Another year gone my friends. Therefore it is time, once again, for us Chromies to shout out some of the music videos we took a fancy to these past 365 days. 

Here’s Chromoscope Picture’s picks for the 2018 Chromie Awards.

With a beautiful pastel color palette with what looks to be 16mm film, the final music video from Fleet Foxes 2017 album Crack Up is the magnum opus. The dolly zooms and wide vistas at the beginning compliment the slow and gradual push inwards as the man repeats the same journey over and over again. Abstract in its own ways with heavy Kubrick influence, this was one of the best music videos of 2018.

2018 was not a stand out year for editing. This year’s best videos all seem to have a similar vibe in common, which is elaborate, beautiful set-ups that were meticulously put together. This means that, for the most part, the editors seem to have cut their footage with little freedom for expression. Many of the best videos of this year play out as if the cutting room floor was handed a sheet of time codes for what the director and cinematographer want. 

Thing is, that’s perfectly fine, because 2018 saw some of the best music videos ever created. But that also made choosing a video for the Best Editing category rather difficult. That’s what makes Troye Sivan’s My My My! stand out- it feels like someone was given several intense sequences to cut with and “had at it”. The choice of cuts complement the on-set strobe light effects perfectly, giving an intense visual vibe that drives the song and dance elements in a way that feels genuine and timeless. 

With “Oh, Baby” off LCD Soundsystem’s “American Dream” album, we are tossed back in time by the 80’s revivalist sound. An upbeat melody punctuated by the metronome of a hard droning synth, all of which framing the melancholy vocals; reminiscent of Echo & the Bunnymen or The Smiths. Anyway, the song is great and the accompanying music video delivers as well.

The six minute piece directed by prominent film director Rian Johnson comes across as just that, a film. The story follows a married couple in their pursuit of some metaphysical teleportation technology. The video’s story plays out as the two heroes work together to solve this mystery of math and science. Then, once the code is cracked, homeboy orders everything he needs to build this teleportation device from Amazon. 

What I love about this video is the story and the ability of Johnson to make me care about something I don’t understand. The equations, the tests, the apparent setbacks and successes; it would all be nonsense if not for Rian’s direction, and the ability of his actors to tell his story with their faces. I won’t spoil the end, but the story comes to a close true to its form. Its ambiguous and meaningful, leaving us wandering between what could have been and what might be; Here and There.

Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” exploded when it dropped. Within moments of seeing it everyone sent that text to dozens of friends; “Have you seen it?”

The video was talked about for weeks, analyzed and dissected for every moment of messaging. The sheer spectacle, free of it’s political colorings, was something to talk about. The video is a virtually seamless walkthrough following Gambino himself looking rough and alternating between maniacal dance and confused gyration to an equally contradictory tune. Around him is a chaotic symphony of events and spectacle saturated by political and moral messaging, impossible to thoroughly cover here.

The video combines its visual assault with carefully choreographed moments of pointed shock and quiet contemplation. With this video Childish Gambino holds a mirror up to his audience and the societal decay we perpetuate in our everyday lives. To me, at least, he says “sure the world is a mess but, what part do we all play in that mess?” We’re confronted with that question over and over again as the world around him, encapsulated in this warehouse boils over.

The audacity of this piece in both technical production and artistic expression coupled with its massive impact makes it an easy choice for best video of 2018.