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Eli Brown, Talk Show 'Trouble' by Brock Neal Roberts

Rob Ulitski - 15th Apr 2021

An ominous presence tracks a number of individuals on the streets and fields of East London, in Brock Neal Roberts' gripping promo for Eli Brown & Talk Show. 

Paying homage to gritty British cinema - in particular Alan Clarke's influential masterpiece Elephant - the video for Trouble is focussed on the individuals who walk briskly through an deserted urban landscape - when they are not congregating in legendary Bethnal Green caff Manzi's - aware that they are being followed by an unknown, unseen force, with tension and fear building throughout. 

The video is deceivingly simple, with a concept that packs a punch and gets under your skin, with great use of locations, excellent casting and Neal Roberts working with DoP David Foulkes and editor Beth Roberts to build the spooky feel of a nightmare. It's crafted with real flair and imagination.

BROCK NEAL ROBERTS: 

The core of the idea was that this roaming trouble or darkness could find you at any point.

"When I was sent the track the first thing that came into my mind was this kinetic energy and how this could transcend the visuals. The core of the idea was that this roaming trouble or darkness could find you at any point, no matter who you are, and then combined it with the stylised Steadicam work of Alan Clarke; particularly his film Elephant.

"Initially I just wanted to feature people walking without much context as to why they were doing it in order to just get this intense energy of the track across. But after talking to Louis and the team at Polydor we decided it needed a narrative backdrop in order to create a video that would keep people engaged for the whole video.

"We didn't want this to feel too horror though, so decided to leave the darkness/trouble that follows the characters as they walk as an unseen entity, allowing the track, edit, cinematography and character actions to ramp up the intensity of the video instead."

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Rob Ulitski - 15th Apr 2021

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  • Director's notes
  • Narrative
  • Pick of the Day
  • Dance

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Credits

Production/Creative

Director
Brock Neal Roberts
Producer
Femi Anderson
Production Company
Executive Producer
Precious Mahaga
Production Manager
Ayo Alli
1st AD
Elle Lotherington

Camera

Director of Photography
David Foulkes
Focus Puller
Justin McGillivray
2nd AC
Ethan Lodge
Steadicam
Jess Doxey

Lighting/Grip

Gaffer
Alex Gibbon 

Art

Art Director
Elena Isolini

Wardrobe

Wardrobe
Robbie Canale
Hair & Make-up
Kate O'shea

Editorial

Editor
Beth Roberts

Grading

Colourist
Richard Fearon
Colour grade company

VFX

Post Producer
Bruce Langfield

Agent

Director's Representation
OB Management

Commission

Commissioner
Louis Danckwerts
Label
Polydor Records

Other credits

2ad

Philip Nortey

3ad

Rose Lucas

Grip

Wolf Wasserman

Dit

Finlay Roberts

Spark

Joe Brock

Art Assistant

Alexa Daly

Costume Assistant

Rae Harrison Doyle

Medic

Elaine Yeung

Drivers

Denis Shelly, Danny Reynolds, Djamel Dokkari, Dimitri Topalo

Rob Ulitski - 15th Apr 2021

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