Somewhere Always

Music video for "Somewhere Always" by Disconnectica. Music, video and effects by Robert Webb. I wrote software to create "slit-scan" effects, also known as time displacement. Every pixel remains where it was in the original footage, but is offset in time in various ways. It's a little-known effect, and I'm using it in some ways I haven't seen done before. Thematically, the effect supports the main line from the song "You are somewhere that you've always been", by showing people stuck in place while still moving.

The song has been played on radio stations in Australia including 3RRR and 4ZZZ.

  • Robert Charles Webb
    Director
  • Robert Charles Webb
    Writer
  • Robert Charles Webb
    Producer
  • Robert Charles Webb
    Key Cast
  • Robert Charles Webb
    Visual Effects
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Music Video
  • Genres:
    Experimental, Music video, SFX, Effects, Alternative, VFX
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes 6 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 24, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    0 AUD
  • Country of Origin:
    Australia
  • Country of Filming:
    Australia
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Aasha International Film Festival
    Nashik, Maharashtra
    India
    December 15, 2023
    Winner Best Music Video
  • Europe Music Video Awards
    Košice
    Slovakia
    May 23, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Top Indie Film Awards
    Tokyo
    Japan
    February 3, 2024
    Winner Best FX
  • Festival de Indie
    Chennai, Tamil Nadu
    India
    February 10, 2024
    Winner Best Visual Effects
  • Festival de Indie
    Chennai, Tamil Nadu
    India
    February 10, 2024
    Winner Best VFX in a Music Video
  • Prague International Music Video Awards
    Prague
    Czech Republic
    November 10, 2023
    Finalist
  • Tokyo International Short Film Festival
    Tokyo
    Japan
    February 4, 2024
    Official Selection
  • Rome Music Video Awards
    Rome
    Italy
    February 29, 2024
    Official Selection
  • Parai International Musical Awards
    Chennai, Tamil Nadu
    India
    February 20, 2024
    Official Selection
  • United Kingdom Music Video Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    May 28, 2023
    Special Mention
  • Top Indie Film Awards
    Tokyo
    Japan
    February 3, 2024
    Nominated for Best Music Video
  • Top Indie Film Awards
    Tokyo
    Japan
    February 3, 2024
    Nominated for Best Original Idea
  • Top Indie Film Awards
    Tokyo
    Japan
    February 3, 2024
    Nominated for Best Editing
Director Biography - Robert Charles Webb

Robert Webb has been creating music and music videos in recent years. A programmer by trade, he also writes software to create trippy effects for use in his videos, thus bringing together several big interests: music, film and software.

Robert previously made short Super 8 films. He entered the White Gloves Film Festival six times between 1996 and 2000, where film-makers had 48 hours to shoot their film, shot in sequence, and unseen even by the film-maker until the festival. All six made it into their best-of screenings. He was also accepted into the Metro Super 8 Film Festival in 1997.

Rob moved onto other projects, but returned to another interest, making music, around 2018, which led him back to film-making in the form of music videos soon after. His music has received some airplay on Australian radio.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I became interested in an effect known as slit-scan, or time displacement. This allows different pixels in a frame of video to come from different times in the source video. I wrote software to experiment with this, and decided it would be perfect in the video for my song Somewhere Always. The main lyric is "You are somewhere that you've always been", and this effect allowed me to give vision to this idea.

I wanted to show people stuck in some way, and the slit-scan effect provided a novel way to do this. I came up with a way to "spin" the effect that I hadn't seen done before, making it possible to show people stuck on the spot while still moving, in an endless loop. Not like a boomerang video where it's the same forwards or backwards, but spinning in an endless forward cycle.

The effect also allows for very trippy and fluid visuals to perfectly complement the psychedelic nature of the song.