Pre-production
Intended to shoot some moving ferrofluid. Inspired by The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo opening title sequence. This sequence has a gothic horror vibe to it. The fluid is evocative of death and aliens.
Footage of fluid moving, ink, oil and glitter/acrylic paint in water.
I ultimately decided upon Guilt Trip by Kanye as I felt it best suited the visuals I had in my head.
I desired to have a one-point-perspective shot from the front view of my car travelling along the A5 towards Dordon. I had travelled a lot down this road in the past year while visiting my close friends who all live there. Seeing the beauty of this road often, I knew this was going to be a desired shot long before we started the music video unit.
I wanted to make a piece that had some connection to my experiences over the last year.
The song is about trying to figure out why his relationships have gone wrong. I see the video as an expression of escapism from reality.
Production
I carried out three separate shoots of a mixture of fluids. I purchased some ferrofluid and borrowed a couple magnets from the physics department. In order to carrying out some more diverse experiments I tried to extract some fluorescent fluid from some glow sticks. However, that proved to be more difficult than I had anticipated and I didn't have enough time to go to plan B which was to extract and melt down some highlighter fluid. So instead I decided to just shoot the ferrofluid on its own and fortunately I think the footage turned out better than I had anticipated regardless. I attached the GoPro to the front grill of my car using a car attachment I bought offline. We went to Earls Shilton skate park with A2 student Cal Dawson. I was told by a friend that he was a proficient at skateboarding so I decided to get in touch to see if he could be apart of the video. I tested out the attachment prior to installing the GoPro to ensure it would be safe to use while driving.
Post-Production
I decided to go with the 2.35:1 anamorphic aspect ratio to give the piece a cinematic quality. The one point perspective of the road shot transitions into the light vortex well. it goes with the line: "I'm losing my... Im living my..."- these lyrics convey a story or purpose behind the visuals. The flashing psychedelic liquid sequence was inspired by West's own video for his other song 'All Of The Lights'. The overlay of the imagery was inspired by the editing of Locke starring Tom Hardy. I see the purpose of the video as a response to a guilt trip - when someone tries to make you feel guilty for thinking/feeling/doing things a certain way. Its a visual representation of the act of taking illicit substances in an attempt to escape feelings of guilt and existential worries. During editing, I wondered if the lack of a close-up to create an attachment to a central figure was missing. However I think the result is instead a video that makes it seam as though it were from the audiences own perspective. I wish in heinsight I had used a two camera setup as it would then have had the opportunity to be viewed in 3D via a VR headset, making it a more immersive experience. The ferro fluid footage was actually edited the same colour hue as the fluid seen in David Finchers title credits.
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