Friday 01 Aug 2008 - 09:59
The promo for The Verve's new single, Love is Noise, is a sweeping, epic piece, full of grand images like a beautiful girl practicing falconry, and North Korean massed games; the imagery dovetails perfectly with the heartfelt nature of the tune.
It's directed by Sam Brown, who's fast making a name for himself at Flynn for his music videos. Digital Arts caught up with him for a Q&A on the project.
DA: What was the brief for the project?
SB: There was no specific brief for this project, other than the band should feature.
DA: What were your conceptual ideas behind how to create this?
SB: I wanted to make a video where a number of entirely unrelated scenes unfolded simultaneously, scenes that evoked the feeling of the music rather than its lyrics and that built very slowly and subtly. I had a clear idea of how I wanted to shoot Richard's vocal: in this very iconic and photographic way, sitting on the floor and direct to camera. I'd seen him in previous videos being very posturing and rock-star-like, and wanted to get under his skin a bit, which was the reason for sitting him on the floor, basically so he couldn't move. The vocal then became all about feeling and expression.
In terms of other vignettes, I just wrote down the first few things that came into my head. I decided not to edit or refine these ideas, to let my first reactions come straight out on film. Some of the imagery is very obvious, but I wanted it to be this way: very simple and direct. Richard's vocal becomes a sort of narration, tying everything together.
DA: How did you turn this into the final piece?
SB: The video was shot over two days in an old training college for priests in Mill Hill. we shot in a number of different interior and exterior spaces, including a chapel (where the couple kiss) and a library (the flaming tube).
DA: What was the biggest challenge you faced, and how did you overcome this?
SB: The biggest challenge was time and money, typically not enough of either. The edit was also very difficult, trying to get all these disparate scenes to fit together.
DA: What software did you use to create the piece?
SB: Everything was in-camera, so Avid was the only software.
Click here to watch the video.
Digital Arts staff
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