Playlist: Jess Cope

Partizan director and animator Jess Cope has previously helmed promos for artists such as Steven Wilson [below] and Devin Townsend.

The director, who mainly with traditional animation methods, has past experience animating on projects such as Tim Burton’s feature, Frankenweenie and TV series including Postman Pat and The Clangers.

Now the animator extraordinaire lets us know what's on her Playlist.

What’s the best promo you’ve seen recently and why?

I quite enjoyed watching Die Antwoord’s new video called Banana Brain [below]. I just find their promo vid’s creepy and entertaining and totally nuts!

What’s the first promo you remember being impressed by?

I remember being impressed by the Jamiroquai video for Virtual Insanity [below]. I thought it was really clever and I love that it was all done in camera. It was genius to move the set around the floor with a camera fixed to it so that it looks like the floor is moving.

And what’s your all-time favourite music video?

I have so many favourites so it’s pretty hard to choose just one. So I’ll list a couple …

Sepulture: Ratamahatta [below], Peter Gabriel: Sledge Hammer [and] I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness: The Owl

What other directors/artists do you look to for inspiration?

I really love to explore all kinds of different artists but I draw most of my inspiration from really dark artwork with a limited colour pallet. I love the work of Remedios Varo. Her paintings are so clever. Everything seems to be connected in some way and I can look at them for ages.

What are you listening to at the moment?

I don’t know what I’m listen to at the moment as I’m in the studio and its someone else music. I have been listening to Puscifer [bottom] a lot lately and when I get bored of music I listen to terrifying true stories on YouTube…because I’m strange and I like to scare myself.

What’s your favourite bit of tech, whether for professional or personal use?

I really like messing about with my stop motion app on my phone when I’m bored. I’m also obsessed with my Wacom Pen Tablet [below]; I don't know why as I’m rubbish with it. 

What artist(s) would you most like to work with and why?

I would love to work with Trent Reznor [below], Tori Amos and Maynard James Keenan. I just love the music they make and I reckon I’d come up with some really cool imagery to accompany it.

How do you feel the promo industry has changed since you started in it?

I’d say that due to the internet, music videos are now destined for YouTube and Vimeo and are rarely made for TV anymore. Obviously this has been going on for much longer than I have been in the industry, but it’s clear that budgets have been cut drastically since the days of MTV. It’s sad really, I love being able to access whatever I want whenever I want, but the music and film industry has taken quite a knock due to illegal downloading etc. and it has a ripple effect on the promo industry.

Music videos have had a resurgence of late; where do you see the industry being in five years’ time?

I hope that music videos will continue to accompany artist work. It gives an audience so much more to take from a song if you have something visual to accompany it.

I think working with Steven Wilson was a great opportunity to get our work out there through his tour. We made him these videos specifically for his stage show and it went down very well. Plus, it was like having our own travelling film festival with Steven promoting us!

Tell us one thing about yourself that most people won’t know…

Growing up in South Africa I attended a Waldorf School. It’s basically a school where hippy parents send their kids. Some of my lessons included, tie dying, candle making and bear wrestling… I didn’t understand the last one.