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Seismograph

Seismograph - Kurakura

Planetary anxiety amplified. For the launch of Kurakura’s album we directed, produced, filmed, edited and animated this complex experimental music video for the track ‘Seismograph’. Inspired by the band’s lyrics, our film depicts a photographer, documenting climate breakdown and subsequently losing his mind as he grapples with the scale of the subject.

From timelapse to flashframes, plus audio-driven special effects, we were very experimental on this shoot; creating a mind-bending alternative reality to match the atmosphere in the track itself. The photographer’s anxiety is shown with extreme close up shots capturing his raw, panicked emotion.

The water effects were all captured ‘in-camera’, using a stroboscopic technique that matches the framerate to the frequency of soundwaves being played through the water. This gives the effect of water hovering at 24Hz, whilst it appears to slowly glide upwards at 23Hz.

  • Reuben Armstrong
    Director
  • Jamie Neale
    Cinematographer
  • Project Type:
    Music Video
  • Genres:
    climate, photography, animation, anxiety, cinematic
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes 35 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 14, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Arri
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Berlin Music Video Awards
    Berlin
    Germany
    May 30, 2020
    Best Experimental (nomination)
Director Biography - Reuben Armstrong

Reuben is a director and animator working across branded content, documentary film, promos and event visuals. His films have appeared in film festivals around the world, and he has worked for clients such as Nike, Channel 4, BBC, The Guardian & the United Nations.

Eclectic and diverse, full of energy and craft, each of his films are a unique reaction to listening and researching the subject or client. Thanks to his background in animation and design – an extreme attention to detail and a mixed-media, colourful aesthetic are repeated features of his work.

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