The Band Explains: Blushes - 'Honey' (Video)
 |
| Photo Credit - Ellie Marital |
We had a sit down with them to talk about the video for 'Honey'.
Where/how was the video for 'Honey' filmed?
We filmed the whole thing in one day, in Wendover. We used two locations, the first was Harvey, the director's, house. Everything apart from the 'performance' / 'bop' scenes, and the green screen stuff was filmed in various rooms there, he's got loads of cool spaces so there was a nice variety - especially for the family sitcom stuff. We then used the location of the launch gig the social club or 'le club' to film all the mimed 'bop' scenes and thats also where we set up the green screen too. We didn't know how well that was going to work, but we managed to light it all quite well for what we had, so it worked out fine.
We had the help of a great man called Jonathan, who was acting as a kind of DOP for the shoot, he headed up lighting set up and shot composition for each scene and made sure everything looked tip top and as pin sharp as possible.
Our manager Ella had some lighting kits too which were really helpful in getting a good bright fill for each shot, and especially getting enough light on the green screen to separate it from the action.
In terms of gear, we used a Canon 5D Mk ii we borrowed from my brother (thankyou!!), and I think the main lens we had was a 24-70mm zoom lens which was also my brothers. Jonathan brought this crazy Samyang 5 lens kit as well so we were pretty sorted for prime lenses too.
It was a matter of reading off a shot list and seeing what would be most practical to do next, and slowly but surely ticking them off. It was quite stressful fitting everything in, and it was a long day but we got it done.
How does the video compliment the song?
After looking back over and over again, it seems to me like the content of the video is actually a lot more light-hearted than what the song sounds like, so it sort of doubles the un-settling effect as there's a weird juxtaposition going on. You've got this driving, dark groove, with all these jazzy chords layered everywhere, but what you're seeing is so tongue in cheek - like the classic American sitcom intro for example. We didn't mean for it to look super sleek and professional as you can probably tell, so it borders on the lo-fi, but that sort of scattiness and grit is there in the song as well. Its a case of getting the mood across with broad, rough strokes rather than a more meticulous higher budget cinematic affair. The editing kind of carries half effect of the video, but we knew that was going to be the case going into it - just to get the effect we wanted. Joey our good buddy from a band called Milk got the bulk of it done, and then I went through and just started adding loads of random stuff, like the grim reaper glitches every now and then, to really emphasise that dark undertone to the whole thing.
Any behind the scenes stories?
Recording the 'performance' / 'bop' scene was a real barrel of fun. We quickly discovered that we didn't have a way to play to the song, a speaker or anything. We had to use the hi-fi speakers that the place used for playing background music. We hadn't hired out the whole social club or anything, so there was a dart's night on at the other end from the stage where we were, and Harvey went up and we were able to negotiate playing the track a few times. As those speakers were at the other end of the club, I couldn't hit the drums (no matter how soft) and hear the track at the same time, even with it at full volume, so I had to completely mime, without hitting anything, which was interesting! Punters got sick of it after a while so we couldn't play it again and had to film me hitting each drum individually for cutaways instead.
Also when we were filming Sonny's intro bit for the sitcom, Harvey's wonderful dog Charlie was obviously far too interested for him not to be in shot, so we ended up actually using his acting skills when we're all on the sofa for that last shot.
What is the video trying to convey, and tell us about some of the ideas used?
The main idea is this TV channel thing, and they're all connected to 'Honey' in some way, however metaphorical or not. And as you're flicking through as it were, it gets more messed up and almost spliced together. It then becomes clear that theres some kind of presence or figure doing this, the pink grim reaper, who is the character thats representing the idea of the song. It/they is on the cover artwork too. It's an embodiment of a feeling, of losing yourself in infatuation for someone so much so that they blind you to everything else negative, leaving you vulnerable and its as if they're alluring you, almost hypnotising you into succumbing without them knowing.
Feature created by Ant Adams
Blushes' single 'Honey' is out now, and they will be headlining London's The Waiting Room on the 21st February 2018.