The group’s interpretation of the theme is highly visual, placing the band amongst this environment. They sing, dance and gaze between the trees and landscapes, lit dramatically as the day darkens. The music video with its streaming imagery of the region, relates this feeling to nature and the ebbs and flows of Hawkesbury River itself. The location being known for its undulating weather and state, it shifts between floods, bushfires, and landslides. The poetics were already written in the land. Kat remarks on this location,

“The landscape here is marked by the uncanny and powerful force of surging water. There are toppled trees with dramatic root networks exposed to the air, mixed with these epic lush green fields where the banks of the river start to recover from raging waters. The drama of this landscape, coupled with the lights and smoke felt fitting for the track and for the general direction of our debut CALAMITY EP.”

The idea was abstract and carefully handled, but the creative magic lies in its production. Director Jem Kjelgaard teamed up with SIRC_UIT, a team of lighting designers that are invested in art and music, to curate the lighting setup for these expressive images. The conversations between musicians, filmmakers and lighting artists flowed through deep mutual creative understanding, discussing the nature of the song and the relationship to the natural environment. The lighting designers were given a brief, and a location as their canvas.

“The lights brought a sense of drama, otherworldliness and surreal visual qualities to the site. Then we packed it up and headed up the mountain to the SIRC_UIT warehouse where the lightbulb forest and projector visuals were waiting to be utilised The light bulb forest had an amazing glow to it and was manufactured, installed and programmed by the lighting designer in the days before the shoot, as were the projector set up and visuals.”

To say that director Jem Kjelgaard and filmmaker Taku Kjelgaard are creative powerhouses is an understatement. While utilising a trusty and compact mirrorless camera, the duo captured the whole video by themselves in a single shoot day. With hard work and detailed planning, both the musicians and filmmakers poured themselves over pre-production to make sure things went as smoothly as possible. When it came to the shoot day, director Jem remarked that she found she loved finding that sweet spot between planning and spontaneity. 

“My philosophy of filmmaking is that in the very making and creating of a video, we work with the concept. We shot with a very minimal setup on Sony A7sii cameras and a drone. SIRC_UIT brought a series of cans with coloured gels, an ellipsoidal spotlight that we picked up at an auction, and a lot of smoke machine action which was added to the landscape site. This was a logistical test because we had to bring in generators for power and navigate some really uneven ground  – and in the dark!”

The fluidity of the clip surges like tides. It paces its flurry of ever changing visuals along the music almost spiritually as the shots balance rapid movement with the music’s rise in intensity, then peters out in the calm. Transitioning between scenes of serenity and drama, close ups are used to tease the oncoming environment, it’s like the video is yearning before the release of the wide shots. This can be seen in how the shots dip from a snapped twig, to hands pulling through grass, these motions of tension, desire, and torment, simulate the gravity of human magnetism. 

“That was Jem’s talent – really identifying the opportunities for interesting shots and guiding us into them. Jem’s first edit was near flawless and we had maybe one or two tweaks and DONE! It was one of the smoothest and satisfying projects I’ve ever worked on.”

Push and pull, give and take. This music video revels in its own images, it begs no question that production and logistics liberated the creative process. It is an expressive, abstract piece that is rooted in a fine-tuned and deep understanding between collaborators. Mutual Gravity is the second single from LUCIDBLOOM’s EP ‘Calamity’ available on streaming and vinyl pressings.

Here is the official video for “Mutual Gravity“

Music Video Credits

Filmmakers – Jem & Taku Kjelgaard. Lighting Designer – SIRCUIT. Creative producers – Katrina Noorbergen, Jennifer Noorbergen. Band Members/Cast – Katrina Noorbergen, Jennifer Noorbergen, Brendon MacMurray, Tom Haeusler, Asti Holz. Recorded – Studio85 by Murray Sheridan