Director Chris Shepherd of Film Club Productions, part of creative group th1ng (pronounced “thing one”), recently completed work on a new music video for musician Holly Johnson, perhaps best-known as the lead vocalist for popular 80’s band Frankie Goes To Hollywood. “In and Out of Love” is the second single released from Johnson’s upcoming album Europa.
Filmed entirely within a small photo booth, Chris Shepherd’s video reveals 35 different actors and a decidedly eclectic mix of personalities in its 3-½ minute running time. Two young sailors mug joyfully mug for the camera. A “stag and hen” party crowds into the booth for some wild shots. A dominatrix shows off the tools of her trade, and a pair of wildly tattooed young men looks at the camera with pride. And those are just some of the characters we meet as Johnson sings his latest song.
“I wanted to use the photo booth experience as a metaphor for love,” says Shepherd. “When you go in there, you act differently. Through a sneaky kiss or wild behavior, we reveal a lot about ourselves. Each of the characters we introduce has their own clear backstory, all the way from the soon-to-be bride and her friends to the Alzheimer’s patient and her caregiver. We were able to reveal a lot of aspects of life and age, all within the confines of a photo booth. Working with Holly was an absolute joy, and I can’t wait for his album to be released.”
