Hannah Grae wrestles with expectations in Lola Webster's resonant promo for Better Now You're Gone. 

Inspired by the visual world of 2010's coming-of-age films, the video uses the popular 'Reality' vs 'Expectations' split timeline from 500 Days of Summer, being conflicted between self doubt and self confidence and never living up to the idealised version of yourself.

Balancing grunge and glam with a fun concept, the video incorporates plenty of cheesy tropes from films such as Freaky Friday and Mean Girls, with the high camp of British cult classics like St Trinians. 

“The timelines depict Expectations - intoxicating, dreamlike, warm and glowy. I wanted to bring ‘rose tinted glasses’ to life," Lola Webster explains. "It had to stand apart from Reality, which in comparison feels lonely and cold.

"I worked with the amazing DoP, Chaimaa Ormazabal, to work out how we could make these two timelines feel distinct but cohesive. We shot Expectations on a wide lens to bring a slight dreamy distortion, and handheld it to feel more likely and dynamic. Whereas, Reality was shot on sticks with limited movement, and showing more space around Hannah to get that lonely, isolated feel.

"I wanted to blend the cheesy visual tropes (wipe transitions, freeze frames, etc) with a more gritty, contemporary lens. So we decided to shoot in an underground bar in Dalston, which was dressed to look beautifully lived-in by art director Eoin Greally. We wanted to show the very London-centric grimy bathroom, and capture some of the buzz of the street outside, blending some grunge with the glam which I think is very Hannah.

"I knew I wanted to shoot contrasting colour palettes, warm and cold, but with a bit of an unusual, acidic twist to bring a gritty surrealism to the video, to bring in that rebellion and angst, rather than a classic Hollywood-feeling palette. So, for example, yellows lean toward chartreuse, the greens more lime and the blues toward teal. This was the genius combo of Chaimaa’s lighting and grade by Megan Lee [at Electric Theatre Collective].”