Having built a big fanbase via her videos online, Gabrielle Aplin has turned to Joshua Sanger, the director the video for Home, one of her biggest YouTube hits, to direct the video for her first release on a major label, Please Don’t Say You Love Me.

The video is a narrative about a couple (played by Iain De Caestecker and Ophelia Lovibond) who hit a rocky patch, while out for a country drive – with Gabrielle as the observer of a tricky situation where one person is demonstrating a lot more affection than the other.

“We wanted to make this video a natural progression from the previous video for Home,” says Joshua. “It was evident that Please Don’t Say You Love Me has a strong narrative dialogue built into the song and so we felt a narrative approach was key to creating a video that complemented it.

“Other than writing the script itself, casting was the most important element of bringing it to life. We were honoured that Iain De Caestecker and Ophelia Lovibond liked the script and song enough to come on board and from there it all fell into place. Both Iain and Ophelia brought the honesty and subtlety to their characters that I felt was necessary to make the relationship relatable and believable.”

Gabrielle Aplin
Please Don’t Say You Love Me (EMI)
Director: Joshua Sanger
Producer: Rob Jelley and James Fuller
Production Company: Spun Films
Production Assistant: Kellie Simpson
1st AD: Tristan Hefele
2nd AD: Bob Platt-Higgins
DP: Sam Care
Steadicam: Marc Covington
Focus Puller: Karl Hui
2nd AC: Andrew Bradley
Gaffer: Craig Davies
Spark: Mark Alveres
Art Director: Elliot Scott
Art Department Assistant: Hannah Kons
Editor: Jody McAlavey
Edit Assistant: Sofie Alonzi
Sound Recordist: Tony Frances
Sound Mix: Steve Single
Makeup Artist: Beth Roberts-Miller
Stylist: Ellie May Brown
Grade: Mat Troughton @ Met Film
Runners: Alice Matthews, Fatjon Sufi & Tom Wade
Starring: Iain De Caestecker and Ophelia Lovibond
Commissioner: James Hackett