Pulse Director Doff Gets Dark in the Desert

The Chemical Brothers' Sometimes I Feel So Deserted video revived the band's status as artists as well as musicians when it was unveiled online earlier this week - it even secured a spot on this week's hotshot list.

Combining gore with oil-swamped robots, the video is a dark representation of the band's musical style, echoing their experimental and jarring approach. Despite battling the elements throughout the shoot - with frequent weather and neighbour interferences - the team survived and produced the fantastic piece of work.

Below, Pulse Films director Ninian Doff shares some of the stories from being on-set, although he admits he'll probably crave the calmness and stability of a commercial following the riot they had.

Was there a brief from The Chemical Brothers and if so, what was it?

There was no brief. Just the sentence 'the video should reflect the DNA of the band and their incredible video history' - which was a good way to turn the pressure on and remind you who you’re dealing with!

What was your inspiration for the video?

I had the general idea and the slowly-dying-limb-swapping-robot characters floating around in my mind, but the track really informed the actual narrative structure, filming style and the edit (thanks to Ross).

The track is like a piece of sound design - with unusual and unexpected sounds that are impossible to ignore when you’re brainstorming. The fact that The Chemical Brothers chose to go pretty out there with their musical production definitely encouraged me to do the same and not play it too safe or too obvious with the visuals.

How did you come up with such a dark concept for the spot?

This makes some people laugh but I honestly don’t think it’s that dark! I think it’s really positive and even romantic... This is me showing my sensitive side.

What was the most challenging part of the video-making process?

The shoot was basically riding the crest of a disaster wave yet somehow - and rather, impossibly - we managed to stay afloat and survive. It was shot in Teruel in Spain and everyone beforehand had said we’d die from the heat and the relentless sun. Perfect, that’s exactly what I wanted...

So, imagine my joy when thunderclouds formed and torrential rain flooded the so-called desert. The local fire station then told us that standing in a completely flat open space with a metal camera crane in a lightning storm was probably a bad idea... we had to evacuate immediately.

Music videos aren’t commercials - you’ve essentially spent every penny and pulled in every favour you can just to get to shooting. You can imagine how stressful all that was. I can only praise my producing team Rik Green and Zak Razvi for somehow keeping the shoot alive.

Oh, and the military popped up one morning and kicked us off-location. That was fun too..

And the most satisfying?

The shots coming in on the monitor really excited me. And the cast, location and cinematography looked great on-screen too. I purposefully tried to keep most of the work in-camera so the post production was actually only significant on a few of the shots. This meant that I was really seeing the striking visuals - such as her sticking the pump in her neck (below) - for real on camera, which was very satisfying.

Our DOP made the cast and the landscape both strong and impactful. He also introduced a very distinctive look to it before shooting, so it felt like watching a movie unfold as we shot it. He did a great job, which allowed our colourist to really pull out the colours and enhance the look that had been created.

You have an eclectic style and are known to produce high-quality work for music videos and commercials, like the recently hilarious ad for Pearl and Dean. Do you approach music videos and commercials differently and how so?

They’re different. Music video ideas come directly from me whereas with commercials I’m being brought onto someone else's script and am working with them. Both are processes I really enjoy; I’ve been fortunate to have always worked with great creatives, so the development and discussions on commercials have been really fun and imaginative.

But then it’s also nice to be allowed to just go off to the desert and go nuts with oil-bleeding-robots without a client worrying about it! At the moment, it seems to be that after working on a music video, I really crave working on a commercial and after a commercial it’s always nice to test yourself again and shoot a music video.

I know you’re a big fan of The Chemical Brothers as musicians and artists, so how much did you have to compromise your creative vision to suit their music and style?

Not at all. I was delighted and surprised at how much freedom they gave me. I literally got to make the video I dreamed of making. Not only that, but The Chemical Brothers never even questioned adding the sound design layer, which some artists might be scared of. It really made the piece so much more cinematic and rounded.

It was a great experience, because the classic Chemical Brothers videos were so influential in my youth - I really feel like it’s some kind of elite alumni I've joined!