single Space Thoughts Architecture in Helsinki - That Beep Mosty anything Zbigniew related, but especially Fat Boys Also "Single Ladies" followed by "Omaha Bitch" would make for a nice one-two punch.

More Puppets Steriogram - Walkie Talkie Man (I think this is still one of Gondry's best little seen videos) <a href"videos.antville.org">Kanye West - Champion Lily Allen - Alfie Architecture in Helsinki - Heart it Races There's lots more to choose from in this category although I'd be worried about puppet overload after thirty minutes or so.

Other suggestions -80s kitsch (Sensual Seduction, Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, That Beep...) -Self-consciously viral (Toe Jam, Cash in My Pocket, Talking Like Turnstiles, Just 2 Guys...)

         

perhaps, rather than simply puppets (and in order to keep it a little more up-to-date)

Theme: hand-made.

Phon°noir’s “My Paperhouse On Fire Dir. Sebastian Haslauer and Sebastian Koch Josepha Conrad a.k.a Susie Asado - Hello Antenna Dir. Veronika Samartseva & Anna Samoylovich TrenchcoaT - Whatcha Got, Dir. Rogier Wieland (+ making of) Paniks - El baile del karramarro, Dir. Nadia Barkate, Marion Cruza & Eider Gutierrez Rex the Dog - Bubblicious Dir. Geoffroy De Crecy Bomb The Bass - Butterfingers, Dir. Lung The Young Republic - Modern Plays, Dir. Daniel Scheinert Beck - Youthless, Dir. Kris Moyes The Terrordactyls - Devices, Dir. Kimya Dawson Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal, Dir. Sean Pecknold Portishead - The Rip, Dir. Nick Uff Tame Impala - Half Full Glass of Wine, Dir. Special Problems Bomb The Bass ft Jon Spencer - Fuzzbox, Dir. Corin Hardy Zombie Zombie - Driving This Road Until Death Sets You Free, Dir. Simon Gesrel & Xavier Ehretsmann

         

a badass themed evenin? not bad might resonate wit di’yoot

         

more badass, plz

         

meanwhile (regesting&updating),

Theme: 4 minutes in a single space (= claustrophobia?)

Beyoncé - Single Ladies, Dir. Jake Nava Francis and the Lights - The Top, Dir. Jake Schreier Metronomy - Holiday, Dir. Daniel Brereton The Bird & Bee - Polite Dance Song, Dir. Eric Wareheim Yeasayer - 2080/Tightrope, Dir. Vincent Moon Omaha Bitch - Orgasmic Troopers, Dir. Ces Messieurs Architecture in Helsinki - That Beep, Dir. Krozm Lykke Li - I'm good, I'm gone, Dir. Ted Malmros + Christian Haag MGMT - The Youth, Dir. Eric Wareheim Headman - On and on, Dir. Simon Owens L.A. Beard Club - Regret, Dir. Herbert Sebastian Hofmann Thunderheist - Jerk It, Dir. That Go YACHT - Summer Song, Dir. Judah Switzer

         

Theme: no-budget ideas.

Cajun Dance Party - Colourful Life, Dir. Russell Weekes Elbow - One Day Like This, Dir. Ringan Ledwidge Aaron Gleason - Bright lights, Dir. Davis Neves Sea & Cake - Crossing Line, Dir. Lung Pop Levi - Semi Babe, Dir. Wilmer & Dobson A Cursive Memory - Everything, self-directed Shad - The Old Prince Still Lives at Home, Dir. Hot Dog Garbage

others (shurely)?

         

Personally I'm a fan of the hand-made and neo-gondry lists, especially bc they're mostly unknowns and it would be feasible to get festival clearance for them.

But I'm really starting to warm up to the idea of a viral video theme. The question being, what is viral? Is it just a label for something that gains instant popularity or is it a reproducible genre/style? And how have directors and artists attempted to successfully or unsucessfully court viral popularity.

I've got a mental shortlist but I'm literally running out the door right now. I'll post later.

         

This topic blossomed since I was last here. Thanks for the single space list as well Progosk; you did a better job than I would have been able to. I'm also into the idea of no-budget ideas. That seems quite topical.

K

         

arts and crafts videos. technique videos. photography videos. one location, 2 actors and a HVX 200 videos. art school videos. post-crewdson videos. the band want to be in the video, but not performing or acting videos. director did it for the money videos. 10 weeks in post-hell videos.

there is already a long list of one shot videos on videoville. and possibly white studio videos too.

         

hm - art&crafts is kinda covered in hand-made, above. out of the others on this list, "2actors1location" sounds the most promising/topical - vids, anyone?

         

Theme: animationjamming.

Ladyscraper - Thou art fucking dead, Dir. Lung Ocaixi - Niku, Dir. Aleix Pitarch The Ettes - Crown of Age, Dir. Andrew Huang The Knife - Like a pen, Dir. Andreas Nilsson M.I.A. - Boyz, Dir. Jay Will Lightning Bolt - 13 Monsters, Dir. Paper Rad Beck - Gamma Ray, Dir. Jess Holzworth Love is All - Ageing Had Never Been His Friend, Dir. Andreas Nilsson Panther - Hey [remix], Dir. e*rock Trans Am - Tesco v. Sainbury's, Dir. Lung

         

"one location, 2 actors and a HVX 200 videos."

hahaha. funny.

i still like neogondry list alot.

         

they're planning 70 minutes, so it'll take more than one theme. (or else quite a few more neo-gondry.)

         

(regesting&updating)

Theme: passage of time.

No Age - Eraser, Dir. Andy Bruntel Woodhands - I Wasn't Made For Fighting, Dir. Asif Mian Cat Power - Where is my love?, Dir. Josh&Xander Low vs Diamond - Heart Attack, Dir. Marc Klasfeld Peter Sommer - 8660, Dir. Lasse Martinussen Green Spirit, Dir. Ramon Bloomberg The Checks - Tired From Sleeping, Dir. Sam Peacocke The Last Shadow Puppets - My Mistakes Were Made For You, Dir, Richard Ayoade Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal, Dir. Sean Pecknold Death Cab For Cutie - I Will Possess Your Heart, Dir. Aaron Stewart-Ahn Yeasayer - Wait for the Summer, Dir. Mixtape Club The National - Fake Empire, Dir. Scott Cudmore Will Young - Changes, Dir. Martin De Thurah

not sure all these really make sense...

         

last two from me...

Theme: (re)mix&match/sh(up)

Ratatat - Mirando, Dir. E*vax Portishead - Magic Doors, Dir. John Minton Familjen - Det snurrar i min skalle, ed. Johan Söderberg Moby feat. Aynzli - Alice, Dir. Andreas Nilsson Arcade Fire - All I Need, Dir. Sergio Leone, ed. J Tyler Helms Scanone - Star Games, Dir. Jasmin Jodry Radiohead - Big Ideas (Don't get any) [Nude remix], Dir. James Houston Jon Hopkins - live visuals, anim. Vince Collins Mac Lethal - Pound That Beer, Dir. Ben Cohen Classixx - Cold Act ill, ed. Tim K Munk - The Rat Race, Dir. Elio Petri, ed. Modicus Liquid Liquid - Cavern, Dir. Oskar Fischinger, ed. Richard McGuire

and

Theme: alejandorojodorowsky

MGMT - Time To Pretend, Dir. Ray Tintori Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes, Dir Nima Nourizadeh Empire of the Sun - We are the People, Dir. Josh Logue Late of the Pier - Heartbeat, Dir. Megaforce Múm - The ghosts you draw on my back, Ed. Hans J Tandsether

still waiting on "selfconsciously viral", "2actors1location", and "badass"...

         

a belated follow-up... many thanks for all the ideas, some great stuff there. We really like neo-gondry and single-space -- will follow those up and let you know how we get on. There'll also be a more general section of the programme for the best stuff from the past year, guided by the nominations list; so if anyone has any pet favourites that demand to be shown on a big screen in a warehouse let us know.