“Fault” By Mike Walsh
Minimal and elegant, “Fault” is a music video directed by Niquel for Mike Walsh.
Fault is a song about forgiveness and forgetting, and we wanted both Her (Susana Oriot) and Him (Mike Walsh) to subtly reflect these ideas. They strip off their clothes, revealing vulnerable bodies that contrast with minimalist ceramic sculptures: incorruptible, solid and alien to the passage of time. The relationships that are established between the bodies and their clothes, the sculptures and the protagonists, the lights and shadows, are the axis of the music video.
The art direction, by Inés Azagra Prego, was key in marking the stylistic character of the video: the 2D red and blue squares that frame the characters work well with the movements of the camera, adding depth to the image.
The costume design, by Paddy Walsh, is also more prominent than usual, since the clothes themselves and how they are removed have a narrative meaning. His sober choices of straight and symmetrical cuts mark how Him and Her interact, and mimics their forced poses.
Finally, Alberto León, the project’s director of photography, opted to work with celluloid film (in this case super 16mm) as it generates many more textures on flat surfaces (such as the studio wall) than digital film. Also, the reaction of the natural grain of the film adds organic movement to shots where the camera is fixed. It was shot with a Kodak 500T, and the film was overexposed a step and a half to have a less contrasted image and a more controlled grain, which Teresa Giménez finished off through remarkable colour grading.
Credits
Starring: Susana Oriot, Mike Walsh
Director and editor: Niquel
Producer: Eva Bodas
DOP: Alberto Leon
Gaffer: Andrea Moran
1st AC: Mario de Barrio
Auxi: Marina de Tena
Grip: Aitana Rodriguez
Art Director: Ines Azagra
Art Assistants: Placido R. Bonnin, Pia Kala
Stylist: Patrick Walsh
Driver: Sara Escribano
Still photo: Rodrigo Moran
Make-up: Maria Hernandez
Color grading: Teresa Gimenez (color en movimiento)
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