Dawn Shadforth

Dawn Shadforth is a British music video and documentary director, as well as an editor and artist. Shadforth has directed and edited promotional music videos for artists such as Björk, Samantha Mumba, Primal Scream, Goldfrapp, Tinie Tempah, Charli XCX, Metronomy, The Streets, All Seeing I, Peaches, Hurts, Florence and the Machine, Selena Gomez and Kylie Minogue. She has received numerous awards for her work in music video including; Best New Director at The 1998 CAD Awards, Best Director at the 2001 CAD Awards, Visionary Video at the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards for Garbage’s "Special", and the Icon Award at the 2010 UK Music Video Awards.

Early life

Shadforth at an early age was interested in art and music. She studied at Sheffield Hallam University, gaining a 1st Class Hons Degree in Fine Art. While at art school, she won the Whitworth Young Contemporaries Award for the installation piece "Sweet Dreams".

Career

In 1995, Shadforth directed The Friends Tale, a 10-minute documentary for Channel 4's controversial Battered Britain series. She then followed the documentary up with The Seven Year Glitch, a short film documenting the Warp Records 7 year anniversary Tour. The documentary was screened at onedotzero in London, United Kingdom and Sónar in Barcelona, Spain.

In 1996, Shadforth directed a music video for the track "Hush" by Kurtis Mantronik. The video was filmed in Brooklyn in New York City and Sheffield. It features cameos by Todd Terry, Róisín Murphy, Jason Buckle from the band Relaxed Muscle and DJ Winston Hazel amongst others. In 1997, Shadforth's music video for Sheffield band All Seeing I's single "Beat Goes On" won for Best Dance Video at the 1998 Muzik Video Awards and for Best New Director and Best Editing at the 1999 CAD Awards.

In 2001, Shadforth made her directing breakthrough with the Kylie Minogue video, "Can't Get You Out of My Head". The video features Minogue in a computer generated futuristic city, arriving in a space-age car, seductively and rhythmically shifting the gearstick as she drives, before eventually dancing in a clipped pulsating style in front of a group of male dancers all wearing bizarre red plastic headgear. The video is well known for its tight choreography as well as for featuring Minogue in a deceptively revealing white costume with a plunging neckline and wide open front. The video was quickly picked up by many music video channels and is credited with making the song a number one hit worldwide. The exposure from the video quickly made Shadforth a "must have" director, and the film has been widely mimicked and parodied.

She also directed the award-winning promo film for "The Importance of Being Idle", the acclaimed second single from 2005's comeback album by Oasis, Don't Believe the Truth. The film was a clever pastiche of 1960s black and white kitchen sink drama films, featuring a parade of high-kicking undertakers, led by the Welsh actor Rhys Ifans. (The name of the undertaking firm featured in the video is 'Shadforth and Sons'). The band themselves praised the video, and it was said by critics at the time to be the best video Oasis had ever made. It went on to win the award for Best Video of 2005 at the NME Awards in early 2006, and the song itself went to Number 1.

In 2016, "Lights" by Hurts and "Old Skool" by Metronomy, both directed by Dawn, were nominated for 6 awards collectively at the UKMVA's. "Lights" by Hurts also won Dawn a special achievement award at the 2015 1:4 Awards.[1][2][3]

Selected director videography
Title Year Artist Notes
"Fun for Me" 1995 Moloko
"Something's Wrong" 1996 Melting Pot
"Hush" 1996 Kurtis Mantronik
"Outta Space" 1997 Jimi Tenor
"She Found You" 1997 Samiam UK version
"Panic" 1998 Goon [4]
"You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" 1998 Byron Stingily
"Rewind (Find a Way)" 1998 Beverley Knight
"Special" 1998 Garbage MTV Video Music Award
"Beat Goes On" 1998 All Seeing I
"Walk like a Panther" 1998 All Seeing I feat. Tony Christie
"King for a Day" 1999 Jamiroquai
"What'cha Gonna Do" 1999 Eternal
"Sing It Back" 1999 Moloko
"Red Alert" 1999 Basement Jaxx
"Spinning Around" 2000 Kylie Minogue
"Bag It Up" 2000 Geri Halliwell
"Sincere" 2000 M. J. Cole
"Body II Body" 2000 Samantha Mumba
"You Give Me Something" 2001 Jamiroquai
"Can't Get You Out of My Head" 2001 Kylie Minogue
"Baddest Ruffest" 2001 Backyard Dog
"Living in a Magazine" 2001 Zoot Woman
"Miss Lucifer" 2002 Primal Scream
"In Your Eyes" 2002 Kylie Minogue
"Freak like Me" 2002 Sugababes
"Weak Become Heroes" 2002 The Streets
"It Won't Be Long" 2002 Super Collider
"Some Velvet Morning" 2003 Primal Scream and Kate Moss
"Grey Day" 2003 Zoot Woman
"Train" 2003 Goldfrapp
"Wimmin'" 2003 Ashley Hamilton [5]
"Kick It" 2004 Peaches and Iggy Pop
"French Kisses" 2004 Jentina
"Chocolate" 2004 Kylie Minogue
"Who Is It" 2004 Björk
"Dumb" 2004 The 411
"Avalon" 2005 Juliet
"Number 1" 2005 Goldfrapp
"The Importance of Being Idle" 2005 Oasis
"Ooh La La" 2005 Goldfrapp
"Jetstream" 2005 New Order
"Mama (Loves a Crackhead)" 2006 Plan B
"Prangin' Out" 2006 The Streets
"2 Hearts" 2007 Kylie Minogue
"Drumming Song" 2009 Florence and the Machine
"Wonderful Life" 2010 Hurts
"Shake It Out" 2011 Florence and the Machine
"My Kind of Love" 2012 Emeli Sandé
"You're the One" 2012 Charli XCX
"Infinity" 2013 Infinity Ink
"No Strings" 2013 Chlöe Howl Casting version
"Trampoline" 2013 Tinie Tempah featuring 2 Chainz
"Your Love" 2014 Nicole Scherzinger
"Into the Blue" 2014 Kylie Minogue
"The Heart Wants What It Wants" 2014 Selena Gomez
"Lights" 2015 Hurts
"Wings" 2015 Hurts
"Old Skool" 2016 Metronomy
"The Strangle of Anna" 2017 The Moonlandingz feat. Rebecca Taylor

References
  1. "Dawn Shadforth". AP Watt. December 13, 2005.
  2. "On Track". Creation Magazine. December 13, 2005.
  3. "Dawn Shadforth Director Videography". December 13, 2005.
  4. "Goon - Panic (1998)". BFI. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  5. "Ashley Hamilton - Wimmin' (CD) at Discogs". Retrieved 20 May 2018.
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