Made up of four separate The Last Dinner Party music videos (The Feminine Urge, Gjuha, Sinner, and Burn Alive) Harv Frost’s Giallo-inspired short Prelude to Ecstasy is the culmination of the band’s first chapter. The film tells the story of a mysterious dance school that holds a power which could both enhance and destroy those who embrace it, an allegory of sorts for how the band views the music industry at large. The visual language across the board feels very The Last Dinner Party. It’s decadent, stylish, and captured on 16mm, which gives it a mysterious, tactile texture akin to staples of the horror genre like Argento’s Suspiria or Roeg’s Don’t Look Now. With the film unsurprisingly racking up views online, DN caught up with Frost to learn about her vision for the film, the process of conceiving the film’s overarching narrative and embracing the band’s creative spontaneity.
When did your collaboration with The Last Dinner Party begin and whose concept was it for a film made up of several linked music videos?
After our collaboration on My Lady Of Mercy and Ceasar on a TV Screen I was lucky enough to be asked to pitch ideas for the Music Video for The Last Dinner Party’s newest single, The Feminine Urge. For this newest instalment in our growing cinematic universe together, I wanted to do something that was so quintessentially TDLP, combining all our collective references into something that felt completely comprehensive of the band’s visual world. The idea I pitched ended up being very big-picture, the band read this and said, “We think this could be a whole short film” to which I obviously jumped at the chance of doing. What would follow, would be a month or two of writing and conversing about what other songs would be used in the short, and what the band wanted to do creatively. We then collectively pitched the idea to the label, and the rest is sort of history.
It was a different way of doing things than usual, sort of reverse engineering the process. Both the band and I saw an opportunity to wrap up their debut album with a trademark Last Dinner Party bow, and the label was super down which we were grateful for. In typical TDLP fashion, we screened the film in front of an audience of friends and fans and had a chance to celebrate this epic chapter of the band’s career.
I wanted to do something that was so quintessentially TDLP, combining all our collective references into something that felt completely comprehensive of the band’s visual world.
What went into the development of the overarching narrative? How did you come up with a throughline for the overall film that could also work as individual music videos?
So it all started with The Feminine Urge, this was a video that focused on individual band members within this prestigious and sinister performing arts academy, it saw these young artists purging their feminine urges in explosive and expressive ways around this grand and larger than life setting. When we decided to do a short composed of multiple music videos, we knew that each would need to be stand-alone and that if they needed to, they could potentially be moved into different orders depending on how we wanted to roll it out. Once we settled on a track list, it was then up to me to try to find ways of telling insular stories within the overarching narrative. The result is of course a loose branching narrative, that hits a checklist of everything the band wanted to include, this is something I’m certainly proud of. I knew that we were going to need setups and payoffs in every song, so we approached them as individual pieces and then at the end, along with my amazing Editor Eden Read, we pieced them all together and stepped back to look at the full picture.
How involved were the band throughout pre-production, did they bring you any ideas or visual moments they wanted to be included in the videos?
So in order to realize our initial concept and for it to develop, we had as many conversations in pre-production as possible. I asked the band to send me anything and everything they could to help me realize their visions. Abigail sent me a treatment for the last track Burn Alive which ended with her being sucked into the television, this seemed like as good a place as any to end the film, so I knew I had that to work towards. Next came Gjuha, Aurora had created this treatment that went into the deeper meaning of the track and what feelings she wanted to elicit, we worked together to adapt this all into our script. Lastly came Sinner, which was lifted from a treatment that Lizzie had written back when they first joined the band. It was important for me that this was brought to life and remained as true as possible to their original treatment, so it was a game of connecting the dots for me.
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How much of what you constructed during pre-production came through on set? Did you divert from the plan at any point?
For production, we followed instincts! Decisions were being made on the fly constantly, I wanted the band to be in control of what they wanted to wear and what they wanted to do, so I just made sure I kept an open mind and kept looking a few steps ahead. If the band wanted to add a scene I would do everything I could do to make sure that happened, if they wanted to change their styling last minute to something they felt better in, then that is what happened. I think it’s super important when doing something that’s so personal to the band’s image, that they are the ones holding the pen when their story is written. It’s my job to bring it all to life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. In post, we edited it all over about a month, starting with individual videos and then editing them all together. Aurora added these sequences of audio in between the tracks which helped tie it all together, and Eden did such a fantastic job of wrapping it all up. It was truly a labor of love, the label was so hospitable and happy for us to take the lead, and it was all really smooth, the dream project for sure.
I think it’s super important when doing something that’s so personal to the band’s image, that they are the ones holding the pen when their story is written.
The shooting style of the film feels like a perfect match to the band’s energy. The 16mm texture, the fluidity, the liveliness. What motivated you to capture them that way?
We shot everything on 16mm film and shot it all mostly handheld as on previous TDLP videos with my DoP Tasha Duursma. I always gravitated to the handheld stuff in the edit. I wanted to feel like the viewer was right there in the action, that they were complicit in it all and were like another member of the academy. The moments that we did use a tripod were to give it all a moment to breathe. I think Tasha is so brilliant as the way they shoot handheld is so balletic and rhythmic, it’s like they are another character entirely. We shot everything 360 and had no lights in the building whatsoever. We positioned all the lights shooting through the window and approached it like we were lighting a set on a soundstage. This was because I wanted performance to lead cinematography, and to have this game of cat-and-mouse playing out on the screen at all times. If Abigail, for example, wanted to walk over to the bookshelf and pick up a book, then both the set and the lights were ready for that. This was my first time working this way, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes a bit of a habit of mine.
I wanted to feel like the viewer was right there in the action, that they were complicit in it all and were like another member of the academy.
From initial conception through to the screening of the film, how long has it been in the works?
The whole process from initial conception to the screening was from late February to late September for the screening. Pre-production was about three months, and shooting took four days in total with a month of editing and a few weeks of colour grading and sound tweaks. We gave ourselves a lot of time as it was important that we got this right. So a big chunk of the year, I loved every minute of it.
Who else did you collaborate with both in front of and behind the camera to help shape your vision of the film?
I was so lucky to work with a real super-group of some of the best people in the game. My DoP Natasha Duursma was completely integral to building the visual style of the band from the first video we did for them, and this project was no exception. She helped me find my own personal style and way of shooting and brought so much to the table when it came to the look and feel of this project. Then there was my Art Director Furmaan Ahmed who I’ve been a huge fan of for a while leading up to this. I knew that I could rely on them to flesh out the world building of the setting, and since I decided I wanted to shoot everything 360 and light only through the windows, they worked really hard on making sure every corner of every room was rooted in the world of our film. It was because of their ingenuity and brilliance, that every inch of the space had an element of mise-en-scene that pulled you closer into the setting and gave you a sense of where it’s all taking place. Not to mention how fun they are to work with, I was blessed to have them.
Our 1st AD Rose Lucas, who kept it all moving so smoothly and ruled with a smile and a firm hand, she’s probably the only AD I’ve ever known who is everyone’s favourite person on the set. I learned a great deal from her, and I couldn’t imagine a set without her now. Every single member of this crew was the best of the best, and I am the luckiest girl alive to have had the chance to direct them.
And to wrap up, what’s next?
Ah, what’s next! The burning question for every freelancer. Next for me it’s about continuing to create work that fleshes out what a ‘Harv Frost Video’ looks and feels like, now I have found something of a ‘style’ it’s time to apply that to new bands and artists and go in and out of the lines of that. I’m very much looking forward to collaborating with new people and building more long-lasting relationships much like the one I’ve had with TDLP. That being said, I have a project coming up that features one of my favourite artists of all time like you’ve never seen them before, so you will have to keep your eye out for that.