Will Saul: Close

The live visuals for celebrated new !K7 Records band Close were directed and produced by Silent. Designed to enhance Close's live show and introduce a unique visual element to the world of live electronic music, Silent Studio's one hour show blurred the lines between the cinematic and a new clubbing experience.

A highly conceptual and cinematic project, 12 live-action short films were shot in the epic landscapes of the Scottish Highlands and Northern England. The non-linear narrative, including underwater scenes, follows a woman's journey from the Highlands to post industrial Northern England ending in London.

For the live premiere at London's Fabric, Silent Studios created an ethereal stage scene for Close that involved projection gauze obscuring the band, while visuals were mapped to stage lights, allowing the imagery of the films to literally float over the musicians silhouettes, creating a truly immersive and innovative live music experience.

Close: Short Film

'Close' follows a girl journeying from the epic, natural landscape of the Scottish highlands through the stark, post-industrial regions of Northern England to the dark streets and bright lights of London. Though it looks like the present day Close is in fact set in the near future. The film is devoid of people, set in a deliberately enigmatic British landscape, always overcast and dark during the day, at night only the brightest lights break the darkness.

The film is suddenly flooded with intense colour, rhythm and movement. These high-impact visuals are her dreams, flashbacks and thought processes. Like dreams, they are multilayered, abstract and surreal. The recurring motifs of flowers, balloons and hands are used with imagery of the Girl underwater – diving, swimming, falling and floating.

Design and Direction
Nathan Prince at Silent
Oliver Davies at Silent

Shoot/ Live Action:

Scotland/England:
Director
Nathan Prince at Silent
Oliver Davies at Silent

Production Company
Silent Studios

DoP
Benjamin Thomas

Girl
Zoe Cornwell

Post/ FX
James Littlemore
Ste Dalton

Wardrobe
Kasia Ka

Production Assistant
Emily Grundon

Underwater Shoot:
Director
Nathan Prince at Silent

DoP
Benjamin Thomas

Camera Assistant
Joel Honeywell

Girl
Zoe Cornwell

Production
Not To Scale

Exec Producer
Debbie Crosscup

Producer
Kelly Ford

Wardrobe
Kasia Ka

Show:
Design
Silent Studios

Tech Director
Jack Banks

Runner
Billy Heyward

Crew
Jake Sullivan

Lighting Partner
Clay Paky

AV Partner
XL Video