Music videos, like commercials and films, work best if there is a strong concept behind
them. The idea for the new Jesse Clegg music video was to create a magic, gothic feel
reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland.
Jesse Clegg’s latest music video was shot at A Studio Called Wonder in Johannesburg
and the whole set was built in miniature. No mean feat.
Anna Walton of Terraplane, who produced and facilitated the shoot, explains that when
director Dan Roberts and Jesse Clegg chatted about his new album they discussed the
possibility of a music video for the track called Clarity.
“Dan then mentioned to Jesse that he was keen on doing the music video and came up
with a treatment. This started the process and once Dan had formally pitched
Terraplane, he pitched to produce the video,’ says Walton.
Clegg was involved right from the start. “He and Roddy Quinn (his manager) were
present at all our meetings. Jesse popped in when they were building the miniature sets
and then later when we filmed the models of the sets. He was very interested
throughout the process which was great.
“I think Dan was the best person to direct as he is versatile and passionate. The other
crucial person was Garreth Fradgely, who is also a filmmaker and came on board as the
set and model builder, cameraman and animator.’
The biggest challenge was building the sets. Says Walton: “Model makers charge a high
end rate. We were looking for people who were clever with their hands but who weren’t
going to charge the earth. The model building took place over a three-week period.
“Another challenge was finding the right equipment for rear projection. This was crucial
as we needed the right screen and projector for the job. The projector was used to
project the model onto a large scale background. AV Systems helped us with this.
“Garreth was the other key person who helped Dan with the project. We also got a
great rate from A Studio Called Wonder which helped with our budget.’
Walton explains that budgets are often an issue with music videos. “However Dan came
up with the genius idea of building the entire world in miniature. This allowed us to
create fresh new locations that no-one has ever seen. I am sure everyone is going to
wonder where we shot the video.’
Lyrics and theme
Roberts explains the concept behind the video: “I normally look at the lyrics and theme
of a song. The key phrase of “Let’s go down the rabbit hole’ kind of leapt out at me. The
central theme of the song tells of an unrequited search. It’s an unusually strong song
lyrically so that helped get the creative juices flowing.
“Alice in Wonderland was an obvious place to start and gave it a magic / gothic quality.
However the Australian short film The Mysterious Geographic Exploration of Jasper
Morello was probably more influential in the end. The sense of searching needed to be
the thread of the video and we embodied it by creating an animated “doppleganger’
character.’
Roberts elaborates on how he shot the video. “I have wanted to work with Garreth
Fradgely on a project for a while. He’s an unusually talented filmmaker and likes to
dabble in all different aspects of filmmaking. We liked the Steampunk of Jasper Morello
and we knew we’d never find the locations we imagined so we decided to build our own.
I think that the best creativity comes from constraints you impose on yourself.
“We decided on the following rules: we would use no green screen, no 3D and no
locations. Our plan was to build an entire world in which the story takes place in
miniature and compose the images through the camera using a rear end projector and
animate them with stop frame. These techniques are as old as film itself, it just takes
more time to do. But this hands-on approach felt right with the grittier, darker tone of
Jesse’s new work.’
The video was shot on a Canon 5D and 7D. Roberts and his team went this route as
these cameras suit stop frame and have, according to Roberts, the best quality to
budget ratio of any camera currently available.
Creative format
One of the great aspects of music videos is that they allow for creative freedom.
“The notion of freedom is so often misconstrued in film,’ notes Roberts. “I’ve seen
some terrible work done with too much freedom and I’ve seen some great work done
under mind numbing restrictions. This is a great medium for me because I love music
and am a musician myself. I did Johnny Clegg’s first music video in 1983, Scatterlings of
Africa and now in 2011, his son Jesse’s video. Who would have thought? I am honored
to have had those opportunities in my career.’
He adds that music videos are a challenge but also great because the bar has been set
so high with all the classy work produced in the genre.
“This genre often boxes above its weight. Jesse’s album was also produced in Canada
and it really shows so we didn’t want to let the side down with the video. Jesse and
Roddy Quinn really came to the party helping us to achieve the vision,’ says Roberts.
