Let’s face it, when people talk about the joy of living somewhere with real ‘seasons’ they’re either deluded or just plain nuts. Yeah a snowy Christmas may be a picturesque thing of beauty, but as a UK resident where we’re currently suffering the wettest Winter in nearly 250 years, seasons, apart from that elusive Summery one can go get screwed. Fortunately Parisian director Remy Cayuela has stepped up with the ultimate ‘getaway from it all’ solution in his music video for Duke Dumont’s I Got U (which be warned does contain some fleeting NSFW images). Remy shares the workings of his cure for the Winter blues with us below, but first get comfortable, forget about the bleakness outside and take the trip of a lifetime:
While looking for an idea for this track, I was in my office in Paris watching the wintry grey skies. I was listening this very cool summery track and simply wondering that question: “When you’re working and stuck in the Winter what are the alternatives you have to escape?”
Obviously, there weren’t any, so I imagined a sort of sci-fi device based on an augmented reality allowing people to travel, to escape for a shot of sun and fun and to experience things without moving. A sort of holiday pack condensed.
The concept was to follow the character experience only from a first person perspective, immersing the viewer into this fantasy world, as if he was experimenting with the device himself. That was one of the most challenging bit of the project, to be able to shoot a POV with lots of action going on. There were many other challenges to make it happen but as usual one of the trickiest was to be able to find the right balance between money and time. As the idea is based on a compilation we needed to find the perfect place to do all the activities and not lose too much time travelling from one place to another. We finally found a perfect spot to do it in South East Thailand. That was a great call.
There were two helmets involved in the making of this video: One for the story, the prop you see, and one for shooting to get that first POV effect. The prop has been designed by Helen Mearns, our prop master. I had tons of references to work with, but my wish was to be able to get a device looking at the same time designed like a real product but still a bit homemade like a prototype. I’m looking forward to seeing a commercialised version of this idea.
Ben Fordesman, our talented DoP on the job, worked with his team to come up with an excellent helmet rig, allowing him to operate with free hands. We shot the video on three different cameras: an Alexa for the UK part (beginning and ending), a Canon 1D for the POV, and a GoPro for a few stunt and underwater shots.
In a way, this video is a simply a way to say ‘Summer is coming!
I would like to know where exacly is this video spot taken…? Thanks.
They shot the film in South East Thailand.
I would like to know what hotel it is film in at the beginnig of the video , Thanks
This video was filmed on the island of Koh Phi Phi which is comprised of one main and 4 smaller islands. I also want to know what hotel that is but I think it’s someone’s private house.
i think it was south-west of thailand. maybe near krabi and koh phi phi.
It was filmed in Samsara Villa 2 in Phuket at the beginning. It’s a private home for rent. I’ve stayed there a few times 😉
Yeah.. nice video and good application of “Helmet” tecnique.. one question.. people dancing on the sand is taken in Puket.. do you know the name of percussionist at 1.28? It seems to me to be Frank Nastri .. Thanks a lot for so beautiful video.
Max
Which lens is on the canon 1d??
The hotel is this one:
http://www2.luxuryretreats.com/destinations/thailand/phuket/kamala/lomchoy-villa-1-at-samsara-estate-109157
where is the beach club in the video?
The other hotel in the Dream in Bangkok….and the walking area is Cowboy ;D
Who is the model in the elevator??