The Video Explained: 310AM - 'Real To Real'
310AM and visual artist Marian Obando speak to us about collaborating for 310AM’s sweet music video, ‘Real To Real’, which lets animated characters loose on the London night bus.
Where was the video filmed and how did you come up with the idea to use animation?
310AM: I've wanted to have a sketch-style animated music video for a long time. I've been tossing around the ideas since I saw the video for "Open Passageways" by All Them Witches sometime around 2016. Unfortunately I have no drawing abilities so I wasn't sure how to make it happen. Last year I found the band Dead Rituals and the video for their single 'Closer' and loved it, so I reached out to the band and they got me in touch with Marian. She consulted with me throughout the creative process but almost all of the content ideas came from her. I couldn't be happier with the results!
Marian Obando: At the time, I had started to take the night bus home from work from South to North London and it was about an hour’s journey. I found the lighting outside particularly beautiful and also found it surreal to routinely be the only person on the bus. Nate reached out around that time so I thought it would be interesting to use those visuals somehow. I usually mix media so mixing the live action with animation seemed to be a new way to play with that.
How does the video connect with the song?
Marian Obando: As there were usually so few people on the bus, when they did get on I would lazily end up observing them for lack of anything else to do. As the song touched upon different aspects of dating, I thought the little scenes playing out on the bus might be interesting to depict. I can’t help but put my own experiences in there as well but lots were specifically taken from people I saw. For example, the girl sitting next to the huge teddy bear I saw towards the end of production and thought that was a nice little story in itself (Where did she get it? Was it a gift? Did she win it?).
Do you have any behind the scenes stories you could share with us?
Marian Obando: At first, I filmed the bus scenes in colour and they were meant to stay like that. There are two types of buses that come at night: ones with red seats and ones with blue seats. I had started to film the ones with blue seats and wanted to keep the continuity (which in retrospect probably didn’t matter). Then, for several days all that came were red seated buses! Arrgh. This seemed like a silly reason to delay production so I switched it to black and white and then stopped fearing red seated buses (for the most part).
Can you tell us about the ideas/themes/imagery used?
Marian Obando: I found the contrast between the frenzy of taking public transportation (running to buses, trying to get a seat… all seemingly foreign at the moment) and the time once on it to just stare out into space an interesting mix. This seemed to parallel being involved with someone somehow: the excitement and adrenaline leading you to make plans and act in this very instinctive and spontaneous way mixed with then more reflective moments when you think (or overthink) the relationship. The action and reaction of couples that Nate touches upon in the song was interesting to play with as well.
Is there a message the video is trying to convey?
Marian Obando: I think for the first time I wasn’t focusing on creating a particular storyline but more so observing different habits and mannerisms of people dating. There are probably messages buried in there that I put in without realising but most likely I don’t want to know what they are.
Interview by Karla Harris