Kris Moyes is an amazing director, working mainly with music video and commercials, he is the kind of person who can let his work do his talking. And while his talk at this year’s Semi-Permanent started out very shaky, nervous and read from his notes, it did not detract at all from the impact that his videos make.

moyes on the set of cut copy's going no where

Working with companies like Cadbury to create commercials that engage the viewer, and creating music videos for some of today’s most well respected artists, Moyes has really forged a name for himself as a director that loves a challenge, as well as creating something memorable.

Videos like My People, for The Presets really stand out. It was amazing to see the behind the scenes for this one. After speaking about a scene in the movie Gerry, where the actors are walking together and they keep oscillating in and out of synchronized steps, the idea developed. This is evident at the start of the video, where the band members do that same. Moyes continued to show his full working process, from storyboarding, to motion tests with old stock footage, pitching the idea to the label and the band. It was a great chance for us to see the inner workings of a music video.

While his commercial work what Moyes is best know for, some of his more subversive works mite be just as well known. A few years ago, there was a leaked Wolfmother video, which had live concert footage that had been defaced, with all sorts of imagery drawn over the top in a haphazard, amusing and almost childish way. This was part of his agreement to edit the original video. I honestly prefer the defaced version to the original, and Moyes does too.

Moyes has a curiosity in making videos that show a visual representation of the music, from My People to a video for Softlights, where the inspiration was taken from Disney’s Fantasia, Guitar Hero, and Stefan Sagmeister. It is interesting to note that Moyes reminisced about this scene from Fantasia, saying “…Ever since I was a kid I have loved this moment, and it was awesome when I got a chance to rip it off!” It has been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. After showing the Fantasia scene, he showed the full video, speaking over it to explain how various aspects of the stop-motion animation were created.

By the end of his talk, Moyes had really warmed up and got into it. In the past I haven’t had much interest in working with video, but after seeing the way in which these works were created, it has really sparked my interest in motion imagery.

For more information on Kris Moyes, follow these links:

Kris Moyes – www.kmoyes.com (very info skint, but great video collection)

Directors Bureau Profile – www.thedirectorsbureau.com

and an interesting interview from Alex Young – www.milieu.alexyoung.org

below are some stills from Moyes’ work, as well as my notes taken during his Semi-Permanent presentation.