Private Project

Upside Down - Nicole Arrage

When honest vulnerability meets empowerment, Upside Down is inspired from an emotional whirlwind and discomfort experienced when dealing with a complex relationship.

Directed by filmmaker Guy Ettlin (American Dreamers), the clip explores singer-songwriter Nicole Arrage in three different characters, playing with gravity and time. Each scene contains plant- inspired visuals that demonstrate every character’s challenge, progress, vulnerability or confidence and is created to be on a different visual plane, disrupting the flow of time. In her first official music video, she is showcasing a journey of finding oneself; a journey of self-love and acceptance.

The video provides a visual introspection into the mental states when overcoming life’s struggles. Through their personification at the different moments throughout hardship, Nicole demonstrates that in order to heal we must draw optimism from the future, knowing that we will always be a better version of ourselves by persevering.

We must have compassion for ourselves and learn to accept and love every part of who we are, because each of those parts together is what makes us strong.

  • Guy Ettlin
    Director
    American Dreamers, Jessica, Swim Alone, Spark
  • Keegan Boulineau
    Director of Photography
    New Friends, What If Elephants
  • Nicole Arrage
    Producer
  • Nicole Arrage
    Artist (Cast)
  • Johnny Cortes
    Assistant Director
  • Antoine Guimbal
    Assistant Camera
  • Nicole Arrage
    Production Designer / Art Director
  • Guy Ettlin
    Editor
  • Keegan Boulineau
    Editor
  • Nicole Arrage
    Editor
  • Béatrice Tremblay
    Color Grading Studio
    Outpost Montreal
  • Nicole Arrage
    Props Makers
  • Rana Liu
    Props Makers
  • Rita Saade
    Props Makers
  • Vincent Arrage
    Props Makers
  • Hanna Arrage
    Props Makers
  • Rana Liu
    Production Assistant
  • Laura Newman
    Production Assistant
  • Andrea Pavlovic
    Production Assistant
  • James Roberts
    Production Assistant
  • Kedler Exilus
    Production Assistant
  • Vanille Debray
    BTS Photo / Video
  • Project Type:
    Music Video
  • Genres:
    Pop
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes 10 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 7, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    2,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    XAVC S-I 4K 600 Mbps 422 10 bit
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Guy Ettlin

Guy Ettlin is a Director / Writer / Producer known for American Dreamers. He works with production company Khaos Labs in Montreal, QC. His main focus is on innovating micro-budget production techniques to yield raw, high-quality results. He is a Swiss national and frequently works in Kelowna, BC as well as London, UK.

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Director Statement

If we could go back in time to our former self experiencing a low point in life, what would we tell them? Upsidedown is an emotional journey through the stages of grief, in this case specifically, heartbreak.

In this music video we wanted to highlight these emotions in visually ambitious and interesting ways - through color, through performance, and through the speed of time passing by manipulating playback speed and set pieces in the minimalist setting of an empty white space that is reflective of how we feel when a person has let us down.

This video is a true labor of love and a demonstration of how much a hardworking team can achieve even with next to no budget.