Blog post 12 - Alex Southam - Case Study 3

Alex Southam is another freelance music video director who has directed many music videos that are in mainstream music, Southam has worked for Agile music who have written a review of the director declaring that Alex is a;

 

"Exciting new talent who is working in a dizzying variety of styles across live action and animation. Entirely self taught, his inventiveness and creativity have caught the eye with a series of diverse promos for the likes of Walkmen, Alt + J and Lianne La Havas. Alex joined Agile in 2012"

 

 

When starting out as a director, Southam had to undertake all the tasks that were involved in the creation of a music video production or a commercial. This included;

- The Camera
- Lighting
- Editing

This was very exhausting for Southam as all of these tasks would be very time consuming and excessive for one to perform by themselves. As Southam began to show promising skills as a director, he earned the privilege of a director of photography and a team to help with the process of creating a music video.

Style

Alex Southam admits that he enjoys the creative freedom that is given to him through music videos in comparison to commercials as his artistic visions are able to be fulfilled and there is much more potential whereas commercials most commonly force directors to follow strict guidelines and restricts what can be done through skilful camera work. Shots are rather generic and dull whereas there is a real potential to explore different avenues with music videos and what potential they have.

He uses "Vimeo" to showcase his productions as this is becoming an important platform in the media and especially for music videos. It is also argued that this platform has a higher status and potential than YouTube.

Breakthrough

Alex Southam's breakthrough came from his production of Tessellate for Alt + J with a small budget of only £10,000. The video was completed in one day and had a rather large cast. Alex used after effects for the special effects used in the video.



It goes without saying that this video from Southam is a very unusual and authentic video with abstract features and a unique use of the camera. With one main setting and a large cast located in the same places throughout. Southam uses the camera to specify a particular character or set of characters in the video in order to try and extract meaning from their interactions. Through the use of close ups juxtaposed to long shots and the meaning of "Tessellate" being the piecing together of mosaics without gaps; it makes it evident to why the video is located in a large cathedral and place of worship where there is many mosaics that are Tessellated. This further supports the theory of Goodwin where the lyrics of the song relate well to the features of the video. This has relevance as it suggests that the close up shots and the long shots are attempting to portray the idea of piecing the lives and the interactions of the different people together. Overall, the video is very unique and clever and gives Southam his own brand of directing.

This video conforms to some of the theories of the media's philosopher's such as Mulvey and Goodwin. The women in the video are sexualised and dancing closely and around the men that remain statutory and bold, this would imply that women are objects of erotic desire and conforms to Mulvey's theory of the male gaze where the audience are forced to perceive women on a sexual level. Goodwin's theory is relevant in this video where the close ups used on the different characters in the video help to develop Southam's artistic style and tendency to opt for the abstract rather than a naturalistic vibe to his music videos.

Chase and Status - Lost and Not found

Alex Southam is arguably best known for his work on the video of the Chase and Status track "Lost and not found." Chase and Status are prestigious DJ drum and bass duo who have been performing together for over 10 years and have made their stamp on the music industry with their high quality music that gets everyone into the party spirit. Alex Southam suggested a video idea for one of their most famous tracks "Lost and not found" that they felt would represent the track well and the duty to create the video was left to Southam.



This is another very unique and enticing video made by Southam where the video is taken all in one shot and shows off his artistic and creative abilities. Contributing to Goodwin's theory of how the lyrics of the song relate to the characteristics of the video; this video portrays different situations where adversity is prominent and the camerawork is useful as it allows the video to flow and promotes continuity and we as the audience are not distorted by continual editing in the video. This allows the audience to become lost in the action and it is a really useful technique to convey the meaning behind the video.

Mulvey's theory of the Male Gaze and patriarchy is not very prominent in this video and there is no voyeuristic behaviours or women sexualised to be perceived as objects of erotic desire. This means that Southam is subverting from many directors within the music industry where he empowers women by not representing them in this way. A prime and specific example in this video would be near the end when the women robs the gun off of the police officer and uses it to get her and her male partner out of trouble. This means the women has agency and subverts from that of Goodwin's theory as she is the female antagonist in this scenario getting the man out of trouble.