Behind the Video: Dancing, Milk and the Art of Stretching Time
How do you turn a split-second moment into something that feels almost endless? For Care 4 U, the answer involved a dancer, a room full of milk glasses, and high-speed cinematography that transformed liquid and breaking glass into a surreal visual world.
With around 15 people involved in the production, the film brought together performance, carefully constructed art direction and experimental camera work. At its centre was dancer Darren Royston, whose movement became the starting point for a visual language built around memory, time and the impossibility of holding onto the past.
Below, director Callum Lloyd-James shares insight into the production of “Care 4 U”.
Building the Film Around Movement
How many people worked on your selected video? Who played a key role in it?
There were around 15 of us who worked across the video, but Darren Royston was absolutely central to making it what it is. I’d worked with Darren years ago on another project and, when I first heard the track, he was the only person I could picture in it. I knew he had the ability to strike the balance I was looking for between his incredible dancing and the emotional yet surreal core of the film. Without Darren, there probably isn’t really a video.
Two Days, Two Different Approaches
How long did it take to make it? What was the process (in short)?
We shot the film over two days during a blistering London heatwave. The first day was all about Darren and the performance, while the second was just myself, DOP Brendan Harvey and a camera assistant shooting the milk and glass sequences.
The idea was to make the movement of the milk feel like an extension of Darren’s dancing, so we were constantly trying to match particular frames and actions between the two. It was a process of shooting something, seeing how it behaved in-camera and then working out how we could push it further, which was particularly important when we got into the high-speed photography.
Making a Split Second Feel Epic
What challenges did you face while working on the video?
The biggest challenge was making the milk and glass feel genuinely epic rather than just slowing something down and hoping for the best. We initially shot some of the milk smashes at 200fps, but when we saw the results it became clear that we needed much more time inside each moment. VMI in London very kindly supplied us with a Freefly Ember, which allowed us to shoot at just over 1400fps and capture all the tiny details of the liquid and breaking glass. Suddenly something that happens in a fraction of a second could be stretched out and properly examined, which became a huge part of the visual language of the film.
A Room Full of Milk Glasses
What part of the video is your favorite?
I love the wide set up of the room filled with milk glasses. Molly Hellman, the films art director, did an amazing job dressing the set, including what was frankly a silly amount of milk, and did a great job bringing it to life in camera. There’s something about seeing Darren moving through that surreal room, surrounded by all these glasses, that really captures what we were trying to do with the film.
Josh Walker, the producer, also deserves a mention for helping pull all of those slightly ridiculous elements together and making the whole thing possible and keeping people happy in the studio that was essentially a sauna.
Holding Onto What Has Already Passed
Is there any message that the video is sending that you don’t want the viewer to miss?
I’m always wary of telling people exactly what they should take from a film, and I’m completely happy for people to find their own meaning in it. That being said, the motivation for the film is about clinging onto moments from the past and trying to relive them in a different way, even when you know you can’t really get them back. The milk and the smashing glasses became a visual way of exploring that idea of time constantly moving forward while we try to hold onto something that has already happened. Ultimately though, the most important thing for me is that someone sees something in amongst all that milk.
Watch the music video below.
CREDITS
DIRECTOR: Callum Lloyd-James @callumlloydjames
ARTIST: LAST SUN @lastsunmusic
PRODUCER: Josh Walker @jw_lker
PRODUCTION COMPANY: MRF
CAST: Darren Royston @royston.darren
DOP: Brendan Harvey @brendanharvey_
ART DIRECTOR: Molly Hellman @molly_hellman at Hello Props @hello__props
1st AC: Ben Curran @bencurranfocus
2nd AC: Michael Mroczek @michal.mroc
2nd AC: Kieren Kershaw @kierenkershaw
GAFFER: Joe Rowe @joetherowe
MAKEUP ARTIST: Amy Whyard @amywhyardmakeup
GRADE: Company 3 @company_3
COLOURIST: Dominic Phipps @d.phipps.colour
COLOUR PRODUCER: Edwin Elkington @edwinelkproducer
SOUND DESIGNER: Rachel Scott @rscottsound
