✘ The Power of Visual Storytelling in a Fast-Paced World
Why there’s still space for immersive visuals in today’s content-saturated culture.
Is the music video on its way out? For quite a while I’ve heard a few people debating the idea that music videos might be dead pretty soon and that it’s all about bitesize visual content that we all are so “attracted” to. As I sat down to write this newsletter, I dug a bit deeper and indeed found a lot of information floating around indicating that the number of views on music videos are on the decline. However, this doesn’t sound surprising to me at all. We live in an era of content overload and doomscrolling, with everyone fighting for your shorter than ever attention span. Who the hell in this world has time to be watching 4 minute music videos nowadays?... Well, let me tell you one thing - those people still exist, and one of them is currently writing this article to talk about the music video we created for my track ‘8888’.
I wrote ‘8888’ in 2022 when I wanted to experiment with some new sounds and beat patterns. I remember that this was one of those tracks, when everything came together in a very natural way (if you make music, you know it’s not always the case). My feelings spoke through the right sounds and this helped me to create a deeply emotional track that I was, and still am really connected to. I honestly didn’t expect it to resonate with as many people as it did. It just felt good to tell this story in sound. In early 2023 I was performing LIVE at The White Hotel in Salford, UK, alongside heavyweights Om Unit and FUMU and my then-unreleased ‘8888’ caught the ear of Manchester-based photographer Timon Benson. He got in touch with me following the gig expressing his love for my sound and interest in working together. Fast forward a few months, we did a shoot together and had a pretty cinematic drive back to Manchester that had an impact on both of us.
I love visual art and making videos, and very often when I’m writing music or listening to it, visuals pop up in my head out of nowhere. Not every visual turns into a music video, but for ‘8888’ it fortunately did. I’m highkey OBSESSED with car scenes in movies (nod to the opening shot of ‘Waves’) and in music videos (Loyle Carner, I see you). For ‘8888’ I had a vision of a group of friends travelling to a destination, with a lot of shots being taken in the car, capturing the raw emotions of everyone involved. I floated this idea and my aspiration to make a music video for ‘8888’ to Timon, as our earlier mentioned drive really felt like a scene from a then-imaginary video for this track. He shared the track and my ideas with his friend, the talented director Cameron Jones, and told me that he was on board to work on this together.
‘When I heard the track I knew I wanted to produce something visual to accompany it. When I can visualise images upon first listening to a track, that’s always a good sign. Meeting MYSTERY and hearing her admiration for visuals only furthered my enthusiasm upon beginning the project. The track has this incredible forward momentum, subtly evolving over time with peaks and troughs. As a narrative focused director, I saw this as the perfect foundation to become the soundtrack for an accompanying narrative film.’ - Cameron Jones
I knew this was going to be special. I fully trusted Cameron and Timon, as they were both as passionate and enthusiastic about this project (and the track) as I was. The feeling when something you created resonates with another human being simply can’t be described in any words - it’s magic. It was important for me that my vision is respected and brought to life, however, I was fully open to any ideas that Cameron might come up with. Seeing how my track would be interpreted by another creative intrigued me. And while I had my own vision I also wanted for Cameron to have the freedom to create whatever he envisioned. Luckily, our ideas aligned.
‘It’s important to me that the creative for any music video I work on is inspired directly by the track. The emotions of loss and grief were my felt reaction upon listening to ‘8888’. I thought it may be interesting to depict the less explored side of grief. Unfortunately, in the modern age we experience so much death of despair among young people, I feel that the impact that has on those beyond family is often overlooked. I envisaged a closer than family friendship group, arranging their own private, modern wake by revisiting a place which held a lot of memories for them. Though initially haunted by the absence of their friend, by the end of the process they reach closure, physically and emotionally. In the video this is represented through intentional continuity errors, a reflection of those moments of discontinuity many of us feel in periods of grief.’ - Cameron.
I was intrigued by the themes Cam wanted to explore in this video. It was interesting to hear and see what feelings ‘8888’ brought up in him. I always felt that the track was deeply emotional and carried some sort of ‘pain’ in it. However, the themes of grief or loss weren’t something I envisaged initially and I was glad I was so open to this new process, as this added another dimension to the track itself.
‘Setting out with the objective of creating continuity errors, often we would need two versions of the same shot. Not only did this add time to a packed shooting schedule, it also demanded a lot from our cast to emotionally shift, very dramatically, on demand, repeatedly throughout the course of the day. We opted to use non-professional actors for the purposes of authenticity, so this was a challenge for them, but one they were able to handle ultimately.’ - Cameron.
Setting up the car shots was difficult, apart from the technical rigging, as it affected the pacing of the day. Most of our shooting was a verite style, which the cast got familiar with, so asking them to stand around for half an hour at a time while we set up shots inevitably dropped the energy which we needed to maintain. After the car shots, a bottle of wine or two between them went a long way in bringing that energy back, for sure.’ - Cameron.
The video was shot in less than 24 hours in various locations (Blackpool, Lancaster, Stalybridge) and it really did feel like a little life. When it came to the editing, we did discuss making a shorter version of the track, but then came to the conclusion that it would completely change the narrative of the music, therefore affecting the visual story. So we stayed with the original length which is (brace yourselves) nearly 5 mins long.
What I love a lot about this music video is that it’s so much more than that - it’s a short film, a piece of art that perfectly tells the story of the track. It was released to the online world last week and the feedback so far has been incredible. I’ve had quite a few people get in touch with me expressing how deeply they were affected by it. This means we did it right. Now, go see it for yourself.
Music videos are here to stay © DR MYSTERY 2024
LINKS
📹 ‘This is an art form - and we’re losing it’": is the music video dying? (Michael Cragg)
“To be a blue plaque artist you will always need [music videos]; the TikTok stuff won’t stick in people’s memories for 40 years, that’s for sure. Maybe a day if they are lucky!”
✘ This Guardian article by Michael Cragg explores the future of music videos and wonders if the art form is ‘on it’s way out?’ Looking at how TikTok, tight budgets and our scrolling habits are transforming what was once a huge cultural moment.
🍒 Nan Goldin by Stephen Westfall - Sex, drugs, and black-and-white photography (fall 1991 issue)
“Also, I have this real acceptance of things. I still do. I can be a real dis queen, but I don’t judge what I’m looking at. I don’t name or analyze it. I just accept what I’m looking at as being what it is. That’s something that shows up in my work. I see people as who they are. When you talk about the lack of hierarchy of detail, there’s the same lack of hierarchy on a lot of levels.”
✘ Amazing interview from BOMB magazine with one of my favourite photographers Nan Goldin who talks about her journey as a photographer, from her early days photographing drag queens in Boston to her ongoing work exploring themes of love, loss, and identity.
👾The Art of DJing: Djrum (Oli Warwick - Resident Advisor)
“I get bored easily. I don't want to hear the same genre all night, or even for an hour. I want to hear some tunes I know, but I mostly want to hear new stuff.”
✘ One of the greatest, Djrum, takes you behind the scenes of his ‘art of djing’ - known for weaving together sounds of bass, techno and experimental and really embracing the moments of sonic weirdness on the dancefloor.
MUSIC
Of course, I had to recommend some of mine - ‘Wish You Never Were’ is my most recent EP that navigates the themes of heartbreak, relationships and the very familiar cycle of self-sabotage - three club anthems that combine intricate percussion, nostalgic melodies, and my vocals.
Recent compilation that I’m really into at the moment is from Colombia’s TraTraTrax label - 16 bangers with a very diverse sound spectrum, all crossed by sharp and futuristic sound design. Lots of club delights inside.