Doves - There Goes The Fear

APR 15 2002 · 12:00

Doves - There Goes The Fear (2002) Director: Julian House & Julian Gibbs (Intro) Era: Post-Britpop / Early 2000s UK Indie Renaissance (2002) - Peak era of UK alternative rock crossover, marked by cinematic ambition in music video production and found-footage experimental aesthetics at major labels. Exceptionally high. This video is a confirmed award-winning, widely cited example of design-led music video art, with multiple verified sources establishing its production methodology, creative team, and cultural impact. Its construction entirely from archival footage with no original shoot makes it uniquely significant as a study of the collage-film tradition applied to mainstream music promotion. The video's D&AD recognition, chart performance context, and association with the Intro studio's influential body of work make it essential for any archive covering early 2000s UK music video history. Context: Released in April 2002 as the lead single from Doves' second album The Last Broadcast, 'There Goes the Fear' arrived at a pivotal moment for UK indie rock, the post-Britpop era was consolidating into a more introspective, sonically ambitious alternative mainstream. The track charted at #3 in the UK and the album debuted at #1, cementing Doves as one of the most critically significant British guitar bands of the period. The video's approach, assembling a complete narrative from found and archival footage without a single frame of original photography, was a radical production choice that positioned it firmly within the traditions of avant-garde film collage and graphic design-led music video art. This methodology, executed by Intro's Julian House and Julian Gibbs, reflected a broader movement of design studios crossing into music video direction, where the graphic sensibility of collage, layering, and archival retrieval became the primary visual language. Director notes: The video for 'There Goes the Fear' was constructed entirely out of existing and archival footage, no original photography was commissioned. Directed by Julian Gibbs and Julian House at Intro, the production involved approximately four weeks of intensive non-stop work. A large team of rotoscope artists created mattes for all archive footage. Key compositor and animation supervisor on the project developed early 2.5D animation techniques during production. Art direction was by Julian House; compositing was by Julian Gibbs, Kate Dawkins, and Chris Sayer. The video won a D&AD award in 2003 for Outstanding Direction. It was included on the UK limited edition CD single release in QuickTime format.