Los Angeles [US], September 22 (ANI): Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is set to receive the inaugural Artist Director Honours at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) on September 27, recognising her contributions to music video direction and visual storytelling, E! News reported.
According to MTV, the newly introduced honour celebrates a musician “whose work behind the camera has expanded the possibilities of music video and advanced the art of visual storytelling.”
The recognition adds to Swift’s remarkable record at the VMAs, where she has already won 30 awards, tying her with Beyoncé as the most-awarded artist in the show’s history. She is also a five-time winner of the Video of the Year award and is nominated in nine categories at this year’s ceremony, including Video of the Year for “The Fate of Ophelia.”
Swift has increasingly taken creative control behind the camera, directing the majority of her music videos since “The Man” in 2020. Her journey into directing began in 2010 when she co-directed the music video for “Mine” with Roman White before transitioning to solo directing in later years, as per the outlet.
Her directorial credits now include more than 15 projects, including ‘All Too Well: The Short Film’, which won Best Music Video at the 2023 Grammy Awards, according to E! News.
Speaking about how she stepped into directing, Swift said in a 2022 interview with Variety that the decision stemmed from necessity while making ‘The Man’.
“It actually came out of necessity,” Swift said. “I was writing my videos for years and I had a video that was a very specific concept I had written which was that I wanted to be prosthetically turned into a man and live my life as a man and I wanted a female director to direct it and the few that I reached out to were fortunately booked.”
She said the experience transformed her creative outlook.
“I just thought, ‘This is more fulfilling than I ever could imagine,'” Swift recalled. “I’m inching my way along taking on more responsibility.”
Reflecting on her passion for filmmaking, the singer said storytelling has always been central to her work.
“I always wanted to tell stories,” Swift said. “I have always written stories, poetry, songs. I think this just grew out of a natural extension of that storytelling and I don’t think I ever necessarily thought it would be something I would be allowed to do until I actually had enough experience to kind of step out and say, ‘I want to do this on my own and see what it’s like.'”
Describing how directing evolved into one of her greatest creative passions, Swift added, “The more I did it, the more I loved it,” E! News reported. (ANI)
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