Director Case Study: Creative Control

Creative Control logo
as of 2011

For our music video brief, we decided to conduct a detailed research study of two vastly different directors who, amongst their other works, have directed music videos. In this post I'll be researching the films of Creative Control - an independent, in-house team who capture the imaginations of audiences with their 'vivid filming style and progressive content.'

Early Beginnings and Background

Creative Control offer an extremely interesting contrast to mainstream, big-name Hollywood directors like Spike Jonze. The group describe themselves as a 'cutting edge online content label' and produce a variety of different films covering contemporary fashion, music and art. 

Creative Control photographing 17
 year old rapper Joey BadA$$ on his
'1999' tour.

The label was started by directing team 'Coodie and Chike' in 2009. The two young filmmakers came to prominence by directing the early videos of Kanye West, debuting his 'Through the Wire' video in 2003' long before his mainstream rise to prominence. The team have continued to work in this vein; producing for up and coming talents like Joey Bada$$ and underground favorites like Erykah Badu.

The group could be seen to be at the forefront of a changing media environment; they produce exclusively online content for trendy, rising artists and are an independent group of media savvy filmmakers with a strong brand image and niche appeal.