Activities
Pre-production
- Conceptualise
- Location Scout
- Story board
- Logistics
Production
- Shoot
- Light
- Choreograph
Post Production
- Edit
- Effects
- Colour Grade
Client
Year
About.
Ten Hands High are an indie rock band based in London and made in Leeds. Since their inception in 2019 their sound has evolved as each year has passed. With appearances on BBC Radio 1, 6 Music and Radio X; the band have consistently sold out shows and continued to build on their existing fanbase.
The mission.
Ten Hands High got in touch with the Klaxon team in the lead up to to the release of their debut EP, Sweet; With the aim of producing a music promo for their soundtrack, 2:28AM.
From our initial calls with the band, Alexi (lead singer) was our point of contact and it was clear we were on the same wavelength from the get go. His instructions to the Klaxon team were to “create something trippy and euphoric” that fell in line with the bands “phase 3” aesthetics.
After mentioning that Klaxon was based on the South-East Coast, the Ten Hands High boys were eager to incorporate the beach into the film.
Building the concept.
During our pre-production phase, scouting locations in the picturesque seaside town of Margate was a breeze. We were looking for dreamy backdrops, neon lights and locations that lent themselves to romantic activities to highlight the lyrical theme throughout the soundtrack. Once our team had nailed down the locations we created a treatment to present to the band and get sign off on our narrative, characters and overall style of the video. Typically we would produce a treatment before scouting locations however our Director, Liam had a clear vision for the project after the initial brainstorming session over Zoom with Alexi and we were confident we knew what the band were after.
The band were eager to keep this video narrative-led and take the audience on a journey over the course of the soundtrack; following Alexi on a trip down memory lane. As the story progresses and the alcohol begins to take its toll on Alexi we can see his costume become scruffier. This is not only a tool to mark the progression of the story but also a reference to his mental state as he revisits places of importance to him and his love interest.
Making use of iconic landmarks in Margate including the Lido and Dreamland cinema we were able to create a neon-soaked world with an over-arching feel of stepping back in time.
By working with local businesses such as Bugsy’s Bowling and the Harbour Arm Micro-Pub we were able to secure interior locations that fit the theme and feel of the soundtrack as well as liaising with Cain’s Amusement’s in Herne-Bay to capture Alexi’s drunken neon-fuelled sequence.
To keep Alexi’s love interest relevant throughout the story we directed him to look at old photos and video of her on his phone. These were shot at a later date and were added to his phone in post-production. This allowed us to use his phone as a tool to transition him from each location smoothly.
Director of Photography, Max Edmed was excited to use practical effects in camera. For sequences of Alexi performing we doubled the speed of the soundtrack and shot at 50 frames per second, this gave us the ability to slow his movements down in post production while keeping the soundtrack synced. We also played around with a clear filter and applied vaseline to the edges to give us a drunken tunnel effect in camera.
Results.
The instructions from the band to create “something trippy and euphoric” were completely met by the Klaxon team; making use of neon lights and in-camera effects all whilst retaining a strong narrative throughout.
From being commissioned to the final delivery of the film; we didn’t deviate from our treatment. Typically on music videos things change, new ideas come up last minute and what was once “the perfect plan” evolves into something else. However due to our strong concept and meticulous planning the vision from our initial meetings came to life and everyone on board knew exactly how the promo would look over the course of the production process. This was important not only for the production team, but from the bands perspective too as Alexi was the only member of the band present during the shoot. It was crucial that the rest of the band were involved in the creative process leading up to the shoot and by not deviating from the treatment their ideas remained firmly in the film.
Testimonial.
"Working with Klaxon was such a good time… We did our whole music video in one 13 hour shoot and it was so much fun (if not also super tiring, we were all dead by the end of it!). Liam curated a seriously fine-tuned and efficient shoot.Liam’s directorial style is very collaborative and knows exactly how and when to bring other people’s voices into the creative process and when to exercise authority and move things along to stick to a schedule and overarching idea.
Overall a wicked shoot that couldn’t have gone any better/smoother, and an awesome video created by Klaxon, would highly recommend."
"When I first saw the final video I was amazed at how professional and high quality it was. It also fit perfectly into the visual theme of this phase of our music and completely encapsulated the aesthetics of the song that we had in our head from the beginning."