YEAR TWO WINNERS

MARCH 23, 2014  

EMILY KAI BOCK Director of Afterlife by Arcade Fire wins Best Canadian Music Video at PRISM PRIZE AWARD RECEPTION

[tubepress mode="vimeoAlbum" vimeoKey="4ee2f57eb71b03c60d2a6a6ac3cfa2e219d0fcfd" vimeoSecret="e92f697c7cd2d58ac64eb9f9545055d2fb1702f0" vimeoAlbumValue="2790220" theme="vimeo" playerLocation="shadowbox" hqThumbs="true" resultCountCap="15" thumbWidth="350" thumbHeight="197" randomize_thumbnails="false"]

On Sunday, March 23, director Emily Kai Bock was announced as the winner of the 2014 Prism Prize for Arcade Fire's Afterlife music video at the Prism Prize Award Reception at The Everleigh in Toronto, Ontario. Emily Kai Bock, who was also nominated for Majical Cloudz's Childhood's End this year, was on hand to accept the $5,000.

"Emily made some truly remarkable videos last year," said Prism Prize Founder and Director Louis Calabro, "it says something that two of Emily's pieces were on the Top Ten Shortlist. Ultimately, I think our jurors chose Afterlife because it's thoughtful and well-paced, and because - frankly - it looks beautiful."

The Prism Prize Audience Choice Award was presented to director Kheaven Lewandowski for The Belle Game's River, based on thousands of online votes collected in collaboration with Exclaim! Magazine.

"I expect really big things from Kheaven in the future." said Louis Calabro, "The Belle Game's song is so resonant on its own, but Kheaven found a way to dress it up and connect sound with image in this stylish, and cleverly arranged short narrative. And clearly the fans agree; this video got about 30% of the votes!"

Also honoured during the Prism Prize Award Reception were Writer/Director Scott Cudmore and Producer/Cinematographer Michael Leblanc, who were in attendance to accept the inaugural Arthur Lipsett Award, established to recognize an innovative and unique approach to music video art. The inaugural Prism Prize Special Achievement Award, presented to a Canadian music video artist for their artistic achievements and exceptional contribution to music video art on a world stage, was awarded to Floria Sigismondi, who provided a taped acceptance speech as she was unable to attend in person.

Plans for the third annual Prism Prize will be announced later this year. For a complete round-up of year two, click here.

EMILY KAI BOCK réalisatrice du clip Afterlife d’Arcade Fire gagne le Prisme du meilleur vidéoclip canadien lors de la remise des Prix PRISME

La réalisatrice Emily Kai Bock a été désignée gagnante du Prix Prisme 2014 pour son vidéoclip d’Afterlife, du groupe Arcade Fire, lors de la soirée de remise des Prix Prisme, au Club Everleigh de Toronto, dimanche dernier, 23 mars. Emily Kai Bock, qui était également en nomination pour le vidéoclip de Childhood’s End, de Majical Cloudz, était présente pour recevoir le prix de 5000 $.

« Emily a réalisé des vidéoclips vraiment remarquables l’an dernier, » a rappelé Louis Calabro, fondateur et directeur des Prix Prisme. « Ce n’est pas anodin que deux de ses réalisations figurent parmi les dix finalistes. Finalement, je crois que les jurés ont choisi Afterlife pour son message, son rythme soutenu et parce que, franchement, c’est un beau vidéoclip. » Le Prix du Public a été remis au réalisateur Kheaven Lewandowski pour River, de The Belle Game, après le décompte de milliers de votes en ligne recueillis en collaboration avec le magazine Exclaim!

« Je crois que l’avenir réserve de très grandes choses pour Kheaven, » a déclaré Louis Calabro. « Même si la chanson de The Belle Game a une grande résonance, Kheaven a trouvé le moyen de l’enjoliver et de l’interpréter en images avec style et brio par ce court récit. Manifestement, les fans pensent la même chose puisque cette vidéo a obtenu environ 30 % des votes! »

La Soirée de remise des Prix Prisme a aussi permis de saluer le travail de l’auteur-réalisateur Scott Cudmore et du producteur-cinéaste Michael Leblanc, qui étaient présents pour recevoir le tout premier prix Arthur Lipsett, qui souligne l’approche novatrice et unique d’un créateur canadien à l’art du vidéoclip. Remis pour la première fois, le Prisme Hommage, qui récompense un créateur canadien de vidéoclip pour ses réalisations artistiques et sa contribution exceptionnelle à l’art du vidéoclip sur la scène mondiale, est allé à Floria Sigismondi, qui avait enregistré ses remerciements sur vidéo à défaut de pouvoir assister à la soirée.

Les projets entourant la troisième édition des Prix Prisme seront annoncés plus tard cette année. Les nouvelles et les créations provenant de la communauté canadienne du vidéoclip sont accessibles en tout temps au www.prismprize.com.

Two New Awards!

FEBRUARY 5TH 2014  

The jury have started to send us their votes and we are gearing up for the shortlist announcement on February 18th. Before we get to that though, we are very proud to announce that this year we'll be introducing two new award categories.

The new awards include the Prism Prize Special Achievement Award, presented to a Canadian music video artist for their artistic achievements and exceptional contribution to music video art on a world stage; and the Arthur Lipsett Award, presented to a Canadian music video artist for their innovative and unique approach to music video art. Arthur Lipsett was a Canadian filmmaker best known for his sound collage films made for the National Film Board of Canada in the 1960s. Lipsett's unique approach to editing sound and image earned much attention, as well as an Oscar Nomination in 1962 for the film Very Nice, Very Nice, which we encourage you to watch below.

[tubepress video="mY7B2-Wqj6g"]

Read the full press release here, in English or en Francais.

Year Two! Sept 18, 2014

SEPT 18, 2014  

Get ready for year two! Préparez-vous à la deuxième édition du prix Prisme!

[tubepress video="Ow7Hv0l6AdY"]

Winner Announcement March 24, 2013

MARCH 24, 2013  

The Prism Prize is pleased to announce that Halifax’s Rich Aucoin and director Noah Pink are the big winners of the award’s inaugural year. At a reception held at the Soho House in downtown Toronto, the pair were awarded $5,000 for their collaboration on the video for ‘Brian Wilson is A.L.i.V.E.’

In October 2012, a jury of over 90 journalists, filmmakers, bloggers, critics, programmers, broadcasters, and radio and television professionals were recruited to particpate in two rounds of voting. Charged with the task of selecting the best video of the 2012 calendar year, members of the jury were asked to make choices based on the following criteria: Originality, Creativity, Style, Innovation and Effective Execution.

“It was an extremely close race,” said Prism founder Louis Calabro, “But in the end, Pink and Aucoin‘s video landed the most votes. The video has a simple and smart concept and the tone is fun and frantic and that clearly resonated with our jury.”

Also honoured this evening were Montreal’s Arcade Fire & director Vincent Morisset for their stunning, interactive clip for Sprawl II, garnering the first Prism Prize Audience Award. The secondary trophy was awarded based on public-polling results collected as part of contests run in collaboration with The Grid and Exclaim.

“I’d like to congratulate all of our short-list nominees and give kudos to all the great directors and musicians making art in our country. There were some very exceptional videos made in 2012 and I can’t wait to see what’s next,” said Calabro, “I’ve already seen some amazing work come out in 2013 and I can’t wait to do this all again next year”.

Plans for year two are forthcoming. In the meantime, prismprize.com will remain active throughout 2013 with new video posts and the latest from Canada’s music video community.

Les organisateurs du prix Prisme sont heureux d’annoncer le nom des grands gagnants du tout premier prix Prisme : il s’agit de Rich Aucoin et du réalisateur Noah Pink, d’Halifax! C’est lors d’une cérémonie qui se déroulera ce soir au Soho House, situé au centre-ville de Toronto, que les deux artistes se verront remettre la somme de 5000 $ pour leur collaboration au vidéoclip Brian Wilson is A.L.i.V.E.

En octobre 2012, un jury composé de plus de 90 journalistes, cinéastes, blogueurs, critiques, programmateurs, diffuseurs et professionnels de la radio et de la télévision a été formé pour participer à un vote en deux étapes. Ayant pour tâche de sélectionner le meilleur vidéoclip de l’année 2012, les membres du jury ont orienté leur choix en fonction des critères suivants : l’originalité, la créativité, le style, l’aspect novateur et l’efficacité du rendu.

« Le scrutin a été extrême serré », révèle Louis Calabro, fondateur du prix Prisme. « Et au final, c’est le vidéoclip de Pink et Aucoin qui a recueilli le plus de votes. Leur concept est simple et intelligent, et puis le ton à la fois amusant et insolite de l’œuvre a manifestement plu à notre jury. »

Le groupe Arcade Fire de Montréal et le réalisateur Vincent Morisset seront également à l’honneur ce soir. Leur étonnant vidéoclip interactif Sprawl II recevra le prix du public. Cette deuxième distinction est décernée d’après les résultats d’un sondage mené auprès du public dans le cadre de concours organisés par le prix Prisme en collaboration avec les magazines The Grid et Exclaim.

« Je tiens à féliciter chaleureusement tous nos finalistes et dire bravo à tous les formidables réalisateurs et musiciens qui créent des œuvres artistiques dans notre pays. Des vidéoclips exceptionnels ont été réalisés en 2012 et j’ai très hâte de voir ce que nous réserve l’année 2013 », poursuit Louis Calabro. « J’ai déjà visionné des œuvres captivantes cette année et je suis ravi de recommencer tout le processus en vue du prochain prix Prisme. »

Les détails concernant le deuxième prix Prisme seront dévoilés prochainement. En attendant, rendez-vous sur le site prismprize.com où de nouveaux vidéoclips, y compris les plus récentes productions issues de la scène musicale canadienne, seront mis en ligne tout au long de l’année 2013.

Top Ten Feb 14, 2013

FEB 14, 2013  

We are extremely excited to finally announce the Top Ten best videos of 2012, as nominated by our amazing jury. Head over to our Top Ten player to watch them all now. The jury are now tasked with picking their favourites from this short-list. The votes will then be tabulated one last time and the big winner will be announced on March 24th. We want to know who you think they'll choose, so visit our contest pages at The Grid and Exclaim to tell us and to be entered to win a prize package including music from the nominated artists and loot from our generous sponsors.

Nous sommes absolument ravis d’annoncer enfin les dix finalistes de 2012 dont les vidéoclips ont été sélectionnés par notre formidable jury. Cliquez sur l’onglet « Les dixfinalistes » pour visionner les œuvres dès maintenant. Il reste aux membres du jury la tâche ardue de déterminer leur vidéoclip préféré dans cette liste restreinte. Les votes seront dépouillés une dernière fois et le nom du lauréat sera dévoilé le 24 mars. Nous aimerions savoir qui, d’après vous, sera l’heureux gagnant. Alors, rendez-vous sur les pages du concours des magazines The Grid et Exclaim pour nous en faire part et pour courir la chance de gagner une trousse de prix comprenant la musique des artistes finalistes et des surprises de la part de nos généreux commanditaires.

JONATHAN BUNCE Images Festival, Wavelength

JONATHAN BUNCE Who are you? I’m Jonathan Bunce, but my friends call me Jonny Dovercourt.

What do you do? Career Highlights? I’m an arts presenter, writer and musician. Started out as a musician, played in lots of bands, from A Tuesday Weld to Republic of Safety, currently one half of Hybrid Moments. Then worked as a writer & editor at Eye Weekly long before it became The Grid. Started the Wavelength music series and zine in ‘99/2000, later worked for The Music Gallery as publicist, eventually becoming artistic director and main concert programmer (2006-11). Currently on staff at the Images Festival, writing for MusicWorks Magazine and acting as Founding Director of Wavelength as we enter our 14th year of programming, presenting two annual festivals and launching our new Artist Incubator program!

What makes a good video? What stood out about your picks? I think a good video has one solid concept, that conveys either a key idea or emotion related to the song. Most music videos are a random rotation of 3 or 4 shots that could really accompany any audio, and are pretty forgettable as much. Both of Kid Koala’s videos are based around using a single static shot to capture a frenzied, imaginative display of hands-on creativity. That beats high-budget effects, costumes or sets any day. A good video also makes smart use of humour - that’s the case with Koala as well as both Doldrums and Grimes. I laughed out loud when the “Catmobile” showed up to rescue Airick in “She is the Wave”, and did the same pretty much throughout the entirety of “Oblivion.” Evening Hymns’ video contains just plain beautiful, imaginative imagery, while the TeenAnger video is just plain badass.

RAE ANN FERA TIFF Packaged Goods

RAE ANN FERA Who are you? Rae Ann Fera, Curator of TIFF Packaged Goods; writer, Fast Company Co.Create.

What do you do? Career highlights? I am a journalist and content curator. I’ve been covering the craft of short form filmmaking for 12 years, first as editor of Boards Magazine, an international trade publication focused on commercial and music video production, and currently as a writer with Co.Create. I also curate TIFF’s bimonthly screening series Packaged Goods, which highlights excellence in music videos, ads and short films.

What makes a good video? What stood out about your picks? Technique at the service of story. Story doesn’t necessarily have to be a robust narrative - it can set a scene or create a mood - but I want to see piece that tells me about the band/artist, elevates the song and shows some serious filmmaking skills in whatever the chosen style. Too often music videos are flimsy one-trick technique ponies. I want the craft of a video to excite but not overwhelm or distract.

LIISA LADOUCEUR Freelance Journalist

LIISA LADOUCEUR Who are you? My name is Liisa Ladouceur. I live in Toronto where I write about music and unpopular culture and help make documentaries for film and TV.

What do you do? Career highlights? I’m proud to say I’ve been in this writing racket for more than 10 years and have had too many highlights to count, working for everyone from Eye Weekly/The Grid to CBC Radio to The Toronto Sun to MuchMoreMusic. My first book, Encyclopedia Gothica, came out in 2011 and that was about as good as it gets. Anytime I get to interview artists who know why they do what they do and want to talk openly about it is a dream job, but I guess memorable moments include making the City Sonic series of short films on Toronto music history, having Bjork write me a poem from those little magnetic words and having Bret Michaels from Poison serve me soy milk shakes on his tour bus but asking me not to reveal his bar is stocked with healthy drinks and not booze. (Oops.) I also proudly served for many years on the Polaris Music Prize board of directors where I reinforced my belief that art is not a contest but rewarding artists for good work is good work indeed.

What makes a good video? What stood out about your picks? My picks for the Prism video prize were clips that had strong story and an element of surprise. I also feel it’s important to incorporate the artist, and to reflect and reveal something of their personality. There will always be beautiful abstract video art out there, but when I think about the best music videos ever made, 99 per cent of the time the artist is prominent. (That %1 is for “Da Funk.”) Basically, I want to be compelled to watch all the way through. Those that did that, got my vote.

IAN HARNARINE Filmmaker

IAN HARNARINE Who are you? Ian Harnarine

What do you do? Career Highlights? Filmmaker/Sound Mixer/Teacher. Winner of the Best Canadian Short Film at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival for Doubles With Slight Pepper Winner of the Genie Award for Best Live Action Short Film 2012 One of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film 2012

What makes a good video? What stood out about your picks? I’m interested in how visuals can either confirm or contrast the music. Watching how a director deals with that fascinates me.

TOM SHERMAN Artist

TOM SHERMAN Who are you? Tom Sherman

What do you do? Career Highlights? I’m an artist and writer. I work mostly in video but also in performance and radio. I’ve shown a lot over the years, including solo shows at the National Gallery of Canada, Musee d’art contemporain and Vancouver Art Gallery. I’ve represented Canada at the Venice Biennale and been honoured with the Bell Canada award for video art and a Governor General’s award for visual and media arts. In the early 1980s I founded the Media Arts section of the Canada Council. I’m currently a professor of video art at Syracuse University in New York.

My interest in music video goes back to the mid-1970s when I was making music videos for TVOntario. I made a couple of hundred music videos for Nightmusic, a talk show hosted by Reiner Schwartz. We used these music videos as segues from guest to guest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAkzSsD9usQ Later I worked with musicians like Jean Piche and Bernhard Loibner and coined the term VidSonics to describe video music works where the video generated the music rather than the more conventional visualization of music. I teach a course today called VidSonics at Syracuse University to involve students in the critical analysis of sound/moving image aesthetics using the Web as source material.

What makes a good video? What stood out about your picks? I loved the opportunity to catch up on what’s going on in the Canadian music video scene by being on the Prism Prize jury. A good music video still depends on a great piece of music but the video component has to be inventive. The video has to move with the music but it should also push the music into a space it can’t reach on its own. A music video has to have magic transitions that give the viewer/listener repeated pleasure through a certain level of poetic expression. A great music video has to hold up and increase in power through multiple plays. It is not enough to impress people once—it should stand up well in heavy rotation, just like a great piece of music. That’s the challenge, to not kill or wrap up the meaning of a song with the explicit literalness of what video can deliver. The music video form is very challenging. When a director hits a video chord in resonance with a great piece of music, there is little in contemporary culture that can compare with the powerful pleasure of a beautiful music video.