Concrete, a high-end post-production facility based in London's Soho and the first to host Europe's first 3-D Stereoscopic DI Suite, recently worked on the latest David Jordan music video for Mercury Records. The stunning video titled SET THE MOOD for his debut album was directed by Tom Bird at Mercury and produced by Hannah Cooper.
The music video, entirely in black and white, sets an atmospheric mood with a stylistic, nostalgic feel to it with jazzy 1930's nuances giving it a timeless classic appeal. It was filmed in color and telecined in black and white. Concrete Smoke Compositor Mustafa Pertev worked on the grading visual effects and compositing work. Pertev used Smoke to perform a few cosmetic masterpieces in the spot. In the bartender shot, he removed a mole on the actor's face and cleverly got rid of any signs of bags from some of the characters' eyes.
"I removed the bags from under the eyes which then left the area textureless which presented a new hurdle. I then replaced that area with new created textures and matched them exactly to the original skin tones of the character's faces. I then smoothed out the lines giving them a youthful and smooth appearance." Mustafa said.
Tom Bird, Mercury Records' Director added, " His understanding and intricate detail in perfecting certain images on a cosmetic level was much appreciated, as I wanted to emulate the sheen of vintage Jazz photographs, which we did through care and collaboration."
Established senior operator at Concrete, Guy Morley was responsible for all the smooth offline editing of the footage. Morley and Pertev fitted the pieces together seamlessly including synchronizing the audio with the final version which was challenging as it was not the original sound that was used at the shoot.
The scene is set at the end of an evening in a jazz piano bar. An old man is seen sweeping the dance floor and a bar tender smartly dressed in a DJ is clearing away glasses with the help of a beautiful waitress. The actress used in the piece is also a professional dancer. David Jordan stands at the grand piano and starts to sing as he watches the action, the band plays along too. Gradually the engaging soothing scene engages the viewer as the momentum of the beat picks up luring the viewer in to the spontaneous setting. The bar tender pours the subtly flirtatious waitress a drink; she then stylishly starts to dance coquettishly with an old fashioned elegance, reminiscent of the thirty's. She begins twirling and spinning around gracefully lost in the moment and music.
On her first spin, she literally freezes, with all the action pausing too, including the bartender and the band members. Her refreshingly subdued manner suits the mood and tone. The bartender drops his glass in admiration, captivated by her beauty in his frozen state. As the music winds to an end, in the frenzy of her spinning, she brings them back to life signaling a farewell to the band with her eyes, they acknowledge her with a touch of their caps. The old man with his broom is visibly charmed by her, as she gently kisses his head touchingly before she heads away for the night.
The single is currently airing.
Credits:
Client: Mercury RecordsDirector: Tom Bird, MercuryProducer: Hannah CooperPost Production Company: ConcreteOnline Compositor Mustafa PertevEditing: Guy Morley, ConcretePost Producer: Scott ShandEdit Assistants: Asha McClean and Vendy Perglova
