How social is shaping the future of music videos
Having recently signed to production company Caviar, content creator, choreographer and director David Vu shares his thoughts on what makes a music video resonate today
While music videos have gone through a tumultuous transition since MTV’s heyday, the rise of social platforms such as TikTok has seen a fresh wave of creative talent reinvigorate the format in recent years. David Vu is a prime example of this new breed of multi-hyphenate creative, having built a cult following on social and amassed over 25 million likes on his catchy, highly stylised dance videos. “I wear many hats, and it’s because growing up and being a self-taught creative I was trying to figure out what box I fit into and constantly asking myself, who am I?” he says.
Originally from Norway, Vu’s early passion for dance – which he discovered aged 14 after a stint as the captain of his school football team – is the cornerstone of his directorial style today. “I worked my ass off and danced fearlessly, which eventually landed me my first job as a dance instructor when I was 16. It was then I found something even more powerful than performing – creating. Choreographing a piece to match a musical taste and energy became an obsession,” he explains.
While he was a huge admirer of Hollywood directors like Christopher Nolan growing up (“I remember watching Inception and was totally blown away”), when it came to shaping his own practice his key inspiration came from a more surprising source: Zac Efron in High School Musical. “It’s a musical about a teenage boy, a basketball player seemingly blending two of his different worlds – sports and music – which felt so familiar to my own journey. You could say that Troy Bolton was the original flashy, I wanted to be him.”
@davidvooo
Vu spent much of his teenage years experimenting with choreography and teaching himself how to shoot and edit content for YouTube and Instagram, while never quite feeling like his vision fitted with the algorithm’s preferences. But the arrival of TikTok in 2017 changed everything. “After all these years trying to make my dance videos more visually pleasing, I had to now change from a DSLR camera and all of the post-production to a small phone, filming vertically in a one shot, and somehow make it work,” he says.
From posting dance videos daily on TikTok, Vu quickly began to gain traction on the platform and, to his surprise, his first attempt at an original piece of choreography went viral, featuring him and his friends dancing to Pop Smoke track AP. Determined for it not to be a fluke, he began researching the kind of music that was making waves on the platform at the time, and his fiancé Yasmin Hero (who is also a creator and regularly features in Vu’s videos) pointed out that all the tracks on Doja Cat’s latest album were trending bar one, Get Into It (Yuh).
“It was Covid, so we were stuck in Norway and we felt adventurous,” he says. “So we went up to the north of Norway and on the road trip on the way there [Yasmin] put the song on the aux. Immediately, I started to create some dance moves in my head, we found this lake and shot the video there.”
The Get Into It choreography ended up becoming one of TikTok’s biggest dance trends of 2021 and is still one of Vu’s most viral hits to date. Since then, his dance to Central Cee and Dave’s song Sprinter has also been viewed millions of times on the platform and the rapper even copied part of the choreography, while his dance to DJ Enzo’s edit of Sade’s Smooth Operator has racked up over three million views.
@davidvooo Smooth operatahh (Dc: me????️♂️)
Despite this early success on TikTok, it gradually dawned on Vu that he was only using the platform to show the dance side of his creative practice and the other half – his director side – remained hidden. Wanting to flex his filmmaking muscles, he and his friends made a spec video for Little Simz track Gorilla that tapped into the energy of what he was already doing on social but in a high-production form. In doing so, he attracted the attention of not only Little Simz herself who reposted the video, but also brands like Lacoste and production company Caviar.
Since being officially signed by Caviar earlier this year, the director’s practice has gone from strength to strength. He recently shot his first official promo for electronic duo Camelphat, and also has big ambitions for the future, whether that’s collaborating with artists like Childish Gambino and Tyler, The Creator or shooting his first feature film. Vu’s success is arguably a sign of what’s to come as well. With an artist’s social presence now a fundamental part of how they interact with fans, the role of a music video director has shifted dramatically from its original form.
“We no longer have to just think about the cinematic masterpiece. When I’m directing a music video I have to think how I can break it down to bite-sized content or key moments that I know have the potential to go viral,” says Vu. “Another important thing about this shift is the fan interactivity, because the fans are no longer just passive viewers. In many ways, they become your co-director. After you have released your music or dance video, it’s no longer yours.”
While purists may baulk at the idea of thinking about their craft in a social-first way, Vu sees huge positives in being a director now, particularly when it comes to ease of collaboration. “I actually have opportunities coming to me where the artist or the brand has DMed after watching one of my videos,” he says. “This process becomes a lot more organic and fun, there’s no third party corporate involved in the decision making and you get to explore what it’s like when two creatives are just jamming together.”
Sharing his advice to the next generation of talent making their way into the industry now, Vu adds: “I would say to all the aspiring creators out there to really embrace your background. Don’t shy away from what makes you different. Instead, lean into it, make it your superpower. Mix your disciplines, break boundaries and challenge the norm of what a music video and a short film can be. That, at least, is what I’m going to keep on doing.”
David Vu was speaking at Ciclope Festival 2024; @davidvooo
