VALDIMAR "Út úr þögninni" (Official Video)

Описание: From filmmaker Bowen Staines (Sólstafir’s ‘Fjara’ and ‘Lágnætti’; Skálmöld’s ‘Gleipnir’; Ólafur Arnalds’ ‘Living Room Songs’) comes a brand new music video for Iceland’s powerful electro-indie sextet, Valdimar. The video is for their song, ‘Út úr þögninni’ (‘Out of Silence’), from Valdimar’s highly acclaimed new album, ‘Batnar útsýnið’.

—OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE—

I began writing a rough screenplay for ‘Út úr þögninni’ back in September of 2014 and, with the help of ETG Management, we began production in February 2015. The entire seven-minute video was shot over the course of ten days in and around Iceland’s capital city of Reykjavík, with a production crew of less than five people. The footage was then flown across the Atlantic to Toronto, Ontario, where I edited it over the next two and a half months.

While several of our previous videos were filmed in the countryside, with ‘Út úr þögninni’ I wanted to show my respect and love for the city of Reykjavík by capturing it in a slightly different way – not as a location or destination, but as a home. These are living, breathing characters that live in a city that’s vibrant and strong enough to allow them a refuge to tell their story, yet lonely and isolated enough to be an enticing playground to an unsettled mind. To be honest, I cannot imagine this story taking place in any other city.

The story was brought to life through the talents of Hjalti Haraldsson and Unnur Jónsdóttir, with the help of the young and extremely clever Markús Sólon, and accomplished actor Sumarliði V Snæland Ingimarsson. Although barely noticeable in the final product, Hjalti became miserably ill with the flu after our very first day shooting and was sick for all but the last day. His performance deserves a lot of credit, I think. Even while feverish and terribly uncomfortable, he repeatedly insisted on finishing dozens of additional takes until he was completely satisfied.

Although a large portion of this video was filmed indoors, when it came time to move our set outside towards Seltjarnarnes, things began to fall apart. We were cursed with the absolute worst weather for the majority of our exterior shots; snowstorm after insane snowstorm resulted in constant rescheduling and, as we began to run out of time, I decided to just write these snowstorms into the screenplay. In retrospect, I think this actually helped certain scenes achieve an even greater emotional detachment between Hjalti and the person he’s struggling to become.

Outside of Reykjavík, we shot several scenes on the cliffs of Dyrhólaey, overlooking Reynisdrangar. A recent news report confirmed that the exact same part of Dýrhólaey on which we had filmed just three weeks prior has since broken off and plummeted some 120-metres into the ocean, the victim of a sudden, massive landslide.

We would like to extend our utmost gratitude to all involved in this project: to the fine gentlemen in Valdimar – it’s been a great experience working on this, thank you for trusting us so completely, to producers Margrét Björnsdóttir and Kristinn Sævar Thorarensen at ETG Management, you made this entire crazy thing happen, and lastly, to all the fans and anyone who contributed to this video in any way, no matter how small or large – TAKK FYRIR OKKUR!!
-Bowen Staines, Director
13.5.15

www.DontPanicIceland.com
www.Valdimar.Bandcamp.com
www.ETG.is