Prime Circle recently dropped their new music video for their latest single “Doors’,
taken off the band’s new album Let the Night In.
The band members chose one of South Africa’s most innovative music video
directors – Ryan Kruger of Enigma Ace Films – and trusted him completely to
develop and execute a concept of his choice for the video. This is the second music
video Kruger has directed for the band and this time, he opted for a truly cinematic
feel: “…to the extent of a US blockbuster movie,’ he says.
The concept for the “Doors’ music video is based on one of Kruger’s favourite “70s
flicks Capricorn One; he explains: “I like to incorporate local stories into
international concepts, like with the previous music video I did for the band. This
time the narrative follows the first three South Africans on their mission to Mars.
But all is not what it seems as the astronauts are pulled from the shuttle seconds
before the launch due to technical problems.’
Fearing the disappointment of a nation, the head of the space programme decides
to fake the Mars landing and keep the astronauts held captive. The video comes to
a close with one star astronaut escaping captivity and sharing the truth with the
public. The message of the video is simple, Kruger says: “Don’t believe everything
you see and hear on television.’
Produced by Tash Montlake as well as Kruger, the new music video has an authentic
cinematic feel, complete with drama, emotion and strong imagery. Kruger says that
DOP Faheemah Hendricks shot the video on the Red Epic camera but to make sure
the final product looked as cinematic as he had envisioned, ample time was spent
scouting the perfect locations. “Each scene needed to complement the next, which
was pivotal for creating a convincing story for me. We didn’t have a movie budget
so it was all about creativity and how we could achieve stuff without spending
money,’ Kruger comments.
Shot over two days, in and around Cape Town in October 2014, the Doors music
video includes some VFX. Kruger explains: “…In one part of the video we see a
shuttle going up into the sky with people watching from the stand. The shuttle going
up and leaving the ground was footage we bought and basically re-mastered, adding
flares and the South African flag blowing in the wind.’
To add to its cinematic credibility, the video features an all-star cast including a
string of popular South African actors such as Brandon Auret from District 9, Sean
Cameron Michael of Black Sails, Robin Smith from The Fall, Joe Vaz of Dredd and
Graham Clarke of The Villagers.
“I really wanted this video to show producers in the country what we are capable of
doing and that we can make big projects like this in South Africa and not just the
same old stuff we always see,’ Kruger concludes.
In addition to Kruger, Montlake and Hendricks, the remainder of the production
team included Blake Prinsloo, who was responsible for the VFX, and the very
talented Stephen du Plessis from 2+3 Post who edited the video.
