Director of Photography

Rob Jarvis

Niall Trask completes the third part of his trilogy of videos for Eyes Of Others - and this one really does get the most from shooting the series in the rural Norway in winter.It also puts the artist - real name&nbsp;John Bryden - through the kind of endurance test that recalls Thom Yorke's experience making the video for Radiohead's No Surprises. When he nearly drowned.&nbsp;&nbsp;In this case the&nbsp;video for Once, Twice, Thrice is a totally captivating one-shot reveal. The camera draws out from a close-up of Bryden's eyes, to show what appears to be a snow-covered&nbsp;field behind him. But then we find that it's actually a frozen lake - and Bryden is chest deep in the icy waters.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;How did this happen? Did Scotland's latest exponent of groovy indie-electronica&nbsp;survive the experience? Thankfully, yes - and he explains all here.[imgtoken data:1] "This video began as the mad and bad idea of Simon, our Norwegian host at The Betty Fjord Clinic. He had a mate who had an ice hole in one of the neighbouring lakes. Niall phoned me up in advance of the trip, asking if I’d be up for getting in the water for the duration of the video. I said 'Yes - I do my own stunts'. "I thought I’d better get into training. Like Pierce Brosman prepping for the ski chase scene atop the snowy Caucasus in The World Is Not Enough.&nbsp;I’d be ready."I began taking cold baths at home - miserable - and swimming in the sea at Wardie Bay, Edinburgh - also miserable. I never quite reached those zen awakenings that you hear Wim Hof followers go on and on and on about. But I could feel my tolerance for cold water steadily increasing so I hoped I could pull it off on the day with the help of some adrenaline.<blockquote>What if I died? Pulled under the ice by some invisible current...</blockquote>"Three weeks later, it’s January 18th and we are off to Norway, using The Betty Fjord Clinic as our base. The clinic is a residential recording studio tucked away in the Søndre Land region. It is also equipped with sauna and a host who offers good times and a can-do approach to everything. "Cut to the morning of the shoot. I was under strict instruction by Simon to stay in the sauna while the small crew went to set up the shot. After a leisurely hour of sauntering in and out of the sauna, he appeared, saying that the original ice hole was inaccessible due to the previous night’s blizzard. So they were off to cut open another hole in another lake. Fine by me. I was enjoying a relaxed morning. "Simon returned an hour and a half later with his buddy Åge - a retired lumberjack - to say that they needed to pick up a bigger chainsaw. By this point I was getting restless, sitting with those same feelings I get before going on stage, namely; excitement and dread. "I feared after 10 seconds in the water I'd go into a state of shock and have to be hauled out, thus reducing the whole thing to one big waste of time and money. Further, what if I died? Pulled under the ice by some invisible current. I felt a sense of embarrassment around my imagined future death. I began to feel sorry for Niall who would probably feel responsible as producer/director, his life ruined by guilt. "Anyway I was spiraling a bit so I reminded myself to have faith in my training. I found comfort in some words of affirmation, my mantra if you will: ‘don’t worry about it, you’ll be fine, don’t worry about anything at all, ever.’ Simon finally returned early-afternoon to announce that the hole was ready. I got into his toasty car and requested some ambient music for the journey. We put on Brian Eno’s Music for Airports. All going to plan, I’d be at the airport the following day. "Arriving, I walked across the frozen lake and observed the ice hole. I’d imagined something more pure and pristine. It looked like there had been a struggle, with scraggly blocks of ice strewn about the entrance and there was a lingering odour of 2-stroke fuel in the air. The water was murky, equipment had already been lost to the water in the form of an ice fishing drill, it was -10 degrees Celsius and they all looked knackered. "I stripped down to my favourite swim shorts and pulled on a pair of wetsuit socks that Rob had lent me. Simon said he had a trick. He produced a flask of hot water and tenderly poured the contents into my socks. He then lassoed a rope over my head, pulling it down and around my torso. I was taken aback as Simon looped his end of the rope around his own torso. A sense of responsibility washed over me. We were brothers-in-arms. "Niall was brief and to the point with his instructions. I repeated to myself my ‘don’t worry about it’ mantra and slipped into the water. It didn’t feel cold, it didn’t feel like water as I’d known it before. Was it the hot socks?&nbsp;As everything began to slow down, the camera started rolling and in four&nbsp;and a half minutes we were done.”

United Kingdom

Jai Durban

Åge Osflaten

Niall Trask

Sam Davey @ob Management

Polly Millner @ob Management

Ramshackle Productions

Danny Mitchell

Dan Matthews

Simon Tickner

Dan Levy

Rascal Post

John Bryden

Heavenly Recordings

OB Management

Alternative

Eyes Of Others 'Once, Twice, Thrice' by Niall Trask

Eyes of Others - Once, Twice, Thrice (Official Music Video)

Niall Trask follows <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2023/03/02/eyes-others-new-hair-new-me-niall-trask/80573" target="_blank">New Hair New Me</a> with his second video for John Brydon,&nbsp;aka Eyes Of Others, filmed in Norway.By contract to the wide snowy landscapes of the first video, for the driving Big Companies, Large Tentacles Trask builds a claustrophobic atmosphere, rotating shots of Brydon in several performance set-ups filmed after dark - including in a sauna - and winding things up to a pulsating climax."I sat in a pub in New Cross and convinced Heavenly Records to depart with their money to help me pay off my tax bill in January," explains Trask.&nbsp;"With no real plan or direction, we ate some magic mushrooms and filmed a bunch of stuff in minus twenty&nbsp;degrees. I don’t feel well."[imgtoken data:1]

Pias Recordings

Betty Fjord Clinic

Eyes Of Others 'Big Companies, Large Tentacles' by Niall Trask

Eyes-Of-Others-'Big-Companies,-Large-Tentacles'-by-Niall-Trask

Niall Trask takes John Brydon, aka Eyes Of Others, out into the depths of snowy Norway&nbsp;for New Hair New Me, the first of three&nbsp;videos he's directed by Trask for the Edinburgh-based purveyor of electronic pop.Brydon gamely marches through a series of spectacular landscapes, including struggling through deep snow, whilst clutching his mini-keyboard and lipsycing the charming electronic pop track, before finally arriving at the forecourt of a rural petrol station. It's the first of three videos for Eyes Of Others by Trask - all shot in Norway."This shoot was the second coldest of the three and I needed physiotherapy afterwards," explains Brydon. "A highlight for me was throwing a mild-mannered strop towards the end of the last day on set - somewhere in Norway - after being asked, yet again, to trudge through knee-deep snow and run along various icy roads as the twilight looked especially good. “'Who gives a shit about the light', I said under my breath. Niall asked me if I was alright. Nice touch that I thought. "It took me back to a time when I was an extra in a T-Mobile advert where I was told I would be last in the queue for lunch due to (the lowly status of) my role in the production. And look at me now…star of the show, dancing outside a Scandinavian petrol station."[imgtoken data:1]&nbsp;

PIAS

Eyes Of Others 'New Hair New Me' by Niall Trask

Eyes-Of-Others-'New-Hair-New-Me'-by-Niall-Trask

Jamie T has a nighttime romp through the city, in Niall Trask's promo for 90s Cars.&nbsp;Sitting in the passenger seat of a car, we see a bruised-up, bloodied&nbsp;Jamie chill out&nbsp;as a blur of nighttime scenery passes by.&nbsp;Stopping by the river for an impromptu performance, the narrative of the video is left mysterious and secretive, instead focusing on the cinematic driving vignettes.&nbsp;

Ella Gaskell

Emily Jeffery

Sam Crook

Klim Jurevicius

Aimee Loosley

Daniel Levy

Jamie T '90s Cars' by Niall Trask

Jamie-T--'90s-Cars-'-by-Niall-Trask

Jessie Ware takes to the pulpit&nbsp;to preach tolerance and self-expression, in Vicky Lawton's effervescent visual&nbsp;for Free Yourself.When Jessie enters a large room, striding majesterially through a parting crowd in her&nbsp;flowing red gown, there is a spark of anticipation. Then&nbsp;she begins to perform, the super-cool and buttoned-up throng she is addressing start to respond to her words. And soon the group are giving themselves up to Jessie's commands - and being their full unbridled selves.&nbsp;With her strong sense of fashion, Lawton gives the video a twist of sophisticated&nbsp;rock 'n roll decadence, but with the added element of euphoria which feels contemporary and certainly works with the uplifing nature of the track and Ware's remarkable voice.[imgtoken data:1]"As soon as I heard the track, I knew it had to be a celebration - a&nbsp;moment of joy, freedom of expression and individuality," says the director. "It’s all there in the lyrics - 'free yourself'. [I was] Imagining a gathering of like-minded free-loving folk at a stately home, very 70’s rock n'roll - but with a pinch of the occult thrown in."Knowing I’d want to make the tone provocative, I needed to ensure there was the class and sophistication in the visuals to keep it chic. That meant keeping mystery and intrigue at the forefront, using references of decadence, silhouettes to tease and a heavenly glow throughout. That’s where working with Rob Jarvis, DOP was a delightful experience - he has an eye for controlled compositions and a painterly effect when it comes to the use of light."Within this setting, Jessie is a true performer. Her ability to be the authoritarian preacher to the crowd of dancers in the start of the film, and get within the group towards the end and let loose was masterful to watch."

Josh Stovell

Anna Engerström

Luke Jefferson Day

Vicky Lawton

Blair Smith

Carrie Sutton

Octopus Inc

Ailsa Robertson

James Duffy

Nicola Kenney

Claire Luke

Steve Wingrove

Richard Lewis

Gabriel Jones

Aida García Vega

Oliver Casamayou

Patrick Wilson

Francesca Brazzo

Jamie O'Donnell

Simona Cristea

EMI Records

Nomad Editing Company

Coffee & TV

Soul

Jessie Ware 'Free Yourself' by Vicky Lawton

Jessie-Ware-@jessieware-'Free-Yourself'-by-Vicky-Lawton-@vickylawton

Niall Trask directs a Lord Of The Flies-inspired promo for DC Gore.&nbsp;In the video for I Like You, we see the artist lead a dishevelled bunch of brass instrument-playing kids, as they collect the remains of their crash-landed aircraft from Pett Level beach, in East Sussex.&nbsp;The enigmatic video cuts between their present situation - trying their best to survive and get help - and the moments leading up to the crash, creating a heightened, tense atmosphere that lingers until the final moment.&nbsp;

Klim Jurevucius

Alice Denny

Syd Harmony

Faith Powell

Marnie Perkins

Aimee Loosely

Michael Pearce

Domino Recording Co.

DC Gore 'I Like You' by Niall Trask

Dc-Gore-'I-Like-You'-by--Niall-Trask

Niall Trask brings a vintage feel, and a hint of a nautical ghost story,&nbsp;in his atmospheric video for&nbsp;Nadine Shah's Trad.&nbsp;Shah plays the captain and sole crew of a vessel at sea - who is also evidently&nbsp;a bride. And it turns out she is not alone.&nbsp;The abstract imagery has a hint of a narrative, just enough to tease viewers into their own readings of the concept, but it's very much open to interpretation.&nbsp;DoP&nbsp;Rob Jarvis brings a gritty and textured style to the aesthetic, paying homage to vintage cinema with the film stock and traditional lighting setups.&nbsp;Deeply visceral in a somewhat understated way, the haunting concept and isolated location help elevate the sense of drama&nbsp;and mystery, highlighting&nbsp;Trask's skill in building suspense through character.[imgtoken data:1]

Lowkey Films

Connor O'Hara

Matt Cummins

Katy Lassen

Raphael Salley

Elias Høve

Indie Rock

Nadine Shah 'Trad' by Niall Trask

Nadine-Shah-'Trad'-by-Niall-Trask

Jessie may be living in a haunted house - and those magic nunchakas she discovered will probably come in handy. And who are those guys with the snakes on dog leads?You will be asking these questions, and probably mor,&nbsp;&nbsp;in Niall Trask's video for the retro-pop of Pregoblin's&nbsp;Snakes &amp; Oranges –&nbsp; a lo-fi mishmash of cult movie references delivered in an enjoyably wacky fashion.

Rob Jarvis

Director of Photography

Videos featuring Rob Jarvis

2023 (3)

2022 (3)

2020 (2)

Popular content

Is this your profile?

Feedback

Latest Videos