Best Direction
Coldplay f/Rihanna
“Princess of China”
Directed by Adria Petty and Alan Bibby
Duck Sauce
“Big Bad Wolf”
Directed by Keith Schofield
Frank Ocean
“Swim Good”
Directed by Nabil Elderkin
M.I.A.
“Bad Girls”
Directed by Romain Gavras
Watch the Throne
“Otis”
Directed by Spike Jonze
Our pick
It’s not just the names of Kanye West and Jay-Z that give this one to Watch The Throne. Nor is it the fact that they commissioned Spike Jonze to direct their video. Those things help. But the popularity of the project and the actual direction of the video makes us think this will come out on top. For the record, Frank Ocean’s video also makes the list.
Best Editing
A$AP Rocky
“Goldie”
Editing by Samantha Lecca
Beyonce
“Countdown”
Editing by Alexander Hammer & Jeremiah Shuff
Gotye f/Kimbra
“Somebody That I Used to Know”
Editing by Natasha Pincus
Kanye West f/ Big Sean, Pusha T, and 2 Chainz
“Mercy”
Editing by Eric Greenburg
Watch the Throne
“Paris”
Editing by Alex Hammer, Peter Johnson & Derek Lee
Our pick
Gotye may not be the best video nominated, but the editing is pretty dang good. It is a time-lapsed video of a painting and a man being painted. It is done in Celebrity Death Match-style, one frame at a time. We’re sure it makes sense somewhere deep down, but if nothing else, it’s a fun video to watch. And if the editor hadn’t had the patience, it likely wouldn’t have worked the way it does.
Best Visual Effects
David Guetta f/Nicki Minaj
“Turn Me On”
Visual Effects by Alex Frisch, Joe Harkins, Scott Metzger and Vico Sharabani
Katy Perry
“Wide Awake”
Visual Effects by Ingenuity Engine
Linkin Park
“Burn It Down”
Visual Effects by Ghost Town
Rihanna
“Where Have You Been”
Visual Effects by Baked FX
Skrillex
“First of the Year (Equinox)”
Visual Effects by Deka Bros & Tony T. Datis
Our pick
This one is a toss-up. David Guetta & Nicki Minaj have the most straightforward cool visual effects, and it likely will win. But there is something about Skrillex’s video that makes us want to see more. It is a great straightforward film-like video, and it deserves to win this category.
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