UH got onto me through a friend, and when they sent me the music to Every Summer, I was impressed at what a great pop song it was, all it needed was a great video! Clocking in at 3 minutes 40, a music video can be pretty daunting when you think about how you can keep an audience interested and develop a story over that amount of time. The boys were open to whatever I had in mind so I thought it would be a brilliant chance to do some gorgeous black and white narrative and another great chance to get a camera in the ocean, the only catch, the looming 3 week deadline!
For the bands performance I really wanted to have a basic lighting setup with heaps of nice flaring and contrast, with the band playing in a circle, facing each other, as if they are at practice. It also gave great foreground and symmetry to the shots, I find it alot more interesting and realistic than a band playing in a room as if they are on a stage.
When it came to Narrative, I wanted it all black, white and super contrasty, to signify the girl being a memory. At the time I was shooting alot of Black and White super 8 footage, and just utterly obsessed with the beauty and contrast that you can achieve with it. I chose to play with the girl being out of focus for alot of shots, to give that feeling of losing touch and also, captivate the audience, make them want to see more. The shots of Michael running down the streets singing, as day goes into night were a great addition, and my favourite one of them clocks in right on dusk, and we fought the lack of light to get an Ipswich bound train as it rolls past.
Nicole Thorne was the only actor I had in mind for the shoot, we have been friends since we both modelled for DVNT Clothing a few years back, she has always impressed me as one of the hardest working, yet most easy going models I have ever met, and her look suited what I had in mind perfectly. We are both super busy these days and the only time we could both lock down together was a 2 hour window, right on Golden Hour as the rain clouds rolled in. After shooting her running down the streets of Miami, the heavens opened up and I had to change from a Red Epic to a Sony A7S in a waterproof housing, even before we were anywhere near the ocean! Any other shoot and I would’ve rescheduled, but the looming deadline and limited few hours together meant quick thinking rolling with it, and I have to be honest, there aren’t many things I find more beautiful than rain over the ocean, for me it ended up making the shoot so much more special regardless of the camera downgrade. We made it down to the water and battled rough waves, currents, and rolling torrential downpours, all the while I was thinking what I could possibly tell her loved ones if I lost Nicole at Sea.
All in all I came away from shooting 1 night and a couple of afternoon hours with an array of beautiful shots that I was incredibly happy with thanks to my great small crew and the weather.
Whenever I commit to a music video, I always think “Is this a song I would be happy to hear 250 times?” because by the time the video is released, that is often the case. Now after the whole production has been completed, I still love this song. The Until Home boys are young and hungry, they worked hard during the shoot and are nothing but professional at all times. They have a clear understanding of the hard work that is required to get a great product, and I hope this video is able to give them a leg up in such a tough industry.
