Sam Phay - After Life

In a dream-like state, our protagonist finds himself being pushed further and further into the depths of his mind.

Director: Jesse Leaman
Producers: Nicole Freeman, Jesse Leaman
1st AD: Taylor Adams
DOP: Carl Allison
1st AC: Oliwier Gesla
Gaffer: Sean Mcglin
Best Boy: Hamish Ross-McGlynn
Grip: Rohan Peters
Playback / Sound: Jeremy Leaman
BTS Video: Adian Mair
Runner&BTS: Maite Leaman
Stills Photography: Peter Foster & Ashley Trickey
Actor: Wada Alexander Kuan
Editor: Jesse Leaman
Colourist: Oliwier Gesla
Gear Hire: Australian Camera Hire

Directors Statement.

With After Life, I wanted to create a metaphorical space that Wada and I could explore with movement. The car represents a vessel to avoid and run away from our deepest fears. His movement haunts him and forces him to look where he does not want. In an almost eerie way, he finds himself being launched further and further into this nightmare, coming to terms with his own memories. We are all our worst enemies. We are the ones who haunt our own thoughts.

Moments shot by Maite Leaman

Shot & Cut by - Aidan Mair

Pre Production.

I kind of fell upon this location by accident in the lead up and fell in love with all it had to offer. We shot pre stills and filmed rehearsals so Cinematographer Carl Alison could map out looks.

The goal was to do a simple and artistic clip of Sam singing the song… But with every listen, I got further and further into the world of the song. We called up Wada Alexander Kuan, who features as the dancer, and before we even told him the concept, he was on board. We had collaborated on another video for Sam previously. This, at its heart, was a collaboration between Sam, Wada, Carl Allison, the director of photography, and myself. We did not have the benefit of budget. We just had the passion for making something beautiful.

Wada, Sam, and I choreographed this to feel like our protagonist haunts himself as he attempts to escape a nightmare.

I wanted to explore the avoidance of one’s feelings in a metaphorical space.

The process.

Sam, Wada and I got together for a choreography session. Now, I am no choreographer, let alone a dancer, but Sam and I sat in the back of my Ford Fairmont, Wada in front, and we explored these movements. This motif of the fingers was discovered at that moment.

When Sam sent me the song I listened to it repeatedly just over and over, and let my mind explore different areas, spaces, and emotions. Then when we sat down he mentioned what the song meant to him, this idea that if the relationship ends, he’ll just be around anyway. I took that as a prompt to think how after we fall out of love so much of your memories and spirit lay in those moments of love and hurt. They linger in the places you once called home or a favourite bar even. We played with those themes and had Wada’s character stuck in this metaphorical space. It progressed to the idea of being stuck in that headspace. Stuck in a negative headspace, you fall deeper into it, fighting yourself. So I would say the music took over some of the meaning of the original song and allowed us to play around.