Why is this work relevant for for Music?

This work is a music video for one of Australia’s most popular pop artists, having won the first-ever Australian Idol in 2003.

Background

Sony Music Australia contacted us after seeing a previous music video of ours which dealt with themes of bullying. They wanted a music video that portrayed an underdog story to accompany the motivational and heartfelt lyrics of ‘Before I Go'.

Describe the creative idea

The creative idea was to show the tribulations faced by a young boy who is bullied for partaking in figure skating with his female counterpart. As the boy is pursued and ultimately attacked by the bullies, we see this physical and mental strain mirrored in the arduous training of the present day adult figure skater.

Describe the strategy

We involved the ice-skating rink's owners, who also trained students there, and to incorporate their best skaters in the video. We only had budget for a one day night shoot and so we had to carefully plan our shots around the tight schedule and single location. Lighting was key to the epic visual grandeur on the ice so we prioritised this in the budget above all else. We used the outdoor garden which looks onto the ice-rink as a separate location which looked like a dreamy neon-jungle when we lit it up creating a nice contrast in the edit.

Describe the execution

We used the bluesy soulful style of the song to inform the way he lit and shot the scenes of Guy Sebastian performing. It is these scenes of the ice skater in motion that really make the video come alive. Stark blue lighting, high contrast, slow motion and ice sled dolly shots give immense gravitas to the movements and manoeuvres of the skater at full tilt.

Describe the outcome

The outcome was an artistic and thematic music video to accompany a song which had huge success in Australia and the Netherlands. The video has garnered over 3 million views on youtube.