Written by on May 1, 2012. Posted in Production News

Pictures in a Row director films eye-catching music video on location in Iceland

Director Sean Stiegemeier of Pictures in a Row has marked a collaboration between music producers Kaskade and Skrillex. Lick It is filmed in reverse and shows a young woman struggling in a snowy landscape as she tries to track down a source of music to calm her bleeding ears.

Filming took place in southern Iceland in the town of Vik, which was also the base of operations for Game of Thrones when the HBO show filmed in the country for its second season. The video was actually shot in some downtime that Pictures in a Row had while working on a separate project, so he worked with a small crew too.

Stiegemeier comments: “I wrote the idea based around the size and location of this one town. This town is remarkable because there is a large volcano called Katla just above, whose magma chambers are connected to those of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano that erupted a couple years ago. If Katla erupts the way it could then the town of Vik could potentially be wiped off the map.”

A Doggicam Bodymount hip camera rig was worn by Aníta Lísa Svansdóttir – an Icelandic actress and football player - to achieve the video’s distinctive look. The mount itself was shipped from Los Angeles as that was the only achievable option within their tight timeframe.

Alfred Gislason, with Pegasus Pictures, was Production Manager: "We needed to have two cameras; one RED Epic for the light weight on the Bodymount and one Arri Alexa for 120 frames-per-second [footage]. Also we used a Shuttle Pod from Kessler Crane."

Iceland's weather can change every five minutes. On our second day of shooting we actually had a blizzard come through with gale-force winds that prevented us from shooting anything that day.

Sean Stiegemeier, Director

Stiegemeier adds: “The biggest issue is the weather. Iceland's weather can change every five minutes. On our second day of shooting we actually had a blizzard come through with gale-force winds that prevented us from shooting anything that day. Then we got lucky the day after and had mostly clear skies, which is something we only saw twice the entire month we were there working.”

Svansdóttir had her fair share of challenges running backwards with the Doggicam attached around her waist, although spiked cleats on her and the crew’s shoes helped minimise accidents on the ice. Icelandic servicing company Pegasus Pictures helped out with local co-ordination and Hunt is quick to praise their work.

Credits:
Talent: Kaskade and Skrillex
Production Company: Pictures in a Row, Los Angeles
Executive Producer: Roger Hunt
Production Co-ordinator: Alfred Gislason (with Pegasus Pictures)
Director: Sean Stiegemeier