Controversial comics writer Alex DeCampi has been having quite a bit of success in the video field of late. Her video for “Those Rules” by The Schema a became the #1 music video on YouTube.
This week we’re ahead of the new videos by Enrique Iglesias (Universal), the new band Domino is pushing hard (Animal Collective), Ne-Yo, and something involving Pharrell Williams.25,000 50,000 136,000 views. Remember, this is for a video made for £500 on one week’s notice for an unsigned band. I don’t know what to say, except… well, I’m thrilled, mainly for all the people (especially my long-suffering and amazingly talented DP, Guy Routledge) who give up their weekends to work 12-hour days on my shoots for gin, cheeseburgers and a promise of “some day, we’ll make it big”.
The Indiependent has a big article on unsigned wonders tells more of the tale:
I appeal via e-mail and my blog on the www.schema.co.uk website, asking if anyone can help. Within a couple of hours a friend sends me the e-mail address of Alex de Campi, a graphic novelist who is also a budding video director looking to expand her portfolio. We exchange e-mails. She says that she is interested, and – incredibly – she reckons she can turn it around in just over a week. When we met up, her straight-talking, can-do attitude terrifies me; she has already come up with a complete video treatment, combining the paranoid emotions of the protagonist of the song with a meta-commentary on how difficult it is to make a video.
De Campi just directed a video for Thomas Truax, which you can see below.
Alex tells us that her “magnum opus” ADAM IN CHROMALAND part 1 has just been released in France, and KAT & MOUSE 3, “which is by far my favourite in the series”, is also just out from Toykopop.
what’s the controversy?
I believe the reference is to Alex’s comments on the V-Hive board about her experience of pitching to Vertigo, which were somewhat bridge-burning in nature.
Love the video. Good to see good things happenin’ to Alex. :) :) :) She’s a good gal, creative, and really dedicated to what she does.
Wow, I really liked that song and video. I assume that’s Alex as the director. Very cool. It has a certain Steely Dan vibe to me. Which is actually a very good thing in my book.
I’ve read her stuff and it was Meh. She does however strike me as a girl who loves to be the centre of attention. Her early site posts were very ‘Look at me! Aren’t I great and cool!’.
My biggest problem with her is the fact that she’ll use any medium to selflessly self promote herself, no matter what it costs. The video in point – she takes the singer and effectively puts him to the side with her own ‘cameos’ that once more push her more than the talent. And I hear that the guy at the end – the ‘next big thing’? Is her boyfriend, a struggling musico himself.
Come on, De Campi – If you’re going to make a video for someone, promote THEM, don’t use it as a tool to put you and your boyfriend over. That’s unprofessional. We want to see the performer, not you. Brand yourself by all means but ‘hired to do a job’ is just that.
But then we all know how you just hate towing the line – well, Vertigo and Marvel do, anyway…
But, I’d love to see De Campi put a book out on self publicity, as she seems to get every blog on the planet following her every whim…
Richard – actually, the singer (Rhodri Marsden) specifically asked NOT to be in the video – I did force him to be in it for about 5 seconds as one of the “disappointments” in the first chorus. Both the “performers” shown are actors. The video was done for a laugh among friends, and had we had more than pocket lint and sealing wax to make it with, I would have hired another actor to be the “director”, too.
- A.