James Edward Cook directs a visceral promo for singer-songwriter and former I Am Kloot frontman Peter Alexander Jobson, with the artist performing at the piano... soaked in blood. The striking video - shot in the artist's native North East - for Burn The Ration Books Of Love establishes this powerful graphic image from the start, with Jobson's performance backdropped by a projected black and white photo of a mid 20th century audience. But then around the halfway mark, Jobson's gory appearance begins to change, the blood flowing upwards in a reverse rain. It leaves Jobson untouched, as if cleansed and reborn, and the overall effect is a sense of lifting from a situation of macabre despair. It's an appropriate complement to an epic track.Jobson had a distinct vision for the video, brought to life by Cook, working with producer Karen Taylor - their body of work in the past decade includes short films and feature film Christmas Presence - and Cook also taking on the roles of DoP and editor and colourist on the video."From the very start the concept revolved around Pete being doused in blood," Cook explains. "It was important that the audience saw the aftermath first, but that it didn't feel too 'horroresque', that there was a poetic aesthetic from the outset."We shot the majority of the video in reverse to enhance a sense of not knowing how it would end. The other technical challenge was that we only had one take at the 'blood spray' as it covered the entire set, so it quickly became a high-speed multi-cam shoot with plastic sheets over everything."Shot at Pride Media Centre, Gateshead with a very small crew, four cameras, back projection and 50 litres of 'blood'"
Rob Ulitski - 5 months ago
