Bas, the world-renowned French-American rapper signed to Dreamville/ Interscope Records, released his music video for hit single “Fragrance” off his latest album Milky Way.
For the video, the record label tapped Pomp&Clout and director Paul Trillo, signed with creative content services company Big Block, to once again fuse technique and storytelling in this trippy, fragmented experience.
“Bas has a track record of creative videos, but with the new album we really wanted to push for something people hadn’t seen before,” said Paul Trillo. “And with the lyrics sporting a paranoid, thriller theme, we used the photo joiner and collage technique to amplify this narrative.”
The video's cubist technique was originally inspired by David Hockney's photo joiners series, in which he layered multiple photographs together to create a single, unique scene. This allows the “Fragrance” narrative to be told in an unexpected way while suggesting there is something repetitive about this relationship, as the stalker continually hypnotizes Bas.
The video was shot over the course of two days, filming each scene from dozens of slight angle adjustments, with the final product netting out to almost 1,200 layers of video. While tedious, the technique allowed the folding of time on top of itself and the ability to crop out parts of the image to focus the viewer's eye, dictating the narrative.
Paul Trillo is an NYC-based filmmaker whose recent work includes “Dirty Secret” music video for The Peach Kings, and a Ford F-150 Campaign for Big Block.
Screenwork Credits Artist: Bas | Label: Dreamville / Interscope
Production Co: Pomp&CloutDirected, Edited, VFX and Color by Paul Trillo; EP: Ryen Bartlett, Producer: Brian Bell, DP: Joe Picard, Production Designer: John Richoux, Bas' Stylist: Kierra Bailey, Wardrobe Stylist: Lisa Madonna
About Big Block Big Block is a creative services company, technology investor and IP accelerator that works with leading consumer, entertainment, and technology industry brands, including Under Armour, Ford Motors, ESPN, and Enterra Solutions. The company produces all forms of visual content, original entertainment properties, live-entertainment experiences and media+tech IP. In addition, Big Block actively invests in companies and people in emerging technology, media, and lifestyle companies, including the most advanced AI. By combining technology and active investments with creative, Big Block focuses on better activating engaged audiences around content and turning conversations into valuable experiences and transactions.
