Behind the Scenes: Boogieman

It’s been a while since we’ve brought you any updates on the 2016 Jameson INDIE Channel Music Video Grant. What began as a call-out to local indie filmmakers at the end of last year has finally come to a head, with both videos for Desmond and the Tutus and BETR Gang being shot last week in Johannesburg and Soweto.

The first of these to get underway was the Tutus visual interpretation of their new single ‘Boogieman’, initially pitched to us by lead singer and co-director Shane Durrant as an “explosion of spooky African textures and feelings; a visual trip into the
depths of the deep freaky Joburg netherworld”. Shane and fellow director Greg Rom certainly delivered on that promise, creating a surreal underground dancehall inhabited by some of the zaniest monsters you’ve laid eyes on outside of your cheese-after-midnight nightmares.

Costume designer Joel Janse van Vuuren and art director Adi Koen definitely had a lot to do with the video’s unique aesthetic, as did the cinematographic styling of D.O.P Devin Tosselli. Beneath all the crude Nollywood-inspired costumes, the Movers and Shakers dance crew really injected energy into the atmosphere with a frenzy of Pantsula – admirable in light of how elaborate and heavy some of the outfits were.

So there you have it – a wild ride of rock ‘n roll, funky freaks, and Pantsula manoeuvres, all wrapped up with a distinctly Joburg bow. And did I mention how insanely catchy the track is?
No?
Well it is.
Something to definitely look forward to in the next couple of weeks. Look out for the behind-the-scenes video coming soon to tease you a little bit more.

Here’s a taste of how the shoot went down. Photographs by Roy Potterill.