Paul Noonan 'Glacier' by Locky

Locky tells a sombre and moving story inspired by the life of Clive and Deborah Wearing, in the video for Irish singer-songwriter Paul Noonan.

What might first appear as a tale of loss in a traditional sense is actually rooted in something much less common. Clive Wearing is believed to have one of the most severe cases of anterograde amnesia ever recorded. His abilities to perform learned tasks like speaking and walking remained intact, but experiential memory was erased. His emotional memory, however, remained intact.

The illness Clive suffered from has been described as forgetting where and why you are somewhere in the blink of an eye, and the long cuts to black as a transition is a great visual tool to represent this. The desaturated colour palette feels almost lifeless, the colour has been drained away, symbolising the frustrations and regrets the characters experience. Hauntingly beautiful, the concept is as brilliant as the track it is paired with, and it makes for an emotional viewing experience.

LOCKY:

"Paul wrote the song based on the lives of Clive and Deborah Wearing. Clive contracted anterograde and retrograde amnesia from a herpes simplex and essentially lost his ability to retain memories. On top of that he also couldn’t create new memories and had no recollection of his past. However, his emotional memory remained intact. He knew he loved his wife and kids and remembered who they were for the most part. He also could play music from memory but when asked what he was doing he would instantly forget.

"There’s something so beautiful and admirable about someone living through frustration and loneliness to be with someone they love in the face of an illness like that. And they had many beautiful moments amongst the hardship which is something we really wanted to capture.

"I really wanted to shoot this in such a way that meant our focus was always on Derbhle [who plays Deborah]. We framed Donncha [Clive] away from camera or uncomfortably at the edge of frame. We also framed him in shadow and had him out of focus at times too. I think all these things really help accentuate the feeling of disconnection between them even when they are close. It’s a really tragic scenario and the response from people who have been in a similar position has really taken me aback."