The Jameson Music Video Grant: Meet The Finalists

Finally! After going through each of the 550 entries in detail, roping in a judging panel of industry experts and discussing the ideas non-stop for weeks, the Jameson INDIE Channel team are excited to announce this year’s Jameson Music Video Grant Top 10!

These musicians and filmmakers stand the chance to win R200K to make a kick ass music video. Meet them (in alphabetical order) and scroll through their concepts:

 

Lapré ‘So Cold Without You’
by Roxanne Simpson and Jamy Silver

About The Musicians

Lapré is a two-piece electronic act from Cape Town made up of producers slash composers Rowan Blem and Benjamin McCarthy.

About The Directors

Roxanne Simpson and Jamy Silver are a graphic design and illustration duo from Cape Town. If they win, these conceptual thinkers will team up with an experienced filmmaker to turn their idea into a video.

The Music Video Idea

‘So Cold Without You‘ is a story about longing for someone, or something. The video shows objects that usually come in pairs, but are missing their other halves. Things like beach bats without a ball, pen without paper, odd socks, one earring, soap without water, a fork without a knife, and mustard but no tomato sauce. During the musical interludes the missing halves move in highly stylised patterns as they find their partners.

LUKA ‘The Machines’
by Brad Katzen

About The Musician

LUKA is an up and coming DJ and producer from Soweto, fusing hard-hitting beats with catchy melodies and crisp sound design.

About The Director

Bradley Katzen is a writer and director whose short film ‘The Beginning’ screened at Cannes in 2015. He has also directed a handful of local music videos.

The Music Video Idea

‘The Machines’ is a Dance / EDM track. This video is an ode to B-movie sci-fi with a distinctive African feel. A robot crash lands in Soweto, where he befriends a local breakdancer. They’re unable to communicate, so they talk through movement and the earthling teaches the robot some sick moves.

Markus Wormstorm ‘Akihabra Arp’
with Jason Stapleton and Henk Coetzee

About The Musician

Markus Wormstorm is a Cape Town based writer / composer whose work includes novels, video game concepts and songs in a wide range of genres. Markus started releasing music though New York based label at the age of 19 and has since released 5 albums and many EPs. In his personal capacity he scores music for films and games. When he has time he writes the type of considered electronic music that he wished existed.  

About The Director

This video will create a surreal audio-visual world by combining Markus’ sounds with 3D Animation by Henk Coetzee from Hooligan Picture Creations and Lidar scanning by Jason Stapleton.

Henk Coetzee has been producing graphics for TV and events since 2006. He started Hooligan Picture Creations in 2011 in order to pursue more creative goals. He is completely obsessed with light and movement. He lives to explore how new technologies can be applied to solve creative problems.

Jason Stapleton has been working in various aspects of the 3D animation business since 2003. Since then he has moved into real time content creation via game engine technology for use in VR and other 3D mediums. He also part owns and runs a company providing Lidar scanning services, and occasionally VJ’s.

The Music Video Idea

Using their combined skill sets and innovative techniques, this team will portray a dreamy dance performance in a surreal forrest. Lidar scanners are lasers used in landscape surveys to illuminate spaces, which is then reproduced with 3D software to create a sick effect. The idea is to push this technology into the realm of art by creating a video just as bizarrely mesmerising as Markus’ tracks.

Trap Funk & Alivio ‘Impepho’
feat. ManKind & Morena Leraba
by Carl Mc Millan

About The Musicians

An inter-continental collaboration:

Trap Funk & Alivio is a DJ from Salvador, Brazil.
ManKind is a fresh local voice from Johannesburg.
Morena Leraba is a Mosotho musician and shepherd whose lyrics and sounds are deeply rooted in tradition.

About The Director

Carl Houston Mc Millan is a director living between South Africa and Lesotho, but the majority of his work explores the latter.
Carl will work with DOP Christian Denslow.

The Music Video Idea

Impepho is a powerful high energy track that was created through inter-continental collaboration. The beat is from Brazil, featuring artists from South Africa and Lesotho. This video is an authentic visual exploration of the shepherd subculture deep in the highlands of Lesotho. The majority of the video takes place at the “racising”, a local horse race in the highlands. Horse men make bets and young jockeys race around the dirt track. Post race celebrations at the local tavern are interrupted by Mankind’s appearance. Urban Krump style dance battles a traditional Sesotho influenced dance; Rural Vs Urban.

Muzi ‘Zenzile’
by Helen + Kim

About The Musician

Muzi is an Electronic Music Producer / Skater from KZN, whose unique sound is rooted in Zulu traditions fused with deep house, kwaito and trap beats.

About The Directors

Helen + Kim

About The Directors

Helen + Kim are a two-headed director combining Helen’s background in performance and aesthetics and Kim’s technical experience as a DP and editor.

The Music Video Idea

‘Zenzile’ is an upbeat, energetic track with a recognisably African sound and rhythm. The video is a non-linear, epic narrative in which we watch a man running from something. He navigates his way through a distinctly local setting, while bombarded with jumbled memories, visions and hallucinations. Each of these visuals is amplified, contorted and corrupt versions of the norm.

Rudimentals ‘We Are One’
by Josh Hayman

About The Musician

The Rudimentals are a nine-piece ska/reggae band from Cape Town.

About The Director

Josh Hayman is a young self-taught filmmaker from Cape Town.

The Music Video Idea

‘We Are One’ is a layered track which incorporates electro, dubstep and their signature reggae sounds. The lyrics, however, are undeniably and proudly African. In this video we see a group of soldiers in an army barracks preparing for a battle. They learn and train, but not for war. They’re getting ready to perform a choreographed dance. In the final scene we see them fully kitted out in customised, glamorised uniforms with face paint and dancing in perfect unison.

Runaway Nuns ‘People I Love’
by Reinette du Toit

About The Musician

Runaway Nuns is a five-piece garage-punk band made up of old friends who burst onto the Cape Town music scene in 2015.

About The Director

Reinette du Toit is a young scriptwriter, researcher and director originally from Pretoria and living Cape Town.

The Music Video Idea

‘People I Love’ is a track about belonging. This video tells the story of a hoarding street dweller who falls in love with a television he finds. The television starts taking the form of a woman and their relationship develops, but what started with a lovers quarrel ends in a decapitation.

Thor Rixon ‘Death’
by Rob Wisniewski

About The Musician

About The Director

Rob Wisniewski is formally trained in cinematography and lighting, and he approaches his work with a simple yet vivid visual perspective. He has produced and directed art films, commercials and done projects that include photography, lighting and collage.

The Music Video Idea

‘Death’ is a futuristic ride into the vast sphere of neo-psychedelic electronica, with jazz influences. The video is a single continuous shot, in which we track through a series of bathrooms varying in style and size with a different character inside, all of which are acted by Thor. The characters and the actions in each room get increasingly bizarre and surreal as the song progresses. Each character shows and celebrates some of the personal and social constructs that make up day-to-day life here and now.

Umlilo ‘Isambulo’
by Charles Mackenzie

About The Musicians

Umlilo is a gender-bending performance artist and producer whose signature sound, dubbed Future Kwaai, pushes the boundaries of electronic, alternative and pop music to create an eclectic mix of booty popping songs with dark compositions but deep meaning.

Jumping Black Slash is a UK-born SA-based producer with a diverse catalogue of music from Gqom to house. He has worked with artists like Spoek Mathambo, Okmalumkoolkat, Fantasma and Nonku Phiri. 

About The Director

Charles Mackenzie is the artist, writer and philosopher who will bring this concept to life. For wardrobe, set design and styling Charles will work with Miranda Moss, a contemporary artist specialising in sculpture and installation. Cinematography will be done by Gerhardt Coetzee.

The Music Video Idea

To make ‘Isambulo’, Jumping Back Slash and Umlilo joined forces and explored the dark rhythms of gqom, smooth electronic melancholia and avant-garde syncopated beats with an urban vocal flavour. Using infrared cameras, this three song visual EP slash musical film brings to life desolate, derelict and dystopian Joburg and tells the story of the last 2 people in the world.

Zaki Ibrahim ‘Cold Feet’
by Ryan Kruger

About The Musician

Zaki Ibrahim is a South African-Canadian singer and songwriter whose music blends R&B, soul and jazz.

About The Director

Director Ryan Kruger has a bunch of music videos on his reel, and he will team up with producer, actor and screenwriter Benedikt Sebastian to create this one.

The Music Video Idea

‘Cold Feet’ is about a wandering and adventurous spirit, someone who is in two minds about wanting to commit to a serious relationship but also wanting to be free. In this music video we navigate through a surreal world where everyone except Zaki has the same face. We watch as she engages with these uniform characters. At the end she wakes up to realise it was a dream. As she walks into the bathroom she sees the person the mask is based on, toothbrush in his hand…

 

Which video would you watch?

Let us know on Instagram, Twitter and/or Facebook.
Spot prizes up for grabs!
To enter, share the poster for your favourite idea and tag us:
Instagram: @JamesonSA
Twitter: @JamesonSA
Facebook: @Jameson.SouthAfrica

 

 

What is the Jameson Music Video Grant? Read more here.

Who helped us choose the Top 10? Find out here.

Note: In this article the Jameson Music Video Grant Top 10 are in alphabetical order. Before we choose the winner, the Top 10 will present their ideas in person or via a video call to the Jameson INDIE Channel team and the judging panel, who will award the R200K based on the quality and originality of the concepts and presentations.