Does he boom boom?

So we shot the video for Alesha Dixon's forthcoming single 'The Boy Does Nothing' yesterday. Michael Gracey at Partizan directed it; Ashley Wallen choreographed the shit out of it; and Paul Weston produced it.

Here's an out of focus snap of Michael on set kind of glowing like the 'Ready Brek' kid:



We were lucky enough to shoot on 35mm. For me there's no better sound than a 400 foot mag of dirty five whirring through the camera as you shoot yet another full run through. It really reminds me of my other favourite hobby - burning money.

Here's a picture of some short ends that we threw away just because we could.



And here's art director Sam Tidman, aka Tiddaz, paying homage to Daniel Wolfe and sporting Wu Wear. PLO style.



Don't even bother coming on set with me unless you're wearing a Wu Tang T-shirt. They should make that a rule at the MVPA. What the fuck happened to the MVPA anyway? Did they ever get round to writing that contract?

Also, some of you may not be aware of the fact that Tiddaz art directed Blackout Crew's 'Put A Donk On It' video. He reckons it was the best moment of his career. Their brief to him was: 'Make it look like Dr Dre's studio'.

Beautiful

Today I was horrified to discover that Ironik and Danielle Lloyd are actually going out with each other. I was under the impression that it was just a sordid PR ploy concocted by us to generate a bit of tabloid interest in him. But no. It's real. She's met his mum and everything.

Here's what Ironik has to say about it:

'When I first met her it made my pee pee feel funny, you know like when you're a kid and you're on a swing. I like her. When we first kissed, I nearly did a sex wee.'

Horse Nonce

I'm currently in the process of commissioning a video for James Blunt's next single, 'Love Love Love'. I had some scripts in yesterday. A couple were good. And then I got one in today that changed things. Here's the opening paragraph:

‘James is walking across a landscape with a small sack and a guitar and comes across a horse. He stops for a moment and he and the horse exchange looks. He walks on and the horse follows. James lowers his wares and goes to the horse, strokes it and sings. He runs his hands over its glossy skin and looks closely into its eyes. The horse rolls around on the ground playfully then bends its front legs beckoning James to climb onto its back. James rides the horse bareback into a sequence of movements that depict a physical bond between the two bodies, a spirited union of motion. They come to a stop. James gets off the horse. The horse walks away.’

And this is one of the pictures that accompanied the treatment:

It's hard to know what to say.

The second biggest Tim in the game

Here's a snap of Westwood on the set of the Wiley 'Summertime' TVC that we shot yesterday. Bob Harlow was in charge. The marketing concept is as follows: Timmy is doing the weather forecast; he predicts that a high-pressure front will build in Bow E3, move through 'north weezy', and then spread sunshine across the country in time for the single release in October. The strap line is 'the hottest single since records began'.

I'm not sure if Wiley knows anything about this development in the campaign, but he did say this on the RWD mag forum today:

'I walk out of labels cos they are so stupid'.

Funny.

2 ov ma fav songs 2gether makes it better

We're steadily getting warm blog love from all quarters. Ash L'Ange, co-proprietor of London's hottest gallery, Herald Street, drew our attention to this over the weekend. In true entrepreneurial fashion DJ Greebo has Put A Donk on Ironik's 'Stay With Me' riddim. To date nearly 150 thousand children have watched this.



If you want to email DJ Greebo to congratulate him on his efforts you can reach him on:

djgreebo@hotmail.com

In other Ironik news, I can confirm that the next single is going to be 'Tiny Dancer', featuring and sampling Elton John. Yes it is as good as it sounds. We're currently embroiled in byzantine negotiations with Verne Troyer's agent in the hope that he'll appear in the video as, quite literally, a tiny dancer. Apparently all we need to do is fill a suite at the Chateau Marmont with hookers and he'll do it.

The Ironik album also contains the following lyrics:

'A lot of people say it but don't really mean it
I didn't used to but now I really feel it
And wanna take you nice places like... Egypt'

And the video for 'Stay With Me' is nominated for Best Video at the Urban Music Awards.

Finally check out Herald Street's website here. Prices vary.

http://www.heraldst.com/

This girl is proper preety

Here's some funny shit that I found out about this morning. Channel U won't play JT's Ironik video for 'I Wanna Be Your Man' because they think it's too gay. And I don't disagree with them.

So they're shooting their own video for it today in their Lever Street studio, using the Bless Beats remix, featuring Tinchey and Ghetts. Big.

I was lucky enough to read the treatment earlier. And I've transcribed it below in full.

I Wanna Be Your Man
Ironik feat. Tinchey Strider & Ghetto

The video will be shot in a studio behind a black background with multiple single tube lights. The theme will be basic with a love interest being courted by our three Mc's behind different coloured wall paper. The hook and chorus will have coverage of street dancers free-styling, and our lead video girl posing like a diva and looking seductive. The video will be editing to the music and very bouncy with use of unique camera angles.

A note to all young and aspiring video directors: this is what treatments should actually be like. Forget what your rep's telling you. Print this out, carry it around with you and learn it off by heart. Repeat it to yourself like a mantra. Because this is MD proof. MDs don't have time to read more than this. They're late for a meeting and the group chairman just balled them out because the over-the-counter sales are a million units less than the forecast. They just want to know what they're getting.

Here's a picture of the girl playing the love interest. She's called Charlotte:

Again this is something that MDs can understand.

And here's some old footage of Ghetts killing it on Tim&BarryTV:

Oh shit!

I found this on the Slam City Skates website yesterday. I know. It's confusing at first, but I think I've worked out what's going on here.

It's Friday evening on West Central Street. The Academy Video Department are tired. The queue to The End hasn't started yet. The local crack dealer is out of rocks. But I've got some wonkey donkey bruv. What? Ketamine. Ooh let's try it. It'll be fun. A couple of lines are insufflated. I feel funny. Me too. Dom, my hand looks really big. I can feel my bones. Laughter. Then derealization. I think I'm floating. It's nice. Yeah, let's hire an escalade. Yeah. I wanna go to Madame Tussaud's. Is it open late? Yeah. I just feel really connected. Me too. The queue isn't too long. Alogia kicks in. Ooh look at Kanye. He's so real. Can i touch him? Yeah. Let's take him. Yes let's. Pap. Pap. They get as far as the car before the lights come on and security are called.

Where's the expression of pleasure?

We've been keeping Stitchthat Bob pretty busy of late. He directed the video for the Rifles' forthcoming single 'The Great Escape' in Kingston upon Thames over the weekend. But despite his work commitments, and hectic 'woo woo' party lifestyle, he still managed to find time to send us this clip of Gou Miyagi. In case you don't notice it at first, he skates without grip tape. Shit is unbelievable. And to top it off, the final trick is intercut with rapid shots of an eldritch ceremonial drummer, dressed in a white flaxen thong, beating a chau gong. True.



Bob maintains that Kingston upon Thames is his favourite place to shoot. When I asked him why, he replied simply that 'Kingston was once a royal demesne. Ethelwulf of Wessex held council there. In Old English it literally means farmstead of the kings'.

Amazing.

High Street Ken's alive

As the evenings close in and the leaves begin to fall, as pensioners begin to die, unloved in unheated homes, while next door children draft feverish, but hopeful letters to Santa Claus, and as thoughts turn to little baby Jesus swaddled in his manger, the air sweet with the smell of frankincense, Wiley prepares to release his next single, 'Summertime'.

The radio promoters try and stay hopeful. 'Maybe it'll be an Indian summer' they say as they battle through the driving rain and climb into sodden Addison Lees, off to meet Nigel and George at the gates of hell.

Bruce, junior-senior vice president head of local-global marketing at Warners Australia, has other ideas though. On a mega conference call, involving over 2 thousand people, he predicts big things for the track. 'I really think this could be a smash over here right now. We just need to make it a little more relevent to the local demographic. You know where Will talks about 'High Street Ken'? Could we change it to say Bondi Beach?'

Anyhow, the video's done and it's a banger. It was directed by Nez at Colonel Blimp and commissioned by John Hassay and Claire Stubbs. Watch it here:



And Will's right. Ken High street is alive. The new TK Maxx has finally opened.