Belgium director Charles De Meyer is most known for his music videos using astounding visual effects (like those for Raveyards and Amon Tobin), but this shows a more emtional side to his work. Given the subtitle ‘A Story About Waking Up’ by Charles, we follow a girl through dreams within dreams, revealing her failing trust in her partner.
It’s intricately planned, as each dream scene folds subtly into the next. Of course, there’s still some great effects in form form of walls of interlinking arms. Originally, Charles had planned to venture into the world of performance video with the song, but in the three weeks delivery time, his thoughts had changed somewhat:
“Meeting Ann-Sophie Claeys (singer and songwriter of Maya’s Moving Castle) gave me a completely different perspective. She clearly wanted something with a storyline, so I asked her a lot of questions about the song and its lyrics, to try and understand the world and atmosphere she had built. What struck me most was how personal it was, and how hard it was for her to actually talk about it.
The next day, that discussion had led me towards this story about a failing relationship and all its uncertainties, through a string of dreams.”
Maya’s Moving Castle
WAR (Unday Records)
Video directed by Charles De Meyer
Cinematography by Brecht Goyvaerts
Featuring Nele De Gussem, Hanse Cora and Maya
Produced by Charles De Meyer and Katrien De Jonghe
Rep: Wrong
Styling by An De Jonghe
Post Production by Charles De Meyer and Benjamin Mousquet
Commissioned by Katrien De Jonghe for gentlemanagement