Playlist: Virgilio Villoresi

Italian filmmaker/artist Virgilio Villoresi has shot promos for a wide range of artists including Blonde Redhead, John Mayer, DJ Tennis, Dente and many more.

shots caught up with the director to find out about his love of vintage dolls' eyes, his favourite tech, and what’s on his Playlist.

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

Blonde Redhead - Golden Light. Why? Because I directed it.

What’s the first music video you remember being impressed by?

prisencolinensinainciusol by Adriano Celentano and Raffaella Carrà.... I saw it on TV when I was a little child. I still remember I was in the kitchen with my grandma. It was my first visual hallucination.

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

Scorpio Rising by Kenneth Anger (1963).

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

Depending on the moment, my inspirations change. Currently they're Karel Zeman, Mario Bava, Georges Méliès, Alfred Hitchcock and Federico Fellini.

What are you listening to at the moment?

I love Os Mutantes, Krautrock, Faust and the compulsive guitars from Trans Am.

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

The Stylophone GEN X-1 is the latest portable analogue synthesizer which you can hold in one hand.

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

Captain Beefheart, he's been my idol since I was a child.

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

Music videos are always changing thanks to advances in technology and animation software. Radical changes are always linked to the rhythm in which you tell the story inside the video clip. Compared to before, there is more experimentation at the level of syntax.

What's missing in general is the director's personal style. Nowadays music videos are similar because directors use similar aesthetic languages and cinematic styles.