01
Turn a constraint into a scene.
When one location became unavailable shortly before filming, the remaining pub was redesigned to play both bars. A partition and different dressing helped separate the spaces.
Boundary
City of Madness
From office routine to a night of intoxication and chaos.
Live-action music video
ContributionConcept & production planning
Boundary / Live-action music videoWatch on Vimeo — opens in a new tab
The idea
A live-action music video for Boundary. A story that needed two bars became an exercise in making one location play two very different spaces.
Behind the work
Production notes.
02
Make the plan visible.
Location diagrams and shot lists translated the story into a practical shoot. The preparation gave the crew a way to navigate the scenes across two production days.
The original production notes
The full story
behind the work.
The original account has been preserved and reformatted for this site. The production discussion follows the song and finished work without reproducing a full lyric sheet.
01 / Process log
From brief to story
The starting material was the track, the band’s personality, two bars, a crowd, a fog machine, and lights. The band added Red Fang energy, an exaggerated night out, and a bar fight. Brainstorming shaped those ingredients into character motivations and a three-act story. A script and eleven storyboard sheets made the narrative visible before the band approved production.
02 / Process log
People, equipment, and wardrobe
The production brought together the band, a lead character, dancers, office workers, bar patrons, make-up, and production assistance. The practical kit included camera and lighting equipment, smoke, food, and fake blood made from corn syrup and colouring. A white shirt, two ties, and nerd glasses came from a second-hand shop; the lost glasses had to be replaced between shoot days.
03 / Process log
One pub becomes two
The plan used Battle Axe and The Church. Fire damage at Battle Axe one week before production forced both story locations into The Church. A diagram mapped every object and person in advance. A false wall divided the room, while black cloth, duct tape, mirrors, and redressing made one pub read as two different bars.
04 / Process log
Shoot, edit, and hidden details
Day one covered the band, dancers, and fight. Day two captured the office, reaction shots, and exterior material. Shot lists organised the coverage, then editing, colour correction, and grading fused both days into the final escalation. The desktop, taskbar, dates, band-member folders, logos, and renamed browser details contain a second layer of easter eggs.
Complete original process archive
From first signal
to final frame.
Every available still and animated study from the published process notes, reorganised as a production log.
01 / Song, band, direction
Decode the brief
The track, lyrics, and the band’s visual identity established the raw signal. The brief called for two bars, a crowd, smoke and lights, then sharpened into a world shaped by Red Fang, a bar fight, and a deliberately heightened rock-video attitude.
02 / Script and storyboard
Write the collision
Brainstorming became a three-act story, then a script and eleven storyboard sheets. The full sequence was presented to the band before production moved forward.
03 / Band, dancers, office, bar
Cast the system
The production brought together the band, a lead character, dancers, office workers and bar patrons, supported by make-up and production assistance. These motion tests preserve the full casting and performance record from the original notes.
04 / Motifs, props, wardrobe
Build the details
Hands and eyes became recurring visual motifs. Camera, lighting, smoke, food and fake blood joined second-hand shirts, ties and glasses to make the heightened world practical on set.
05 / Locations and production design
Make one bar become two
Battle Axe and The Church supplied the locations. Fire damage forced one bar to play two spaces, so black cloth, a false wall, duct tape and mirrors rebuilt the geography for camera.
06 / Two days, ordered scenes
Run the shoot
Day one covered the band, dancers and fight. Day two handled office scenes, reactions and exteriors. Ordered shot sheets kept the dense schedule legible.
07 / Edit, grade, hidden signals
Finish the transmission
The edit, colour and grade pulled both production days into one escalating film. The final frames also hold the original hidden references and small visual signatures.
Project details
Boundary
Interceptor Beyond / Concept & production planning
Next project
People, in their own light.
Selected portraits
