STATIC DRESS - HUMAN PROPS
SHOT AT [UN.TITLED] STUDIO

LEEDS-BASED ROCK METAL BAND STATIC DRESS TOOK OVER UNTITLED STUDIOS FOR THE RELEASE OF THEIR LATEST SINGLE, HUMAN PROPS, FOLLOWING THEIR SIGNING TO SUMERIAN RECORDS, THE LABEL HOME TO ARTISTS SUCH AS THE SMASHING PUMPKINS AND BAD OMENS.
DIRECTOR: OLLI APPLEYARD / ZAK PINCHIN                                                   EDITOR: OLLI APPLEYARD                                                                 GRADE: GEORGE HOLDING / OLLI APPLEYARD                                                   PRODUCER: STATIC DRESS                                                                     PRODUCTION ASSISTANT: CHARLOTTE ROSSON                                                   PRODUCER / ENGINEERING: LEUAN JONES                                                                          1st ASSISTANT CAMERA: BENJAMIN MARLOW                     PRODUCED BY STATIC DRESS & ERIK BICKERSTAFFE
GAFFER: TOM WALDER
SPARK: KAI SIEBERT
PROP DEP: RICHARD ABBOTT-OWEN / RAE BRAZILL / LANI HERNANDEZ-DAVID
STYLIST: HARLEY GRAHAM
SUPPLYER: JIVOMIR DOMOUSTCHIEV
HMUA: ROOS JAMES / AMBER KIAH
RUNNER: JACKIE AREMU
CAMERA TRAINEE: RAJ GAJHANS
HUMAN PROPS PRESENTS THE TRUTH AS THE MOST SUBVERSIVE THING IN A CULTURE ADDICTED TO ENDLESS SCROLLING. THE SONG CRITIQUES THE REDUCTION OF ART INTO DISPOSABLE CONTENT, WHERE INSTANT GRATIFICATION AND LIKES OVERSHADOW GENUINE CONNECTION AND ENGAGEMENT. ITS SOUND DRAWS INSPIRATION FROM DUMMY BY PORTISHEAD AND RELATIONSHIP OF COMMAND BY AT THE DRIVE-IN, WHILE VISUALLY AND STRUCTURALLY THE MUSIC VIDEO TAKES INFLUENCE FROM NATURAL BORN KILLERS, DIRECTED BY OLIVER STONE. “VISUALLY, THE FILM PEAKS AND THEN SLOWS DOWN DRAMATICALLY, AND I WANTED TO ENCAPSULATE THAT FEELING IN THE MUSIC, THE LYRICS, AND THE OVERALL STRUCTURE,” EXPLAINS FRONTMAN OLLI APPLEYARD. THIS CINEMATIC INFLUENCE SITS AT THE CORE OF THE PROJECT, WITH THE BAND EMBRACING SOMETHING MORE IMMEDIATE AND UNFILTERED, MIRRORING THE PACING AND EMOTIONAL VOLATILITY OF FILM.
THE SELF-DIRECTED MUSIC VIDEO FEATURES STATIC DRESS PERFORMING TO AN AUDIENCE WEARING IDENTICAL WHITE MASKS, WHO RELENTLESSLY FOLLOW AND OBJECTIFY A PAIR OF TWINS, TURNING THEM INTO LITERAL “HUMAN PROPS.” THE IMAGERY ACTS AS A VISUAL CRITIQUE OF DIGITAL SHALLOWNESS, WHERE VALUE IS DICTATED BY ALGORITHMIC LIKEABILITY RATHER THAN MEANING, AND HOW ONLINE CULTURE CAN FLATTEN PEOPLE INTO VISUALS, VALUED MORE FOR HOW THEY LOOK THAN WHO THEY ACTUALLY ARE. THE SONG STEMS FROM A DESIRE TO MOVE AWAY FROM POLISH AND INSTEAD EMBRACE THE REAL AND THE UNPROCESSED. IT ACTS AS BOTH A JUDGEMENT ON THE MUSIC INDUSTRY AND ITS “PASSIVE LISTENERS,” A REMINDER THAT MUSIC AND ART SHOULD BE MORE THAN SOMETHING BRIEFLY LIKED ON A FEED BEFORE BEING FORGOTTEN.
HUMAN PROPS’ INFLUENCES AND INSPIRATIONS HIGHLIGHT THE ONGOING DIALOGUE BETWEEN CREATIVE DISCIPLINES. FILM, ALONGSIDE MUSIC, SHAPES ITS PACING, SOUND, NARRATIVES, AND EMOTIONAL LANGUAGE. NOW MORE THAN EVER, MUSIC FEEDS INTO FASHION, PHOTOGRAPHY, AND VISUAL CULTURE, CREATING A LOOP OF SHARED INFLUENCE. THE RISE-AND-FALL STRUCTURE IN HUMAN PROPS, BORROWED FROM NATURAL BORN KILLERS, BECOMES MORE THAN JUST A REFERENCE POINT — IT SERVES AS A REMINDER THAT ART DOES NOT EXIST IN ISOLATION. IN TODAY’S CREATIVE LANDSCAPE, THESE BOUNDARIES ARE INCREASINGLY FLUID. MOVING IMAGE, MUSIC, AND FASHION NO LONGER EXIST SEPARATELY; THEY CONSTANTLY BORROW, REINTERPRET, AND BUILD UPON ONE ANOTHER. PROJECTS LIKE HUMAN PROPS DEMONSTRATE HOW THIS INTERPLAY CAN ELEVATE MUSIC BEYOND PASSIVE CONSUMPTION, TRANSFORMING IT INTO SOMETHING INTENTIONAL, IMMERSIVE, AND RESISTANT TO BEING SCROLLED PAST AND FORGOTTEN.
THIS CAMPAIGN WAS SHOT IN STUDIO 1 AT [UN.TITLED] STUDIO,  EXPLORE HOW OUR STUDIO SPACES CAN ELEVATE YOUR NEXT PROJECT HERE.
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