Caezar are Joe Donnelly and JJ Gilmour (former members of Scottish band The Silencers). Their debut album "Time" has just been released and I was lucky to work with them on promotional images as well as a music video for the album's second single "Love Is A Reason". The photoshoot took place on a rainy May day last year in Glasgow (huge thanks to Sarah Kesson for assistance). We wanted an urban, gritty feel to the images and Glasgow has plenty to offer in that respect.
The video was a different bag altogether. The band's brief was "black and white, weird and without us in it". I have to admit, I panicked a little - I had done 2 music videos by that point, both pretty much performance-based and I'd never written a treatment for one before. In fact, I almost said no to the project but I eventually had a moment of epiphany, got in touch with the amazing Frances Thorburn asking if she'd be interested in being involved. She said yes, as did Michelle Watson from Kitsch Me Vintage who provided custom headpieces, vintage dress and was in charge of hair and makeup on the day. Fran's spine-tingling performance is what truly makes this video and I can't thank her enough for agreeing to take part in it. We filmed most of it in my living room and in a back lane in Glasgow's Charing X area. There was some additional filming done all over the city centre from Fran's car on one very, very snowy night earlier this year. The visuals of Anton Corbijn were our reference point for both, the photography and the video. Check it all out below and if you'd like to catch the band live you're in luck Caezar are are playing Òran Mór in Glasgow on July 27th (you can get tickets here).
Caezar's debut album cover featuring a still from the video.
GEAR:
Nikon D4
Nikkor 50mm f1.4
Reflector
Video was filmed with Nikon D4 + 50mm f1.4 and a Neewer CN-216 LED Light and edited in FCPX.