M-I-E Gets Animated for Elton John

Production and directing team M-I-E have just released their video for the new Elton John track, Looking Up, which you can see above.

In the interview below, the M-I-E team discusses how they were inspired by John's eclectic back catalogue of stage costume and why you don't always have to like a track to make a great video for it.

What were your thoughts when you first heard the track?

Playful colours were our first thought. It kind of felt like a musical version of Elton’s life and career; fun vigour and youthfulness. It was unmistakably Elton John.

How quickly did the idea come to you and what sparked it?

Almost immediately. Our first instincts are usually our best. Looking back at Elton's career, one could easily compare it to a timeless modern or pop art. Kandinsky came to mind immediately.

Once we’d all agreed this route suited the music, we still felt more was needed to make it personal to Elton, so we decided to use the costumes he’s worn throughout his career as a reference for the patterns we used. Each section is a homage to a different costume, culminating in an abstract rendition of Elton wearing that particular outfit.

What was the feedback from the treatment?

It’s always hard to know what the exact reaction is when submitting a treatment. The best thing is to hear that the commissioner wants to talk about it, which usually means you are in the frame.

In this case, we heard form [commissioner] Ailsa Robertson and she said Elton’s creative director wanted to come in and “get a feel for where the real work is done”. This made us feel very confident and obviously, we did win the job. His feedback was to get Elton into the video as much as we could but in nice subtle ways, nothing too obvious.

Elton has had a lot of outlandish costumes from which to get inspiration; how much research did you do into them?

It wasn’t really research as it was so much fun! We were given the password to Elton’s photo archive and we just we looked for the interesting, iconic outfits, always thinking how that costume may look as a piece of modern art. There was a lot to chose from.

Do you have to like a track to effectively treat/make a video for it?

It always helps to like the track, as finding a connection to the music is more often than not, the way to resonate with the artist. Saying that, we’ve done some great videos where we don’t really like the music at all but have ended up with a great film.

So basically the answer is no, you don’t have to like the track to effectively treat on a video. A good brief, with a clear perimeters is always a good thing, whether you like the track or not. 

What was the hardest part about making the video?

Finding a way to best incapsulate the musicality of the track was the biggest challenge. There is a fine balance between abstract and literal and we need to depict just enough for people to get the idea without spoiling the visuals, while keeping it closely tied to the musicality.

What’s your favourite Elton John track?

I remember years ago someone looking at my iPod and made fun of me for having Goodbye Yellow Brick Road! That’s a fantastic album and any number of tracks could be a favourite, but it has to be Rocket Man.