“I just really want to shoot something in a carpark.” blurted Josh across the office in his usual adolescent effervescent tone.
It’s worth remembering that in this world of pretentious, hipster filmmakers, even the biggest and most artistic of ideas can have the humblest of beginnings. Luckily, DIICE weren’t enormously specific about the desired location of their music video, they instead slid us a different curveball; they wanted to address the topic of gender fluidity and sexual desire. Now, we pride ourselves at S&S on being a pretty diverse bunch, with staff from all over the world, but even for us, this was a bit of a head-scratcher. After some frank and open discussions, we decided that rather than cowering and rejecting the idea in fear of a political correctness nuclear meltdown, we would tackle the challenge head on, unleashing our casting connoisseur Charlotte to sensitively scout out our talent.
Once we’d booked talent, and had a rapid refresh on preferred pronouns, we were able to focus our attention back to Bennett’s crazy creative carpark concept. To reinforce the video’s sexual undertones, we opted to set it at night in a neon-lit underground, centring the majority of the action in and around an original VW Golf Mk2. We like to think this was semantically inspired, but if we’re honest it’s mainly because Mk2 Golfs just look peng. We garnished the look with a sprinkling of glimmer glass, just to get those skin tones poppin’ off.
With the budget Gods against us, we rallied our most committed (and socially excluded) crew members and made the call to shoot the promo at night. All night. Turns out that car parks tend to be emptier, and therefore more available for adventurous music video shoots when people aren’t trying to park their Fiat Multipla in them. Again, hats off to Charlotte for sorting that one, we promise we won’t make as many wild requests again*.
The concoction of neon noir, classic cars, and intimate experimentation culminated in a video that leaves your eyes bulging and your loins moist. DIICE were as stoked as they were seduced, and as a company, we were generally more knowledgeable for the experience.
*We definitely will, we’re lying through our teeth.
