Was this a brilliant solution to what we’re assuming were lockdown circumstances… Or was this an idea you’d been wanting to make no matter what?
James: The idea came from a stills fashion editorial we also made with Annie for Buffalo Zine using the same technique of photographing people and objects, printing the images on fabric and rephotographing the prints in different positions and states of movement. When we did that stills shoot we made some videos of the prints moving on our phones and thought that we would like to do something with it which is video based. Evangeline Ling from Audiobooks is also a model and modelled for the Buffalo Zine shoot. So we said afterwards about potentially making a music video. We were already fans of the band, way before the first shoot.
Luke: It is probably a coincidence that it might seem lockdown related, although that might have contributed to things subconsciously. Since we have been working together the past 6 years, we have consciously always tried to work in as small a team as possible and experiment with different ways of documenting people and ourselves, so those things have quite naturally fitted with lockdown restrictions and considerations.
You frequently collaborate with Annie Collinge on fashion stills – what were the initial conversations like for this music video?
Luke: Making moving image is still a relatively new experience for us and also for Annie. So we were interested in doing this in a trial and error, and fully hands on way so that we can learn and understand more about the medium and possibilities.
James: We styled and photographed the band in a studio in order to make the prints. Before that stills portion and the filming we were mainly planning and discussing the poses, clothes and other objects that we would print. We were trying to make sure that we would have enough variety of material to work with when we were filming. And also considering things like colours and silhouette, because we have found certain colours and shapes communicate better and clearer when printed and moving. In all our shoots with her, Annie is deeply involved in every creative step and visual choice, including planning clothes. In that sense our roles are pretty mixed up and non-traditional.
Luke: The printing is quite a temperamental process, because it’s not at all certain what might be more effective once printed. So particular looks, poses or objects that we were drawn to visually at first didn’t necessarily translate when moving or filmed.
Please tell us how you actually made this work of art. Was a lot of cutting out involved? How did you film it? We want to know all!
James: We filmed it all ourselves on an iphone, co-directing with Annie over the course of a week, around Rottingdean village and in our flat. The fabric is unpredictable in its movement and so we worked things out and planned as we went along, and in doing so accumulated quite a lot of clips.
Luke: We chose to stick with a phone for filming because the initial test videos we made on the stills shoot were on a phone, but more crucially we wanted to be able to work in a fully flexible, easily movable and immediate way, for however many days necessary. So when it came to the filming it was just us three working together, with no other team members. We used our own bodies for all the movement and hands. James was the lead person in that for things like dancing and “keyboard playing”, as he has better timing and rhythm than me!
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