Music Video Trilogy

I recently watched M83’s last installment to their music video trilogy. Early on  music videos became narrative short films. Now it doesn’t even matter if the song has any direct relation to the story or that the band didn't appear in the video at all. The video became an entity unto itself, a film of its own. Sometimes a story is epic enough to warrant a sequel, and rarer —a trilogy.

M83’s trilogy started with the song “Midnight City”.

In this video we meet a group of children with special telekinetic powers imprisoned in an asylum. However they escape for a short while and live like regular kids until they are recaptured from the authorities and put back in captivity in the second music video installment “Reunion”.

In the final chapter “Wait” the story reaches a new level of abstraction.

I loved this music video trilogy. It placed me in a different world. The shots were breathtaking with the close-ups, landscapes, space travel, nature, etc. The end of the trilogy wasn’t very conclusive but I liked how it left the story open to interpretation.

Matthew Frost's Short Films

Matthew Frost is known for creating music videos for bands such as M83 and also directing commercials and fashion films. He creates advertisements for brands such as Levis,  Louis Vuitton, Nike, Reebok, etc. His award short films for Vogue feature Cate Blanchett, Jessica Chastain, and Kate Winslet. He uses aesthetically pleasing shots with beautiful girls mixed with blithe humor.

In his most recent short film he created, "Aspirational" starring Kirsten Dunst, Frost explores the "selfie culture" and comments on how social media effects our interactions, even with celebrities. It's entertaining and funny, while making a sad statement about our society. Watch the two minute film below:

ASPIRATIONAL from Matthew Frost on Vimeo.

If you enjoyed that, you may enjoy his previous short film with Lizzy Caplan, titled "Fashion Film." It's a commercial for Viva Vena and spoofs fashion advertisements that you'd normally see. (Clever for a fashion brand to make fun of other fashion advertisements... I see what you're doing here, Viva Vena.) And as always, Lizzy Caplan is hilarious.

Here are the three award short films for Vogue if you want to check those out:

SLOW MOTION from Matthew Frost on Vimeo.

SCRIPTED CONTENT from Matthew Frost on Vimeo.

BEST ACTRESS OF ALL TIME from Matthew Frost on Vimeo.

I would not consider myself an advertising or fashion person at all, but I really love the charming humor that comes through in these beautiful advertisements.