Jazure - Smoke and Mirrors (Music Video)

Director, Producer and Editor

Smoke and Mirrors is the debut single from Jazure, the stage name of multi-talented Australian musician/producer, Jazz Johnston.

It was such a pleasure to collaborate on this music video with Jazz. Right from our very first meeting it was clear that we were set for one of those creative relationships that can only be described as magic. Ideas flowed freely, our tastes matched up seamlessly and every time we met, it seemed we were more energised about the project.

After locking in the initial idea for the video, we started to build our core creative team, which provided another opportunity to collaborate with some of my favourite artists.

First up was Cathy Amies, powerhouse boss-lady producer, who helped pull my idealistic visions down to earth, broken up into practical steps and timelines. She hustled with local councils, gear providers and clothing stores, to help pull everything together logistically. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: everyone needs a Cathy in their life!

Next came Benjamin Hughes, talented DoP and friend, whose talent for cinematography is topped only by his amazing attitude. A talented problem solver, nothing seems to be too big a problem for Ben on set, when the inevitable road bumps arise. He built himself a camera team of talented assistants and operators and negotiated some favours to get us a great setup and came with me on scouting trips, figuring out exactly how we were going to pull it all off.

Completing our core creative team was Amanda Jones, from The Honest Jones. Amanda and I have been friends and creative collaborators for a number of years, having worked together on several award-winning short films back in the day. But I also knew that she had a background in dance and choreography that had been lying dormant for a number of years, (outside of wedding dance floors). And I knew her quirky personality and style was just what I wanted for the movement in this video. And she did not disappoint!

Storyboarding, finding cast and crew, costumes, rehearsals all came together over the course of a couple of months. Then came shoot day. I had the familiar feelings of nausea and nerves on my way to our location, but as soon as everyone started arriving all of that passed and I went into action mode, for what must have been one of the most enjoyable days I have ever had on set! Positive vibes were high all day, even through a few technical difficulties with our camera rig and the wind-storm that made everything wobbly and covered our desired blue-sky with clouds. Our team worked hard and quickly to capture our shot-list, and a few bonus shots and before we knew it, it was time for post-wrap beers- right before it started raining!

Post-production was a whole different story. Taking the footage we had shot and hiding myself away in my office to edit it, Imposter Syndrome came at me with full force! After an initial rough cut, I was unable to see anything but flaws. I found myself wishing I had made different directorial decisions, that we had shot over multiple days, even that I could control the weather! It took a couple of days to lick my wounds and remind myself that this is just the creative process, that everyone feels like they aren’t good enough and that I needed to suck it up and get to work, to make a music video worthy of the time, money and energy we had all put into it so far- using whatever I had in front of me.

And I did! After wrestling with the edit for a few more days and getting some other trusted friends to take a look and provide feedback, we decided to add some type elements. This is where Maddie Carroll came in, providing some amazing retro typography, to add an extra dimension. Finally, colour grading was done by Renee Giles - really bringing a layer of vibrance and uniformity to to video, which matched the tone we were going for perfectly.

And that’s it! This truly was one of the most energising and enjoyable projects I’ve ever worked on. I was encouraged in my love of directing, I learned new things about the power of collaboration when it comes to making art, and I believe we produced a great music video. I hope you enjoy it!