Clip making is the only type of domestic cinema today that looks no worse than the best foreign analogues. And this is one of the few “pluses” of the triumph of kitsch in Ukrainian culture.
The image of musicians largely depends on the visualization of their songs. However, music video directors usually remain “dark horses”: although their role is decisive, few people know their names. In this regard, we have selected the ten most significant music video directors in Ukraine.
Semyon Gorov
One of the first Ukrainian music video directors. He began making music videos back in the mid-90s, when domestic show business was just in its infancy. Egorov visualized songs by Sofia Rotaru, Taisiya Povaliy, the group VIA GRA, etc. At that time, he knew how to amaze inexperienced Ukrainian music lovers. However, today his works look like nothing more than tracings of foreign videos.
On New Year’s Eve 2002, his musical film “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” was released. To this day, it remains one of the most successful New Year’s musicals in Ukraine. After that, he shot a number of full-length films: “Crazy Day or The Marriage of Figaro”, “Cinderella”, “The Adventures of Verka Serduchka”, etc.
Potap
(Alexey Potapenko)
His pretentious films are watched only by those who are not afraid of an overdose of glamor. The primitive imagery in these videos is aimed at poorly educated teenagers who form the backbone of his fan flock. Usually he shoots videos for the music of those performers whom he himself produces or for whom he writes songs: “Time and Glass”, Nastya Kamenskikh, as well as “Potap and his team”.
To date, he has shot more than two dozen videos, each of which is filled with everyday humor and banter. Just like his songs, Potap completely borrows ideas for his videos from foreign show business. In his works there is no talk of his own style or the author’s approach to visualization.
Victor Priduvalov
The director became famous for his videos for the songs “Ocean Elzy”. The best of them, according to the fans of the group, is his video for the song “Cold”. He also worked with the groups Boom Box, Lamentation of Jeremiah, TNMK, Tartak, etc.
Priduvalov characterizes his creative nature mythically: “Everything comes from space. I don’t invent anything myself. Some information passes through me, and I just write it down…” Such thoughts are not accidental, given that the music video director is a supporter of the use of consciousness-expanding drugs. He explains this quite simply: “This is a necessary component of creativity. Those who need it, let them use it.”
In 2005, “space” inspired Priduvalov to shoot the mini-series “Barbie’s Wedding” and the full-length film “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” – a modern version of the Soviet musical fairy tale. Both of these films received very low ratings from both critics and audiences. In addition, the director is involved in music – his album “Everything is so slow” was released in 2011.
Andrey Rozhen
Like many directors, creating video clips became a kind of beginning of a film career for Rozhen. “Having a hand” in music videos for the groups “Antitel”, “S.K.A.Y.” etc., he moved on to more serious projects. In 2012, he made his feature film debut in the co-production with Nigeria “Light as a Feather.” Over time, his short film “Nightingales, Nightingales” was released.
Many filmmakers are trying to build their creative path according to a similar scenario. However, mostly they all get stuck in commercial music video making, and never move on to filming full-length projects in which creativity, not money, is primary.
Maxim Papernik
Papernik began filming videos in the turbulent 90s, when the gray-black ruins of Soviet aesthetics had not yet been transformed by the colors of capitalist pop culture. His debut is a video for Irina Bilyk’s song “I’m floating.” Subsequently, he worked with Sofia Rotaru, Ani Lorak, the VIA GRA group, Natalya Mogilevskaya, etc.
Since 2003, his first full-length New Year’s film, “Chasing Two Hares,” starring Alla Pugacheva and Maxim Galkin, has been released. The success of this film laid the foundation for Papernik’s successful feature-length career, and today he has already directed a dozen such films, TV series and musicals.
“In our show business, it is very convenient and profitable to pretend to be idiots and assholes,” he exhaustively characterizes his colleagues.
Victor Skuratovsky
The role of a bass player in a rock band is always a thankless one. Firstly, his playing is not always audible over the massive drum beat. And secondly, the bass guitar is almost never trusted with solo parts, giving preference to other instruments. True, Skuratovsky still managed to emerge from the shadows of other Second River musicians – he began filming videos.
In addition to a dozen videos that he shot for his group, Victor also created videos for Asia Akhat, Alyosha, Wassabi, Tania BerQ, etc. Some of his works became a challenge to public morality. So, in the video for the song “Ropes,” he forced the members of the Nikita group to walk completely naked in front of the camera.
Alexander Filatovich
Number
The number of Filatovich’s clips is approaching two hundred. At the same time, he also managed to film several television shows and the full-length film “Hand for Happiness” (2008), as well as write a music album. He collaborated with Verka Serduchka, Irina Bilyk, the groups “A.R.M.I.Ya.”, “NeAngely” and others.
“The video is not only art, but also business. This is an advertisement for the performer and this is precisely the main subtext and goal in our works,” the director comments on his work. He boldly borrows ideas for his works from other artists. Thus, in the wake of the popularity of the film “Black Swan” (2010), Filatovich shoots a video of Vadim Kazachenko’s song “If I Leave You,” where he practically copies the style of the Hollywood film. The apogee of Filatovich’s plagiarism was the video for Irina Fedishin’s song “Height of Fire,” which copies the video for the song “HAIDE HOPA” by the Bulgarian performer Andrea (SAHARA).
Evgeniy Timokhin
The works of this music video director are a triumph of kitsch and glamor. Usually there are more naked bodies in Timokhin’s video than there are words in the entire song that he illustrates. The director worked with such performers as Kazaky, Mika Newton, Boris April, “Aviator” and others. His video for the aria “Forces of Fate” from the opera “Mephistopheles” performed by Alena Grebenyuk was noted at the international festival “Euro-Video Grand-Prix” 2006″.
Katya Tsarik
Intelligence is an almost unique phenomenon in show business. This is precisely where Katya Tsarik’s works differ from most other domestic videos. She worked with Alexander Ponomarev, Natalya Mogilevskaya, the groups “S.K.A.Y.”, Tabula Rasa, etc. It was her who Lyudmila Gurchenko entrusted to shoot a video for her re-covering of Zemfirov’s song “Do you want”, which the actress performed in her artistic style. After this, Tsarik filmed the documentary “Legend”, dedicated to Lyudmila Markovna. According to rumors, it was during the pre-premiere screening of this film that Gurchenko passed away into another world…
“The more popular the artist, the simpler it is,” Katya Tsarik characterizes the singers, noting that during the filming of a video it is easier to work with professionals.
Alan Badoev
The undisputed leader among domestic video makers, who has more than 260 music videos to his credit. He started filming when domestic show business was only in its infancy. The concept of “glamor” could then be found more often in dictionaries of new words than in the conversation of ordinary people.
Since then, he has managed to work with almost the entire pop elite of the CIS, but most often Irina Bilyk, Tina Karol and Svetlana Loboda turn to him. On average, the cost of a video from Badoev is at least $100 thousand.
In 2007, he directed his debut full-length film, Orangelove, which was received very restrainedly by both critics and the general public. Badoev has repeatedly spoken about his desire to “be ahead.” And if in terms of the number of filmed clips he was really ahead of his colleagues, then in terms of quality he was sometimes inferior even to debutants. In his music videos, borrowings from foreign videos have become increasingly common lately, and new ideas appear less and less often.
While the domestic film industry is just getting on its own feet, and Ukrainian directors have not yet grown out of “short pants”, our music video production is already walking in high heels. After all, it is in music videos that one can see the use of the latest cinematographic technologies, and it is in music videos that most young directors learn to shoot.
But despite the fact that video making is constantly fed by the “fresh blood” of growing filmmakers, fresh ideas are extremely rare in our music videos. This is the main ailment of the Ukrainian music video industry.