This weekend at the Downtown Independent, adherents to the waning effort of music videos congregated to celebrate a medium that has gone from moneyed MTV mainstay to forgotten format. There is, however, a silver lining to this cloud. As the business of producing music video has evaporated, the artistry of those music videos has ramped up significantly. Below are the more prominent winners from the 2012 Los Angeles Music Video Festival.

Deadmau5 “Head Games” from Matt Stone
In the best Unofficial video category, director Matt Stone animated Deadmau5′s “Head Games.”

Andrew Belle ‘The Ladder’ from Emily Wormley on Vimeo.
Emily Wormley’s video for Andrew Belle’s song “The Ladder” won in the best Student category.

THE KERNAL “Mind Control” from Marshall Josh Burnette
Marshall Burnette directed “Mind Control” by The Kernal and took home the Best Comedy video award.

STROMAE – PEACE OR VIOLENCE from Raf Reyntjens
Director Raf Reyntjens’ powerful “Peace or Violence” by Stromae handily won the award for Best Non-Narrative.

Raphael Saadiq “GOOD MAN” from Isaiah Seret
The video for “Good Man” by Rafael Saddiq, directed by Isaiah Seret won in the Best Narrative category and has an ending that cannot be missed.

Festival invitees were called upon to participate in a humiliating, but endearing segment called Life’s a Pitch, in which music video directors had to deliver an on-stage pitch for the song Del Paso Heights by Seventeen Evergreen. Last year’s winner for Best Student video, Leah McKissock seemed to handle the less-than-comfortable situation gracefully.

Festival founder Sami Kriegstein can be heard here in an interview with blogger Noah Nelson.  The Los Angeles Music Video Festival promises to return next year, hopefully again at the ever-welcoming Downtown Independent.