Dave Ma connects with Hurts for their third single Stay, shooting the video in beautiful, bleak Iceland in what turned out to be tricky conditions. Especially as singer Theo and leading lady Anna are apparently emerging from the sea at the start.

But the outcome is both an epic and emotionally-charged accompaniment to Hurts’ massive synth-pop. Surely this is going to be huge.

Hurts
Stay (Sony Music)
Director: Dave Ma
Producer: Campbell Beaton
Production Company: Pulse Films
Representation: Obmanagement
Iceland Producer: Rafnar Hermannsson
DP: Karl Óskarsson
Art Director: Aron Bergmann Magnusson
Offline: James Rose at Cut and Run
TK: James Tillet at Prime Focus
Commissioner: Dan Millar at Sony Music
Iceland Service Company: True North
Watch: here

Dave Ma on making the video for Hurts’ Stay

“It was to say the least, one of the most scenic and rugged landscapes I’ve shot in. We turned up to recce the locations to find the beach under a sandstorm leaving poor visibility. It was so bad that we nearly drove into the sea when heading out to the beach and got bogged in the sand for a tense few minutes.

“On the shoot day the sandstorm cleared and the clouds rolled in as the perfect moody cover and everything looked amazing. But it was freezing, and the dancers, actress and Adam and Theo from Hurts did amazingly well to look somewhat composed in near subzero temperatures.

“Big love to Anna our lead who injured her leg shooting her final shot when a freak wave wiped her out. It was a magnificent sight seeing Dan Millar charging into the water with my camera bag on his back to save the day! Massive shout out to Campbell our producer for tirelessly making things happen.”