The Murder Capital 'Ethel' by Maxim Kelly
Rob Ulitski - 22nd Nov 2022
A young maid finds herself at a crossroads, in Maxim Kelly's mesmerising promo for Ethel.
Waiting hand and foot on a slightly surreal family, we see the main character run errands and try to stay out of the way, as the father figure lip-syncs to the track, getting oppressively close to her wherever she tries to escape to.
Ending with a climactic dance in the living room - performing to the awkwardly apathetic parents and daughter - the video is haunting and contemplative, echoing films from French and Korean arthouse cinema. A subtle manipulation of the textures of the image at certain points also heightens the surreality of the concept, which creates an unnerving atmosphere.
“Initially I thought Ethel should be the main character and do the dance at the end, and I always had this image from this French film called My American Uncle, where it’s like a little girl standing up at a table," Kelly explains.
"I originally had that image in my head for a rap video, but it didn’t really make sense to the song. I wanted this to feel more like surreal so then as I started finding more imagery. It kind of transpired that maybe the maid was the more interesting character.”
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Rob Ulitski - 22nd Nov 2022
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Credits
Production/Creative
- Director
- Maxim Kelly
- Producer
- Sam Katz
- Production Company
- C
- Executive Producer
- Eleri Evans
- Production Manager
- Sacchin Chande
- 1st AD
- Phillips Nortey
- Runner
- Rory Purdy
Camera
- Director of Photography
- Ollie Ford
- Focus Puller
- Milo Brown
- Harry Feltham
Lighting/Grip
- Gaffer
- Riaz Ahmed
- Spark
- Meg Sharpe, Gian Claudio Calipa
Art
- Production designer
- Syd Harmony
Wardrobe
- Stylist
- Marianthi Hatzikidi
- Make-up
- Elena Diaz
Choreography
- Choreographer
- Arran Green
Casting
- Casting director
- Ginny Kerr
- Lead actor
- Stephen Harakis
- Lead Dancer
- Myana Van Cuijenborg
- Mother
- Yasmeen Scott
- Daughter
- Anais Berinde
Editorial
- Editor
- VP
- Editing company
- TE
- Edit Producer
- Dave Frost
Grading
- Colour Producer
- Lewes Bridson
- Colourist
- Tom Mangham
- Colour grade company
- BS
Rob Ulitski - 22nd Nov 2022