Duran Duran — Girls On Film

JUL 01 1981 · 12:00

Duran Duran — Girls On Film (1981) Director: Godley & Creme (Kevin Godley and Lol Creme) Era: New Romantic / Early MTV Era (1981) - Peak of the Second British Invasion; one of the first high-concept music videos produced contemporaneously with MTV's August 1981 launch, existing simultaneously as a nightclub promo and a broadcast artifact Exceptionally high. 'Girls On Film' is a primary document of the exact moment music video became a culturally autonomous force. Its dual-version existence (censored/uncensored), BBC ban, Grammy win, and directorial pedigree (Godley & Creme) make it a multi-layered research artifact spanning censorship history, gender studies, MTV's founding era, and the New Romantic movement. Tier 1 preservation priority. Context: Produced at the precise historical hinge point of music video's emergence as a commercial and artistic medium, 'Girls On Film' was filmed just twelve days after MTV's August 1, 1981 launch, before the network's content standards were fully established. Originally conceived for nightclub video jukeboxes and pay-TV, it represents a pre-broadcast-standards production philosophy that openly tested the limits of acceptable imagery. The video's BBC ban and MTV censorship generated enormous publicity, accelerating Duran Duran's profile as provocateurs at the vanguard of the New Romantic movement. Its ironic intent — critiquing the exploitation of fashion models — was widely lost on audiences, stoking genuine controversy rather than satirical appreciation. The video helped define Duran Duran's identity as image-forward artists and became a foundational artifact of the MTV era's complex relationship between music, visual spectacle, and censorship. Director notes: Filmed over two days at Shepperton Studios, Surrey, England, commencing August 13, 1981 — just twelve days after MTV launched in the United States. The video was originally commissioned for nightclub video screens and pay-TV channels rather than broadcast television, with band management instructing the directors to produce something 'erotic and controversial.' Director of photography was Steven Bernstein. The resulting uncensored 'Night Version' ran approximately six minutes and was banned by the BBC; a heavily edited 'Day Version' was prepared for MTV broadcast. The video exists in two distinct cuts: the uncensored version (played in nightclubs and on The Playboy Channel) and the censored broadcast version. In 1983, Duran Duran released the video paired with 'Hungry Like the Wolf' on VHS/Beta, with the VHS containing the day version and Beta the uncensored cut. The Video 45 release won the first-ever Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video in 1984. Godley & Creme subsequently reunited with Duran Duran to direct the 'A View to a Kill' video.