Director Edouard Salier’s music video for “Waiting For A Sign” by Scratch Massive feat. Koudlam features some of the most badass kids to ever be in a music video. It's a video that keeps you captivated, regardless of if you’re watching fights, elephants, or just shots of the landscape. We talked to Edouard about finding the kids for this video, sharing artistic sensibilities with the band, and getting the performers to forget he was there. 

Doug: The subject matter of this music video is pretty dark, do you think music videos allow for the freedom to explore darker subject matter like this, more so than other forms of pop culture?

Edouard: Music videos are a form of artistic expression, and as all artistic expression, it should be free of any form of restriction. The sound of Scratch Massive and Koudlam is epic and deep, like a soundtrack. I wanted to keep this heavy atmosphere. I wanted somethin brutal and poetic.

Doug: Do you have to know the band’s sensibilities before pitching a video like this to make sure they’ll go for it, or do you just write the ideas that you come up with and see what happens?

Edouard: For sure, you have to know the band's sensibilities and the band needs to know yours. Most of the time, a music video is best when the relationship between the two identities (the band and the director) have a common artistic sensibility. To make a good music video, you must like the music. It is essential. Otherwise, for me, it does not make sense. I doubt Justin Bieber is gonna ask me for a video tomorrow.

One of the actor, Champ, and Edouard

Doug: The characters in this video are incredibly authentic. What was the casting process like?

Edouard: To tell you the truth, the initial idea included a single character. For me, it was essential to find the right character for this film. I wanted to find a kid who has a hell power inside him, something raw, primary, but also somethin pure. I wanted to make a film about childhood, "Childhood is a sky close to the ground, it's grey, damp and there are adults that kids don't understand." The idea was to focus on kid's psychology and behavior, rather than on the action. I wanted the action to remain simple, mystical, and symbolic. I went to Bangkok for the casting, we cast the kids in different Muay Thai 's school. I met amazing children there. So special, respectful, smart, and tough. By the end of the audition, I had four fantastic kids in front of me and my choice was impossible. Each of them had a different and strong personality. I went back to my hotel that night and rewrote the whole script and redraw all the story board, then I called my produceur and told him that I changed everything. I wanted the four kids to play with a much broader range of emotion.

7am, Day 1

Doug: One place their emotions are high is in the fight scene at the the beginning of the video. Was that scene choreographed, or did you just have them go at it?

Edouard: That was the first scene that we shot the first day. It was 7AM, and the kids had never acted in front of a camera in their lives. We didn't have the time for a rehearsal, so we improvised as much as we could. But, as I said, we cast them in a fight school so they knew what to do, for them it was quiet instinctive.

Doug: In general then, was it all instinctive? Or are you directing their actions through the more narrative sections? 

Edouard: In general I give quite precise directions. but on this project, i asked my DP Julien Meurice, to let roll the camera every time I said "cut," to capture the real moments of sincerity. I wanted to have this feeling of somethin real. I wanted them to forget me.

Doug Klinger is the co-founder/content director of IMVDb and watches more music videos than anyone on earth. You can find him on twitter at @doug_klinger.