The 25-year-old singer-songwriter Allison Ponthier has released the accompanying video for her debut single, “Cowboy,”today via Interscope Records. Directed by the visionary Jordan Bahat (responsible for Christine and the Queens’ “Girlfriend,”) “Cowboy” is a bold, statement-making video that perfectly pairs with the new artist’s visually evocative lyricism. Both a touching homage to her Texas background and a bold coming out statement, “Cowboy” finds the Brooklynite telling her story the way only she can.
“Cowboy” is, in every sense, the B-movie homage of your wildest dreams. Jordan Bahat, who is represented by Golden, has an effortlessly adaptable style and can seamlessly move across genres. Here, he and Allison playfully acknowledge the artifice of their approach, crafting a film that is equal parts aesthetically high camp and emotionally warm.
With film references including The Day the Earth Stood Still and David Byrne’s True Stories, it’s no surprise Allison is a serious cinephile. “I probably watch movies more than I listen to music,” Allison says of the video. “That’s why all my songs are stories.”
Mixing iconography from westerns with campy horror and sci-fi references, Bahat vignettes Allison within these fantastical other-worlds. The singer pays tribute to her Bible Belt roots and fascination with eccentrics like Elvira and Vincent Price in both her red-carpet ready styling and winking visual references (including a horse in a skeleton onesie and a dancing carton of smokes.)
Throughout the video, the emphasis stays on Allison’s performance as she rambles across handcrafted sets (beautifully designed by Liam Moore) reminiscent of One from the Heart. While much of the footage was achieved in-camera (lensed by cinematographer Mike Gioulakis), the team at Ingenuity incorporated VFX including the twinkling stars and UFOS which circle above Allison. The overall effect is purposefully staged and inorganic; it’s apparent Allison is “not quite at home” in either world. By the end of the song, Allison is completely transformed in full alien makeup, beaming upwards toward the spotlight of a UFO – perhaps finally in her right place.
“Allison is a serious student of cinema,” says Bahat. “She is already a very confident filmmaker who knows what she’s after and is just now getting the chance to put her ideas on film at scale. Working on this video alongside her was a purely creative experience.”
Sonic Branding For Social Media: Engage, Align, Connect
By Chad Cook -- With more than five billion people accessing social media daily, savvy brands understand the importance of cultivating a strong social identity. They devote massive resources toward brand awareness, audience targeting, content strategy and community engagement. Yet, while they know that social platforms are critical to boosting sales and attracting new customers, many neglect one of the most effective tools for connecting with consumers: sonic branding. Marketers often associate sonic branding with catchy mnemonics used by big brands like McDonald’s, Netflix and Intel in their advertising. But that is a very limited view of what sonic branding is and what it can do. Sonic branding is a way to build awareness and stimulate engagement across all touch points, from advertising to broadcast digital, in-person and social. And it’s not limited to members of the Fortune 500. Brands at all levels can benefit from a sonic identity that is memorable, engaging and reflective of its core values. Sound has been scientifically proven to be deeply tied to memory and emotion. There’s a reason that certain songs stick in your head and bring back memories formed years or even decades earlier. So, it’s surprising that sonic branding is often an afterthought in marketing plans. That is especially true in social media marketing. Faced with tight deadlines and strained budgets, creative teams are often tempted to select music for their content simply because it “fits.” Unfortunately, that may result in content that is in tune with what’s trending but is out of tune with brand identity. Effective sonic branding, by contrast, requires thoughtful strategic planning,... Read More