KC Locke presents a darker side of Aitch in the hyperactive video for Raw, in one of the first shoots back since COVID19 brought the industry to a halt in March.  

 Filmed in Manchester, and shot by DoP Stefan Yap, the project is stripped back and highly effective. Focusing on hard light, heavy shadows and high-energy performance, the visual is a strobing mosaic of quickfire setups, punctuated by unusual cutaways.

Certainly the Nightmare On Elm Street hand-through-wall setup is still as creepy an effect as it was back in the '80s. And hopefully it's an outlier for many more live-action videos to come across the next few weeks. 

KC LOCKE:

This was the first shoot back from self isolation... we were able to maintain a safe and fun shooting environment.

"I wanted to develop a more instinct driven, fundamental, darker side of Aitch in Raw. When I first heard the song my initial inspiration was monochromatic, dark in nature with visual metallic textures.

"After speaking to Aitch and understanding his ideas for the video -including a dark evil ring girl- we were set to make something amazing with lots of interesting elements. And together with the amazing talents of Stefan Yap - one of the best handheld operators around (imported from London just for us) - and Jenny O'Sullivan (art director) we were able to compose and craft an excellent collection of scenes using light, dark, textures and strobes. Lots of strobes.

"This was the first shoot for many of us back from self isolation; with APA guidelines and COVID19 regulations we were challenged with creating high octane visuals with restricted resources. Thanks to my producer Lewis Nicolson's vigilance on set, we were still able to maintain a safe and fun shooting environment with world class acts.

"We turned this video around in 24hrs from shoot to delivery with the amazing efforts of Jamil (editor) and Alex (grade) c/o The Mill. The outcome of the video is a stylish set piece, in which we see a more mature side of Aitch none of us has seen before. Made in Manchester by Mancs for one of our finest talents."