Pillow Queens - Brothers

When I first heard this song live I knew it was special and I wanted to make something that really did it justice. The girls explained that the song was about celebrating masculinity and the powerful bonds between them and the men in their lives. We discussed how we wanted to have the video show the more vulnerable side of masculinity, perhaps showing men emoting in ways you wouldn’t normally see in music videos. Cathy works in Homeless Services and explained how power dynamics between younger homeless men were often very much defined alpha / beta roles.

From then we knew who are characters were. Then I was thinking - in what kind of world could a man be completely unafraid to emote in a way that maybe he usually couldn’t? In a world where you could freeze time the expectations of being tough all the time for everyone around you disappears.

So I finally came to the idea of these two homeless guys finding a device that freezes time but rather than spending too much showing the hijinx that they get up to with it, I wanted to show a more tender side to what being able to freeze time might be like for them. Perhaps, allowing them to return to homes they may have been cast out of? Or reconnecting with people that they miss?

The team all worked really hard to achieve the “frozen world” with John our editor doing all the effects in After Effects. Evan Barry (our DP), Karen Twomey (our Producer) and I did a lot of tests to see how best to shoot those frozen moments. Then it was all really tied together by the amazing performances of the two guys Ryan Lincoln (Kissing Candice, Michael Inside, Cardboard Gangsters) and Desmond Eastwood (Blood, Normal People). They both did an amazing job and really brought the heart into it. I’m really proud of it and the whole team that worked on it.

Cast:
Ryan Lincoln
Desmond Eastwood
Gemma Keenan
Paul Murphy
Chloe Grehane
Peter McGann
Achille Martone
Dylan Byrne
Ciara Greene

Producer - Karen Twomey
Director - Kate Dolan
1st AD - Eoin Canny
DOP - Evan Barry
Focus Puller - Luke Murphy Gilligan
1st AC - Laurent Murray
Editor / FX - John Cutler
Trainee AD / 2nd AD - Roisin Little
DIT - Conor Fleming & Kate Barrett