Sam Fender 'People Watching' by Stuart A. McIntyre
David Knight - 30th Jan 2025
He is renowned for those qualities which nobody else quite matches - the intensity, the charisma, the intelligence, the ambivalent morality. So after Ripley, Sherlock, Fleabag, Hamlet and all - where does a Sam Fender music video stand in the range of Andrew Scott's screen achievements? It's right up there.
In Stuart A McIntyre video for Fender's People Watching, Scott is a man on the move, drifting through the American West. His combination of purposefulness and unpredictability in McIntyre's highly fluid and cinematic direction is compelling viewing. Echoes of Scott's former roles, together with his sheer magnetism, invite us to speculate on his true motivations.
But that's only half the story. The video is a journey to revelation for the viewer. And its how you reach that point is where the real magic lies. So this is one of the rare ones, where there's a transcendent moment which can only really come in a music video...
The point when Scott starts dancing with himself, as Fender's track hits its crescendo, the image goes blurry, like the film itself can barely hold itself together. The emotion. Wow.
It's not just about Andrew Scott, but the achievement of everyone involved here: McIntyre, DoP Max Goldman, editor Talia Pasqua (a brilliant job), commissioners Semera Khan and Kirstin Cruickshank, and more. But paradoxically, with no dialogue to speak, Scott is unchained. He moves to a different level, to become one of his most memorable characters. Unmissable.
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David Knight - 30th Jan 2025
Credits
Production/Creative
- Director
- Stuart Mcintyre
- Creative Director
- Semera Khan
- Executive Producer
- China Presles
- Executive Producer
- Andrew Gallo
Camera
- Director of Photography
- Max Goldman
Art
- Production designer
- Brittany Porter
Casting
- Lead actor
- Andrew Scott
Editorial
- Editor
- Talia Pasqua
- Editing company
- Cabin Edit
Agent
- Director's Representation
- AU
Commission
- Commissioner
- Kirstin Cruickshank
David Knight - 30th Jan 2025