Music Videos

It goes without saying that the success of most modern musicians relies on a strong social media presence and as marketing types will tell you, the key to that is regular, engaging content. Everything from photos of recording sessions to gig updates and SoundCloud demos… but nothing builds a fanbase quite like a good music video.

Unfortunately, most music videos are sadly pretty generic- an artist or band sound like another artist so their music videos often look like another artist’s as well. But if your sound has its own identity, why shouldn’t your videos too? And if your lyrics tell a story, why not tell that story with video as well as sound?

CASE STUDY - IRENE RAE “SEE ME FOR ME”

Some music videos have narratives, characters and set-pieces on par with a fiction film, but others are more minimalist. The music video for Irene Rae’s “See Me for Me” is a great example of this. As Irene’s first music video for the track of her debut EP “Hidden Secret,” the video needed to showcase her as a performer and as such, she needed to be front and centre. While there was a narrative to the song, it was more about an emotional experience rather than a specific chain of events, so we tried to create shots that fit the mood and let Irene’s honest performance do the heavy lifting.

Irene had already found a location she wanted to film in (South Hill Park in Bracknell) prior to us being hired, so we had to create visuals that supported the song using this environment.

The main backbone of the song is her performance sequence, where we shot in one of the estate’s bright but austere rooms, giving an elegant feel to Irene and her captivating vocals, which we captured using long dolly movements to show off the space.

Another scene took place in a small rehearsal room, with a lone piano as the centrepiece. Since Irene is a guitarist not a pianist, we couldn’t have her playing the instrument, but we felt that the visual enhanced the melancholy of her voice and lyrics.

Further shots were filmed on the grounds surrounding South Hill Park and we were able to use the late afternoon sun as a backlight on several shots to add an ethereal feel to the video.

The last shot of the video, where Irene looks at a different version of her in a mirror, was a simple split-screen effect and helped convey the “real person underneath” message of the song.

In post, a hazy vintage filter was applied to enhance the dream-like and nostalgic feel with a warm colour grade as Irene’s character becomes more accepting of who she is by the end of the song.