Regia e narrazione all'epoca dei social e degli OTT. La serie videomusicale "Capri rendez-vous" di Francesco Lettieri e il consolidamento del 'brand' Liberato

This article aims to examine Capri rendez-vous, a series of five video clips conceived and directed by Francesco Lettieri for five songs by Liberato – a Neapolitan singer whose identity is currently unknown – mixing neomelodic, pop and electronic music. Similarly to the previous music video collaborations between Liberato and Lettieri, the Capri rendez-vous series consists of a sophisticated musical and economic-promotional project centered on the construction of Liberato’s image as an authentic brand. The primary function of the series is that of strengthening the brand embodied by Liberato, which revolves around a marketing strategy primarily mediated by the internet and fed by users, who are consistently involved. This is a transmedial strategy, as it is spread through audio-visual platforms such as Spotify or YouTube, as well as social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr). Moreover, users can interact or even create content: comments, online profiles, web pages, photos, objects that recall the singer’s clothes. However, the video clips of the Capri rendez-vous series not only represent the decisive tool to broadcast the musical and commercial project of the Liberato brand, but they also display the products as independent and self-sufficient, both in terms of aesthetics and of communication. Moreover, the expressive autonomy of the music videos is confirmed by the evident “authorial” dimension shown by Lettieri’s directorial activity. This article is focused on the concept of authorship and on the directorial practices which have finally been acknowledged in the audiovisual field since the appearance of social media, pay-TV and the so-called Over The Top (OTT), i.e. online providers such as Amazon or Netflix. The notion and practice to which we refer, intertwined as they are, are well exemplified by Capri rendez-vous. In the first place, the director underlines how both the concept and the role of the author are based, in an almost paradoxical or “postmodern” way, on the recovery and the re-elaboration of pre-existing narrative materials (environments, atmospheres and events) mostly coming from cinema or television. Secondly, Lettieri highlights how directorial praxis (and theory) envisages, in particular, the establishment of an articulated and “accomplishable”, diegetic universe (therefore not the simple visual rendering of a story made of words and music). Based on the principle of seriality – that is conceived in terms of narrative continuity – on the compositional level, it exploits the resources offered by short formats; and stimulates active, participatory fruition, also supported by the development of mobile devices.