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Cher Lloyd 'M.I.A.' by Raja Virdi

Rob Ulitski - 14th Oct 2019

Cher Lloyd cleans up her act in her comeback video, directed by Raja Virdi. 

Switching from neon-lit laundrette interiors to breathtaking choreography in front of The Barbican in London, the bold colours and striking visuals for new single M.I.A. are a statement and an assertion - Cher Lloyd is back. 

Wonderfully lensed by Dan Stafford Clark, the video feels contemporary and relevant, and the '90s styling and choreography from Kimmy Taylor builds upon this aesthetic perfectly.

RAJA VIRDI: 

"I had a lot of fun directing this promo for Cher Lloyd. I'm a massive fan of big pop promos, so it was really exciting to be asked to direct this. Early on, we dabbled with the idea of movement in the video, but as the idea grew, I kept wanting to add more and more choreo until we felt the piece would look best as a full choreographed promo, to which Cher did an incredible job (considering she'd never done a fully choreographed video before).

"I knew I wanted to shoot somewhere with a British element to it and to ground Cher to London, therefore shooting at The Barbican felt like a really solid idea. For me, the big thing was shooting multiple great scenes but the transitions needed to be smooth. With good planning in pre-production, on the shoot day and with fantastic cutting by Sam Marr, we managed to achieve some great match cuts to make each intro to a new scene feel seamless.

"It was a great collaboration with myself and DoP Dan Stafford-Clark figuring out interesting ways to shoot the choreo and performance elements. I have to also give a huge shout out to Kimmy Taylor and her team for choreographing a fantastic piece. We got a real good balance of contemporary with a nineties/noughties look with the choreo (and styling!).

"It was a tough and very long day, but really happy with the piece we created and that goes out to my fantastic crew for their really hard work."

Rob Ulitski - 14th Oct 2019

Tags

  • Choreography
  • Director's notes
  • Performance
  • Pop
  • Laundrette

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Credits

Production/Creative

Director
Producer
Production Company
Executive Producer
1st AD
Chris Malin

Camera

Director of Photography
Dan Stafford Clark
Focus Puller
Christian Swain
2nd AC
Joe Hofmann
Steadicam
James Elias

Lighting/Grip

Gaffer
Elliot Beach

Wardrobe

Wardrobe
Kojo Hammond
Hair & Make-up
Enya Sullivan

Choreography

Choreographer
Kimmy Taylor

Editorial

Editor
Samuel Marr
Editing company

Grading

Colourist
Joseph Bicknell
Colour grade company
Company 3

Commission

Commissioner
Chris Bruns
Label
Universal Germany

Other credits

2nd AD

James Matthews-Read

Production Coordinator

Molly Fleet

Production Assistants

Max Totney, Elliot Lang

Camera Trainee

Ethan Lodge

Spark

Junior Agyeman, Jamie Hitchens, John-Joe Besagni

Art Department

Camilla Byles

Dancers MUA

Summer Dyason

Choreographer Assistant

Theo Maddix

Dancers

Demi Rox, Lisa Spencer, Katie Collins, Channelle George

Catering

Sweetness Catering

On Set Stills

Issy Townsend

Edit Post Producer

Jenn Sanders

Colour Post Producer

Amanda Pilnik

Special Thanks

Rebekah Tayler @ I:e Music, Silv & Anthony At The Barbican, One Stop Films & SHL Film Lighting

Rob Ulitski - 14th Oct 2019

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