Sophie MullerA Music Video Director

A Short Biography Sarah Muller was born in London on the 31st of January 1962 ,but she spent her

childhood growing up In the Isle of Man.

She went to Central St Martin's school in London studying a Foundation Diploma in Art

She then went to the Royal Art College to study her masters in Film and Television where she made "Interlude" and "In Excelsis Deo (In Adoration of God)." The latter won the J Walter Thompson Prize for creativity.

Her trademark style in most of her videos usually has a singer or a band inside a dim, isolated room.

She has been present since the 80’s right until today making her unique music videos

She is most recently known for her work with Katy B, Lana Del Ray and Alicia Keys

SOPHIE’S EXTENSIVE BODY OF WORK INCLUDES MUSIC VIDEOS FOR RADIOHEAD, GWEN STEFANI & NO DOUBT, BEYONCE, PJ HARVEY, GARBAGE, BJORK, JEFF BUCKLEY, WEEZER, COLDPLAY, P!NK, LORETTA LYNN, THE CURE, NELLY FURTADO, MAROON 5, THE STROKES, AND THE KILLERS TO NAME JUST A FEW

Examples of Mullers work

1) Katy B - Still http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xdyav8r3mA

The whole entire look of this video is very simplistic, it’s mostly performance based with Katy singing into the camera.

The location is also very simplistic, she is seen in a white tall room, then at a table with also very light white colours surrounding her, she is also seen singing in front of some dark, misty winter trees.

The whole entire look makes us think of a dream, the bright white makes the location look almost heavenly. The use of very slow fading transitions between clips also adds to this dream like idea how everything is slow moving and elegant, it also somewhat links to the title of the song, a lot of the time everything is very still and when there is movement it’s very slow and eerie.

As well as the slow fading transitions there’s also lots of dream like effects layered into the shots, the only way I can describe these effects as are ‘rainbow orbs’ which are floating around her, this again also linking to that heavenly dream theme that I think Muller has tried to enforce throughout the video.

There are also many slow zooming and panning shots, again linking back to the dream effect with the slow elegant movements.

Muller said “what I really liked was the colour of her hair. Orange against black. When we first heard this track I said ‘I see this with her on a kind of icy lake wearing white, and the only colour in the whole landscape is her orange hair’. But of course that couldn’t work because we couldn’t find the frozen lakes. So it was reduced down to this idea, so we had to find a white location in order to do a similar feel.”

2) Birdy – Words as weapons Another recent video but, slightly different from Katy B’s Still video

Muller has pictured Birdy as a ghost throughout the entire video, Muller said “From very early on I’ve

thought she should be a ghost – for a few reasons. I’ve always said that Birdy has this really otherworldly

quality, like she doesn’t feel like someone of this world. I think this is the sixth video we’ve made together,

and I’m always pushing her, telling her: ‘Don’t be real, don’t be normal, everyone does that. Don’t try to be

like everyone else. That’s what’s special about you’.

Muller uses light again in this video however she focuses on the dark aspects of the light everything is

very dark and dull, however in the ‘real world’ with the alive people there is still an aspects of brightness

like in the Katy B vide, everything is still very dull and drawn out but it’s still brighter and lighter in their

world compared to Birdy’s dark, dead world where she is a ghost.

The video is very focused around the colour black and dull colours as said previously, we really get the

idea as the audience that Birdy is a ghost, with her long black dress. Again, the alive characters are still in

very dull colours but they are still somewhat brighter and lighter, which leads back to the idea of how she

is dead and in a dark place.

Like katy’s video it’s very performance based featuring Birdy singing a lot into the camera, Muller is

selling Birdy as an artist here.

Muller uses the same long, slow fading transitions to and from each shot like in Katy’s video. However,

instead of it being a white faded out transition, it’s a black or grey faded out transition, again linking to that

dark, death, ghost concept .

Though the video is very eerie with is long faded out transitions and dull colours to signify how Birdy is a

ghost and she’s somewhat just ‘floating’ we also get an upbeat side where we see her being quickly

dropped into the real world and close up, shots of her face quickly jump cutting and moving position. Also

the camera is being spun around near the end, it has an unsteady look, perhaps being hand held by

someone, it is directed at the male character which makes it look as though he’s being chased. This

upbeat side of the video could link to the idea that though she is a ghost and she is just ‘floating’ she also

still has an alive side, where she wants to reach out to everyone who she used to be around and tell them

that she is still there, watching.

Style From looking at a few of Mullers video’s I can see that she does have a

style. I noticed that she likes to focus on the idea of light. Katy B’s Still video was all focused around the bright white lighting making her appear almost angelic, then looking at Birdy’s video it’s very focused around that dark dull lighting to portray birdy as this dead ghost. So we could say that Muller has the style of using light to portray that artist as a particular character e.g Birdy is portrayed as a ghost through dark lighting.

I also noticed that Muller has the tendency to use very slow transitions which fade between shots to create a elegant, ‘drifting’ look.

Muller as likes her videos to be very performance based. In both videos of Katy B and Birdy we saw many close up shots of them both singing into the camera, so Muller is promoting the artist and then in turn promoting her work.

Muller also has the ability to help empathise the artists personality, emotion and style through her creative choices.

Other work As well as short music videos Muller has also directed long form music

videos for ; Sarah Maclachlan, No Doubt, Sinead O’Connor and Sade.

SOPHIE CONTINUES TO GARNER ACCOLADES FOR HER WORK AS A DIRECTOR WITH ANOTHER NOMINATION FOR BEST DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR AT THIS YEAR’S MVPA AWARDS, ALONG WITH THREE OTHER VIDEOS UP FOR TOP HONORS.

Muller’s work has also expanded into the commercial world as well, working on TV campaigns and with national clients such as L’oreal, Venus, Reebok, MTV, Jergens, Rock The Vote and others

She has also done still photography projects with the advertising and high fashion industries.

And recently, she has stepped outside the box and is serving as a creative director for Sade’s international 2011 tour.

My Opinion I personally am a fan of Muller’s work after looking

into some of her music videos. I like her she uses lighting to portray a particular idea and concept. I also like how she works in the artists style and combines their image into her music video, for example Birdy is quite different and unique so she took her style came up with an idea that worked. I’m also a big fan of her use of transitions and effects, she makes the videos look ‘free and refreshing’ Katy B’s video is an example of this.