Raye | Genesis

Nominations: MTV Music Video Awards

Project Insights

Story

"Genesis" is a seven-minute epic music video crafted by RAYE and Otis Dominique, developed over two years. The video unfolds across three acts and explores a rich tapestry of genres, including jazz, contemporary R&B, hip hop, gospel, and pop. Lyrically, it delves into profound themes like depression, exhaustion, and anxiety while ultimately offering a strong message of hope.

Project Insights

Diving into "Genesis" was a thrilling experience that reminded me of my early days in the industry, slumming it as a loader and then DIT on experimental music vids. Even though my dreams are still haunted by malfunctioning 5Ds and flashed mags, that useful knowledge is still all there... which was handy as we played with an eclectic mix of formats—35mm, 16mm, 8mm, Alexa LF, Thermal, and even iPhone footage.

The thermal camera, which I had meticulously researched and production had worked hard to source, wasn’t available until the Friday before the shoot. During testing it turned out the metadata was baked in as an overlay on the images… crap. Making a quick decision to order an L plate and side mount the camera solved the issue in part, enabling us to shoot 16:9 on the clear side of one of half of the frame. On the day I handed it all over to the excellent editor Phoebe May, who thankfully is also a director with a good sense of composition. These little improvisations kept the shoot lively!

Shooting with an iPhone was another 'adventure'. We used the Blackmagic app paired with an external recorder and as it turns out, after measuring and using Artemis I realised it was perfect for the opening sequence. The whole section was to be shot in Raye’s house and from the get go I knew the top shots were gonna be problematic due to ceiling heights. We were craning and jibbing up on each shot, and the LF was gonna be too big. iPhone 15 pPro Max to the rescue! I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the footage we were getting (seriously Apple, where's my free phone?).

The real nostalgia trip was working with Ektachrome film stock. It's notoriously high-contrast and with proper processing chemicals no longer available, we had to get creative and cross-process. Shoutout to my DP friends Olan Collardy and Jordan Buck for their expert advice on navigating this. Again this was shot at Raye’s place, so space and lighting were a bit tight, but after some meticulous spot metering, we got it in the can. We shot it the weekend before the shoot in order to get it on the LED screens for Monday - many thanks to Kodak and Digital Orchard for processing and scanning it so quickly for us over the weekend.

The final act was predominantly shot on 16mm, which brought a beautiful, organic texture to the closing scenes. God damn, I love film. We also dusted off the Arri 435 with a Timing Shift Box to create some dynamic vertical streaks that added a unique visual flair (if you are familiar with much of my music video work you probably spotted it elsewhere).

Across seven intense days, we managed to pull off 4-5 major setups and capture around 15-20 diverse scenes. It was a packed schedule, but the collaborative energy and shared passion made it all come together seamlessly. Also just to add a big up and massive thanks to Focus Canning for servicing the project. They really helped make this shoot a reality.