The Video Explained: Wah Wah Club - 'Black Rainbow'
We delve deeper into the creative process behind Wah Wah Club’s music video for ‘Black Rainbow’, which is an animated gothic fantasy about addiction and mixes hand-painted backdrops with computer generated worlds, directed by Lost Boys Studio and illustrated by Harrison Illustration.
Where was the video filmed and how did you come up with the concept for it?
Dan (Singer & lyricist): The original concept was the idea of a continuous take, in a kind of ‘Silent hill/Resident evil’ style video. The band would be running away from the unknown camera, which could be a monster/demon/addiction.... which in fact manifested into what it is now, with the direction of Ru Cook.
Ru (Director/Animator) : Dan contacted me almost a year ago about the video..… then promptly went into rehab…& then got *really* serious about making it once he had come out.
I’d started experimenting more with 3D, & had begun collaborating with an artist (Harri), so the idea of creating a magical, gothic world was born. The band were filmed against green-screen at Lost Boys Studio in Bedfordshire U.K, then were placed into animated scenes over the coming months…
Harri (Illustrator/Animator) : Jumping into the project with Dan & Ru, they were both so open to ideas. At the storyboarding stage I found myself voicing silly things expecting a sharp “No!” but instead met with such open minded enthusiasm. And so…. on set Dan found himself being experimentally attacked by Henry the hoover, and persuading the band (who it turns out did not need much persuading) to all do shoulder stands, and imagine how they would look suspended from giant eyeballs.
How does the video connect with the song? (if at all)
Dan: The song and video connect beautifully in unison with the theme of addiction/jealousy and depression...
Ru: Wah Wah club were the perfect client…we had a series of meetings & said..”let us do something crazy, that has elemental forces beyond your control, following you around, as a metaphor for depression & addiction...” & after some basic storyboarding, they just let us get on with it ! …..the plants that grow huge & attack are loosely based on mutated Coca plants…..if they existed…
Harri: The idea of weather elements, drawn from the rainbow itself, grew to also manifest into water, mist, rain, lightning and the crescendo of a tornado. These element are continually in flux as the viewer journeys through the different worlds of the video, which to me is a kin to a human being’s mental health, which can often feel chaotic.
Do you have any behind the scenes stories you can share with us?
Dan: A lot like the theme of the song/video, the making of the video very nearly didn’t happen due to the issues addressed in the song itself.....
Ru: Yes, it was touch & go getting started…Green-screen filming can have a bad reputation, but shooting this way gives the freedom to do anything with the footage. Getting the band to sit on a horse’s saddle in order to ride a mythical beast was great..
Harri: Dragging a watering can along to the studio, after enthusiastically collecting potential props, we directed Dan to water and then fight a garden of carnivorous plants. It was quite the energetic ordeal, during which Dan named himself ‘Daniel Titchmarsh!’….we might have some behind the scenes footage somewhere 😉
Could you tell us about the ideas/ themes/ imagery used?
Dan: The video takes you on a continuous journey, a lot like the original idea, but on a totally monumental scale thanks to the amazing illustrations and direction....
Ru: Indeed..we felt it important to make the video as a single continuous camera move, to give the viewer an unbroken experience, & we had to develop new techniques to achieve this..
Harri: Wah Wah Club allowed so much creative freedom! Visually, I have always loved working with collage, and for the video felt particularly inspired by surrealism, puppet theatres and the photographs of Kyle Thompson. The prominence of shadows is something Ru was particularly keen on from the word go.
Ru: ..we also sneaked an ‘apocalyptic Milton Keynes’ into one scene, which we thought would entertain folks from the band’s home town 😉
Is there a message the video is trying to convey?
Dan: This song and video is a documentation of the pain of raw addiction and how reality is completely blurred by the overwhelming fear of trying to fit between the lines of society and the madness that occurs because of this….Using this animated world gave us so much more possibility to do whatever we wanted...
I mean we fly giant fucking dragonflies.....I hope people will be moved by what we have collectively created, and see a glimpse into the madness and pain that an addict feels everyday.
Interview by Karla Harris