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.
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Guy EttlinDirectorAmerican Dreamers, Jessica, Swim Alone, Spark
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Keegan BoulineauDirector of PhotographyNew Friends, What If Elephants
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Nicole ArrageProducer
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Nicole ArrageArtist (Cast)
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Johnny CortesAssistant Director
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Antoine GuimbalAssistant Camera
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Nicole ArrageProduction Designer / Art Director
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Guy EttlinEditor
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Keegan BoulineauEditor
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Nicole ArrageEditor
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Béatrice TremblayColor Grading StudioOutpost Montreal
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Nicole ArrageProps Makers
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Rana LiuProps Makers
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Rita SaadeProps Makers
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Vincent ArrageProps Makers
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Hanna ArrageProps Makers
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Rana LiuProduction Assistant
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Laura NewmanProduction Assistant
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Andrea PavlovicProduction Assistant
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James RobertsProduction Assistant
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Kedler ExilusProduction Assistant
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Vanille DebrayBTS Photo / Video
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Project Type:Music Video
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Genres:Pop
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Runtime:3 minutes 10 seconds
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Completion Date:June 7, 2021
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Production Budget:2,000 USD
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Country of Origin:Canada
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Country of Filming:Canada
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:XAVC S-I 4K 600 Mbps 422 10 bit
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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.
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.