Early Glimpse Of A New Objet d'Art

Hello Preciouses. I wanted to show you this new video we've been working on since January, which is going live to the public tomorrow.

After making the Pilot last spring, we got a taste for more narrative-driven pieces videos - we're always looking for new things to do, and new ways to have fun with the channel. I have to be honest, we were holding out for some movement from that - ideally someone giving us some money to make something narrative and song-filled and fun. But since the Pilot itself doesn't seem to be leading us anywhere (after a number of failed attempts and carrots-on-sticks-quickly-whisked-away-by-commissioners), we thought we'd take it into our own hands and make something Nice and Good ourselves.

I wrote this script towards the end of last year, as part of working out a full 30 minute sitcom script, and anyone who's seen You Shouldn't Have will recognise the character dynamic and some of the specific lines from the show. The main challenge to ourselves was to push into new territory and see if we can make our music videos slot into a story in a compelling way.

And honestly, this is one of - if not the - most proudly things I've ever made. I'm so happy with how much effort we both put in, and thus how detailed it came out. We shot the entire thing with just the two of us - Hunter on Camera and Sound, me on Acting and Props, in 5 hours (including set up and pack down), in a little bar in Farringdon. It was a stressful day, but we have such a shorthand for working together now, and we're so good at dividing labour, that we knew we'd basically get it done whatever, and we did.

Of course, there's always ways you long to improve something like this, after the fact. The main one for me being we had no time for multiple takes - it was all done off first takes that Hunter had carefully planned for all the different angles. And bear in mind I had no one to act against, so I had to imagine myself and the lines I'd be saying back to me, and fill in the beats. It was a mind-puzzle and definitely pushed us to our productive limits.

So yes, I suppose technically I'm proud of what we pulled off in such a tiny amount of time, but also creatively it feels like a real distillation of our tastes and style and the Vibes we've been Cultivating for the last few years. Hunter's ability to see how things should play out in the room is pretty amazing. Being able to imagine a whole extra actor in the room by yourself, and how to direct around that, is no mean feat. And his editing on this is so classy. I also love the score I've done and feel like everything in it came out so intentional. It was fun for me to bounce off some of the temporary music that Hunter had found from online music libraries for the first edit, to use as a mood guide, and re-imagine them in Logic as something that I would write, and that could make the piece feel crafted as a whole.

Well, there we go. That is all I have to confess, and thank you if you have made it to the bottom of this spheel, and you'll have to forgive my protended rambles. There was just something about this one that made me feel so Creatively Fulfilled. And that is almost entirely down to your support on here, enabling our creativity For The Sake Of It. Hunter and I are very grateful. Lots of love. Jazz Emu