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MUSIC VIDEOS www.postmagazine.com 20 POST MAY/JUNE 2023 Making Music Videos Shooting film and employing AI: A look at several ambitious releases BY MARC LOFTUS I f you look back at the early '80s and the dawn of MTV, you'll see how much the music video was able to shape the image of a recording art- ist. Musicians such as Cyndi Lauper and Michael Jackson, and of course Tina Turner, along with bands that include Duran Duran and Twisted Sister, all captured viewers' attention as well as shaped public perception with their use of the new format. The internet now allows artists to reach a global audience without the help of the "all-music" chan- nel, making the format just as relevant today. But, one might ask, have music videos evolved? This month we look at a range of high-profile and independent projects that share space on YouTube. Miley Cyrus, for example, has a hit with Flowers, which has reached #1 status in literally dozens of countries. Her recent video was shot on film and came together very quickly, as editor Brendan Walter shares. Aerosol Jezus' Cozey video, on the other hand, took weeks to shoot across challenging locations, but producer/director Mitchell Abraham was able to handle much of the production and post himself, thanks to the availability of tools that one could only have dreamt of years ago. Kaliyani's One Earth is another example of re- sourcefulness — director Wolfgang Amadeus shot the entire project on an iPhone 13 Pro. And the di- recting duo behind Crosslegged's Automatic video decided to explore AI's potential in the creation of her new release, but were surprised at how much extra work was involved, marking a stark contrast to their initial expectations. Here, we look at the making of several new releases, the challenges behind them, and how they all came together in post. And be sure to visit Post's website to enjoy the music videos in their entirety. Miley Cyrus — Flowers LOS ANGELES — Miley Cyrus' Flowers track has set a number of records since its release in January. In addition to becoming the fastest song to surpass a billion streams on Spotify, the song has reached #1 in 40 countries, including the United States. Flowers is the lead single off of her eighth studio album, "Endless Summer Vacation." The music video for the track was directed by Jacob Bixenman and produced by Freenjoy, with Marcell Rev serving as director of photography. Brendan Walter edited the project and says the edit came together rather quickly because the production's shot list was so well planned. "We worked pretty closely from the very beginning of the concept," says Walter of the production. "I was on all the scouts and all the [meetings], and we filmed basically the entire music video on the phone before we even got to that stage — pre-edited the entire thing so we knew exactly what it should be on the day." Walter is an independent editor, who has worked on music videos for the likes of Green Day and Weezer. He regularly works with Miley Cyrus' manage- ment company, which is how he came on board for the Flowers video. The song's message encourages self-love, and the video features Miley spending her day at her LA mansion, swimming, working out, dancing and enjoying life without the need of a love interest. "There was a kind of an initial treatment," says Walter of the storyline, "kind of a broader story for this character, and this kind of concept. It was kind of a really natural evolution of how to build the shot lists and all that to make the edit work."