Y Crazy Mind

Versatility is a strength no matter what your profession. Chief Lighting Technician Junbai Zhou has found that her skills have allowed her to vacillate between feature films like If She Screams, television series (Amazon Prime’s Breakfast with Granny), and photo shoots for iconic publications like Harper’s Bazaar, but she professes a great affinity for music videos and the versatility this canvas offers. Describing what she finds so appealing about this medium, Junbai relates, “Sometimes it can be really hard to find people have the same passion as I do; to want to break the limits and bring new possibilities with lighting to these productions. I enjoy working on films and TV but one of the best parts of being involved in the music video production community is that I get the opportunity to work with different directors from different countries from day to day. It’s a very interesting journey and a priceless experience.”                 ...

Nowadays, every single thing we see on the big and small screens, from epic blockbusters to national commercials, involves the use of CGI to better convey their messages. Whether that is creating all new worlds or giving humans superpowers, to simply removing an unwanted coffee cup from a finished shot, CGI has become one of the most vital aspects of film production. Taiwan’s Cheng Wei Liao knows this better than most, as he is one of his country’s leading CGI Artists. “I used to create and draw comics for my peers and myself. Back then, I could only build up my imagination using just a pen and paper, but now there is so much more available to us. I found out that I have the ability to visualize the imagination of the clients on screen with my CG knowledge and skills,” said Liao. Throughout his career, Liao has worked on countless acclaimed productions that show worldwide audiences just what he is capable of. The Daytona 500 Superbowl commercial won the Outstanding Prom...

Black Eyed Peas founding member will.i.am knows more than a little about crossing artistic boundaries. As a musician, actor, and composer, he has Grammy awards, Daytime Emmy Awards, and numerous accolades to vet this. His success is indebted to his willingness to experiment and utilize eclectic influences. The music video is still a profound means for artists like will.i.am to express themselves and he embraces it as such. Cinematographer Tigran Mutafyan has collaborated with Will on some of these adventurous productions over the last couple of years. Whether an artist finds themselves on the stage in front of tens of thousands or capturing images to propel a music video, lighting is key. Mutafyan describes just how vital the lighting was for his work with will.i.am on the visual component of the creative statement being made on “Smile Mona Lisa” and “Constant.” The video for will.i.am’s “Smile Mona Lisa” takes modern visual artistry and melds it with the work of the classic p...

Having always been an avid reading, inspiration often struck Youjia Qian when she was flipping through the pages of a magazine. With each advertisement and image, she would wonder how it was put together, from the clothes the model was wearing to the color scheme in the photos. As a child, she felt a need to do the same, and has since become a celebrated art director and stylist. “I think the most interesting thing about being an art director is communicating with others to help them to express various ideas. I think each job seems to be an adventure with my vision,” she said. Qian has impressed audiences around the world. She has put her touch on viral music videos for popular artists like Roy Woods, DeathByRomy, and Gab3, and worked on commercial campaigns for world renowned companies such as Barneys New York. Her original artistic eye has made her in demand all over the world, from her home country of China and abroad. “I think my style of art direction should be yo...

The hit summer song; there’s always one which becomes the memory touchstone for generations. In our ever expanding visual environment, the images that accompany this song possess the same sensorial DNA. Sigma’s “Nobody to Love” was the universal hit of summer 2014 and the song’s official video became one of the most popular on YouTube with 264 million views. There’s always a team of talented professionals manifesting a production like this and leading this one was producer Sophie Brooks. While “Nobody to Love” was shot in Cape Town, UK native Brooks was enlisted and brought to South Africa to ensure that the shoot went perfectly. The overwhelmingly positive reception via YouTube and other online formats attests to this producer’s ability to enable her director and entire team to create this everlasting summer moment for hundreds of millions. Sophie always throws herself into her work and each project contains a bit of her…if you know how to spot it. “Nobody to Love” director C...