Paramount
Music Video

Director: Carlos Florez

RT: 5:00mins

During Intermissions

Website: http://www.carlosflorez.com

“Paramount is a powerful, but dreamy music video filled with talented artists. It’s layered and engaging to the eyes and ears. Complex images convey the invasive nature of technology and industry. It has exceptional visual depth. Hip hop music framed against a minimalist cityscape with smoke, factories and industries representing oppression and domination unable to defy the desire of freedom to arise. Shot entirely in green screen and composed with 2D and 3D in post-production. Paramount earned a Best of Show award in The Accolade, a top tier international awards competition. It is a standout production that deserves wide distribution.” Thomas Baker, Ph.D., Chairperson, The Accolade

Synopsis:

Paramount song starts showcasing the surreal world and the mafia boss (Nikko) playing the guitar. The city will be obscure and contaminated with a lot of smoke and factories. The first rapper kicks the chair. His lyrics express a call for revolution, asking for people to “stand up.” The pipes furiously throw smoke out to the city and the people suffers. Cleo will be singing to the 3D mics that are hanging from the never visible roof of an empty room. K.B’s part. Is the most dynamic and revolutionary part of the video. Dim Sweets is a young philosopher responsible for the revolution against the oppression. This video resonates with the theme of freedom, “desire to rise,” that the song expresses so powerfully.

Filmmaker Bio:

Carlos Florez was born in Colombia in 1984. His creativity became evident in his earliest years after spending hours drawing and painting spectacular space shuttles, intergalactic cars and never before seen dinosaurs, which all made him a young celebrity at school. His parents’ interest in his art became his biggest inspiration as his mom transformed their home into a solo exhibition space hanging on the walls every drawing and painting he made, while his dad gave him painting supplies and brought him to gallery shows. At age sixteen his family had to flee Colombia and relocate to the United States of America. He entered public high school and soon everybody was talking about the new artist who invaded the exhibiting walls with his artwork. After seeing his work, teachers and family friends recommended that he transfer to the Design and Architecture Senior High School (DASH) located in the design district in Miami Beach, Florida.

Carlos was accepted into this prestigious art magnet high school with no knowledge of the English language, and it was there that he developed skills in many mediums of art making and instantly fell in love with Graphic Design. He graduated with the "Best Portfolio Award" and received scholarships that allowed him to attend the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) located in Baltimore, Maryland. At MICA, Carlos majored in Graphic Design and combined the elements of conceptual thinking in design with video, animation, and interactive media. He discovered his passion for directing and experimenting with animation, motion graphics, and live action cinematography as he directed, produced and designed his first music videos. While still in school, Carlos started working for Latin MTV and mun2 and had the wonderful experience of having his work broadcasted on TV.  After seeing some of his work, MTV Networks offered this twenty-one year old college student the opportunity to join the on-Air design production team in New York City. He was exceptionally allowed to graduate one year earlier from MICA and moved to New York City to pursue his dream of directing. His work was seen all over the world after animating the main show graphics for the most important day of pop culture and MTV, the 2006 Video Music Awards. After seeing some of his newest music videos, NBC Universal offered Carlos the opportunity to join the mun2 team in Los Angeles, California, where he continues to pursue his passion for directing.