Each offering Ross McDowell and Ben Murray (aka Bullion Collective) have created for Disclosure has brought a different light to their music, starting with the MVA-nominated "Control," and then followed by "Latch," both in 2012. Their newest video, "F For You," breaks new ground as Disclosure's first performance-led music video. Performance led videos are a risk relying on both energy and chemistry, but in this new age of DJ popstars, it's a step that makes sense and has seemed to have paid off. We talked to Ben and Ross to find out whether it was a smooth ride in creating such an engaging performance led video, and why they think it worked.
Luke: You have worked with Disclosure for some time now, and they're still very young, have you seen them grow first hand?
Bullion Collective: I can't say we have. I was looking at some of their old press shots recently and could definitely see a drastic coming of age since then.
Luke: This is Disclosure's first pure performance video, where as their other videos have been a lot more narrative. Did they specifically request for this to be a performance based video?
Bullion Collective: Yes, our brief was to have them feature in the video.
Luke: What were your goals stylistically for the video?
Bullion Collective: We wanted the video to look quite graphic, not just with the animation, but also with the stage design, pixel strips, and lighting. With the grade - we intended to de-saturate as far as possible, favoring an image that is muted to the point of almost being black and white. The graphics had to be overly saturated to compensate for this which is why there is still a lot of colour in the video.
Luke: Was the lighting in the video based on their live performance lighting?
Bullion Collective: No, the lighting was not based on their live performance. With the lighting we created a pixel animation that worked in sync with the stems of the track. This was run through a DMX lighting desk and would trigger the pixel strips at key points in the music. It was quite a job to get it right and then on the day we had a few issues, but not sure its too obvious.
Luke: "The Face" once again makes an appearance in this video. Was that something they asked for?
Bullion Collective: In the brief they mentioned it, yes. We like using it also, and it kind of felt appropriate for the climax of the video.
If you liked what you read, head over to Luke's blog, Word Is Cheap, for more thoughts on his favourite music videos.
