“Seduce” By Russ
“Seduce” is a cinematic exploration of passion, pleasure, and power. After an introduction on dry land by Capella Grey, a world-class aquatic dance troupe surrounds Russ as he stands on a platform in the middle of an endless pool. Amidst the psychedelic flash of ruby and chartreuse lights, bodies pulsate below the surface. Their balletic movement flows with the sensual beat of the music; forming complex shapes and leaping through the air. Part abstract display of dance and liquid, part midnight celebration, the video for “Seduce” takes viewers on a one-of-kind journey.
The challenge for any songwriter is how to take a universal experience and—like a jeweler—reveal a new facet that nobody has ever heard. The challenge for directing a music video is much the same. How can I visually express something that almost everyone has felt without falling back on the lexicon of cliche? When Logan and I were brought on to create a video concept for multi-platinum artist Russ, we only had a few days to capture the sensation of seduction — without rehashing genre stereotypes. True seduction, we realized, is like slipping underwater or falling into synchronicity with another soul. This ultimately led us to draw our primary inspiration for the “Seduce” video from the aquamusicals of the 1940s and 1950s, instead of from established rap/R&B imagery.
Once our concept was in place, we brought on aquatic choreographer Ludivine Perrin-Stsepaniuk and her company, Ovia Entertainment. In collaboration with Ludivine and her world-class swimmers/dancers, we choreographed everything as precisely as possible over an extremely limited window of time. Instead of storyboards, we chose to create a beat-by-beat shot list accompanied by detailed diagrams to match the synchronized swimming with the elegant, flowing cinematography of DP Camilo Monsalve. None of it would have been possible without the support of our producer Edgar Esteves and Blank Square Productions, which gave us the creative freedom to take risks while still maintaining a tight production schedule. The result was something 100% unique in Russ’ extensive library of music videos.
Juan Felipe Zuleta & Logan Fields - Directors
Credits
Artist - Russ
Directors - Juan Felipe Zuleta & Logan Fields
Executive Producers - Edgar Esteves & Marquis Abrahams
Production Co. - Blank Square Productions
Cinematographer - Camilo Monsalve
Choreographer - Ludivine Perrin-Stsepaniuk