Directed, shot & edited: Eugene Tumusiime
Gaffer & AC: Kristiana Zhekova
In 2021, I was asked by London-based dream pop trio Night Tapes to direct a music video for in Poly Amber, the final track on their 2nd EP, Download Spirit.
The track follows two people as they contemplate the physical and emotional distance between them, before it culminates in a dreamy joint performance and a warm, sparse synth outro.
Drawing from the airy production and the two perspectives in the song, I opted for a video that's equal parts love letter to London at night and psychedelic eye candy. It's Drive, but with a pair of Cyberdog kaleidoscope glasses.
Driving
Starting with a sparse soundscape of echoing drums and soft guitar licks, we open with Max & Sam driving through Vauxhall and Battersea, guided by the lights of Chelsea Bridge. Did you spot MI5?
Max looks for someone to "take the pain away" while I smash-cut to glitched visions of Iris while she rollerskates to the synth stabs which pepper the verse.
Rollerskating
Elsewhere in the city, Iris rollerskates through the night, hoping to be "Someone you'd call home." Iris' vocals light up the night against the backdrops of cold, brutalist architecture and warped lamposts.
Glitch flashbacks now focus on the other two members of the band, right before they reunite for the performance sequence.
Performing
After the trio reunite at Alexandra Palace, they perform against a backdrop of twinkling synths and warm, multitracked vocal effects while Kristiana Zhekova & I used fractal prisms to warp the band and their instruments. Towards the end, Iris' vocals soar above the the mix as I start blending shots of the trio for a psychedelic end to the scene.
GLASSWARP-ing
For the spacey instrumental outro, I shot string lights through different pieces of glassware to warp them as bright synthesisers wash over subtle bass guitar notes. While the string lights provided plenty of colour, my grading style was inspired by the contrast of light, dark and ultra-saturated colour in the work of Panayiotis Terzis. Check out GLASSWARP on my portfolio for a breakdown of how I get this kind of imagery.
