The Ties and the Lies – Home is where the heart is ~ Finally goes online

In a cold february weekend a lion wakes up and… no. There’s no gazelle. Indeed, the lion is not the point either.

Let’s try again: in a cold february weekend Claudio Stanghellini and I have shot a video.
A video about home, warmth and love… shot among houses (more or less occupied), venues (more or less recognizable) and Bologna’s characteristics landmarks (more or less cold) for the Bologna based band The Ties and the Lies and their brand new single: “Home is where the Heart is”.

A video where some day-time scenes were shot at night, where some locations have such a different appearance that they’d be hard to recognize and is the video where the office with the desk and two computers the lion is working at is the place from where I’m writing right now. For creativity, sure, but more for necessity. In february the sun is up only for a few hours and if the snow takes part in the game shooting time decreases as fast as moving across set is harder and takes longer. Also, when I hear a story, I start visualizing it in detail, from places to mood and atmosphere. This way, when we eventually hit the locations I do my best to match it with my idea, leaning on what the script and the song transmitted me.
Take as example picture 2 and 3 from the following gallery: they were taken at a 25 minutes distance and they clearly show the difference between the unset location and the same spot after I put the  lights in place with their gels and set the camera with exposure and chromatic settings that matched my idea. Quite similar situation for some scenes that were shot hours after dusk (pictures 4, 5 and 8,9) and had to look like shot in daylight.

Creativity came to play for the scenes taken in the band’s rehearsals room where chromatic and exposure contrast, together with backlight and chiaroscuro were tools (that I exploited in several assignments during those months) to characterize the face-hidden members of the band, recall some details of the video itself (places, dresses, props etc…) and tribute some videos and movies.

Can you guess which ones?