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Sam Smith 'Too Good At Goodbyes' by Luke Monaghan

Sam Smith 'Too Good At Goodbyes' by Luke Monaghan

David Knight - 20th Sept 2017

Newly-svelte Sam Smith teams with long term collaborator Luke Monaghan to visualise the big comeback single Too Good At Goodbyes. And not surprisingly, it's emotional.

Sam Smith's heartfelt performance is intercut with dramatic vignettes, all variations on the main theme: the pain of saying goodbye. The strength of the performances - this was filmed with a combination of actors and non-actors - is underlined by the settings, and its resolutely British feel.

Smith is an international pop star who wants to keep it authentic, and once again finds a worthy partner in Monaghan to achieve that.   

LUKE MONAGHAN:

"My approach to this video was to get the viewer swept up in the human emotion that comes with a goodbye, whether it be through a break-up, death or the farewell to another year passed.

"In the scenes separate from Sam’s performance, I wanted the camera’s move to be a pull away from the subject, visually signifying leaving or a goodbye. I did a variation on that camera move for the ‘Writings On The Wall’ video for the James Bond film Spectre. I’m definitely trying to use more composed frames and camera moves, whilst still keeping the emotion and rawness that was in my earlier music videos; Ben Magahy did a great job in helping me on making that happen.

"Sam’s performances get better every video. Every time we work together he is better; and with his long time away from releasing music he’s definitely come back a more mature and all around better artist, so I wanted this video to reflect that and of course do justice to his comeback. We shot the video across four days in Whitley Bay, Newcastle and London; a rare treat to get that amount of time on a music video and I think it shows in the finished piece. A lot of the references were British photographers, it was important to me and Sam that the video felt British.

"A lot of the references were British photographers, it was important to me and Sam that the video felt British."

"The edit was all about finding the subtle and not so subtle moments between our cast and match-cutting them with each other; or having the different scenes bouncing off of each-other so even though we’re cutting between a lot of different scenes, they all feel as one because the stories and the emotion feels as one.

"With the casting, it was a proper mix. We cast a few actors; some real couples; a couple of models, and then Mark Prince for instance, a retired professional boxer; his story is one I’ve been aware of for a long time and when I heard the song; I immediately thought of his story and all he’s been through and I knew he could harness it for us in the video.

"Look out for the next video with Sam; I’m really excited about sharing that one too."

Watch 'Sam Smith 'Too Good At Goodbyes' by Luke Monaghan' here

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David Knight - 20th Sept 2017

Tags

  • Director's notes
  • Drama
  • Pop

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Credits

Production/Creative

Director
Luke Monaghan
Producer
Mikey Levelle
Producer
Tom Birmingham
Production Company
Executive Producer
Natalie Arnett
1st AD
Chris Malin

Camera

Director of Photography
Ben Magahy
Director of Photography
Callan Green
Steadicam
Fabrizo Sciarra
Steadicam
Rick Woollard

Lighting/Grip

Gaffer
Matt Moffatt
Gaffer
Adam Bell

Art

Art Director
Jess Elcock

Editorial

Editor
Sam Jones
Editor
Editing company
Cut+Run
Editing company

Grading

Colourist
Ricky Gausis
Colour grade company
MPC

Commission

Label
Capitol Records

David Knight - 20th Sept 2017

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