James Lees takes young French artist Elisa Jo into the depths of wintry England for her first music video, for the song Defeated, and thanks to the help of a few friends was able to achieve a true sense of gritty British cinema due to shooting on 35mm with some of the last film stock being produced by Fuji…

James Lees on making the video for Elisa Jo’s Undefeated

“For her first music promo proper, Elisa Jo and her label wanted a performance video with a distinctive British feel. After listening to the track I felt the video should echo the melancholy and desolation of the lyrics and most of all, the honesty. No tricks, no twists, just Elisa and the emotion of her song.

“Regarding choosing the locations I’ve always felt the flat unending landscapes and classic British suburban estates of near where I grew up in the Midlands are very cinematic and a perfect reflection of real Britain. So we went and shot the whole thing in and around Peterborough. The landscapes and portraits we were looking to capture just lent themselves to film so perfectly it made me really push to shoot on 35mm. Luckily this became a reality with the generosity of Fuji and the incredible support of Chris Youlton at Arri.

“Working with Ula Pontikos to capture everything in it’s raw, untouched simplicity was a total joy. After two years of not shooting on film I’m desperate to keep using it again just as it seems to be dying – Fuji have ceased production of film stock and Technicolour is due to close it’s lab next month. Hopefully the continuation of Kodak and the i-dailies lab will mean we still have the opportunity to make this aesthetic choice for some time to come!”