The Sofa

Directed by
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Wolf Alice have dropped a music video for their new single ‘The Sofa’ directed by award-winning SMUGGLER director Fiona Jane Burgess.

This playful music video follows the band on a sofa gliding down a London street, while everyday life unfolds around them. The video turns the ordinary into something warm and cinematic as Fiona Jane Burgess brings her ability to find magic in the mundane.

Directors Quote: “It’s always such a pleasure to work with a band who know what they want and are incredibly collaborative to work with. From the moment I heard the track, I knew it was a special song and the video had to be equally mesmerising and captivating and epic. The lyrics are so visual too, so it was really about how to bring those lyrics to life and interpret the world of the song.

When I first listened to the song, I imagined travelling somewhere on a train or a bus, watching the world unfold from my window seat. That’s the feeling that inspired this idea — the feeling of sitting back and travelling past scenes on a summer’s day, only this time it was on a sofa :)

This shoot was ambitious in scale but the idea was to make it look effortless. I wanted the sofa moving out of the living room set to look seamless, as well as the characters and scenes to feel like they were capturing the big and small celebratory moments, from the life-changing euphoria of getting married or the adrenaline rush you get from watching the footy with friends, to kids performing a TikTok dance routine or eating an ice cream. The band also had lots of ideas about the scenes and if you look closely there’s lots of easter eggs in there which point to different lyrics in the songs off their album which is fun — it’s a bit like Where’s Wally!

I always wanted to do everything in-camera and not on a green screen, so we shot on various residential and commercial streets in North London and built a real-size living room in the middle of the street and had a 200ft track with the sofa rigged onto it.

We shot everything in one day on 16mm with 65 extras plus the band and sofa scenes and very temperamental weather which kept changing throughout the day, which the camera crew did a very good job at embracing!

It was a brilliant shoot and process overall and I couldn’t be prouder or happier to have played a part in helping to bring this song to life.”                                                                                                                

— Fiona Jane Burgess

CREDITS

Label: Columbia Records @Columbiarecords

Director Visual Content: Kat Cattaneo @Kat_catt

Commissioner: Michael Lewin @Michaelclewin

Marketing: Polly Whittington @withigram

Management: Eilidh Fraser

Digital: Yazz James

Digital: Caitlin Fine

BTS: Harriet Bols @Harriettkbols

Directors Rep: @handsvideo_

Director: Fiona Jane Burgess @Fionajburgessss

Production Company: SMUGGLER @smugglersite

Managing Director*: Fergus Brown @Fergusb1

Managing Director*: Lucy Kelly @_lucy__kelly_

Executive Producer: Elizabeth Doonan @Elizabethdoonan

Executive Producer: Joel Spencer @Jspenc_r

Producer: Sidney Arthur @Squidneyarthur

Production Manager: Izzy Davis @Issydavis

Production Runner: Lily Carpenter @Lilyyrae_

Location Manager:* Rupert Bowkett @Bowkett

Location Assistant: Jazz Jamieson

1st AD: Rawdon De Fresnes @Rawdster

2nd AD: Jennifer Addo @Jay.Amona

3rd AD: Sam Barnham

Runner: Marlon Reynier @Marlonrishondala

Runner: Honey Macdowall @Honeymacz

Runner (Work Exp): Walt Scott @Wultuh

Runner (Work Exp): Issy Dennis @Issycharliedennis

Dop: Harry Wheeler @Harry__wheeler

1st AC: Phillip Heron

2nd AC: Jack Ferrari-Plumbridge @Whenswrap

2nd AC: Luke Gurney @Luke_gurneyy

Central Loader: Cas Broad @Casbroad

Key Grip: Rob Barlow @Feral_rob And @Feralequipment

2nd Grip: Paul Mammone @Paul Mammone

3rd Grip: Tobias Schoneveld @Mr.Tobez

Grip Trainee: Mélanie Barbieri

Work Experience: Will Barlow @Barlowfilmanddesign

Camera Car Driver: Dimitri

DLP Tech: Daniel Lobo-Pires

Video Playback: Remy Trafford @Remtraff

Gaffer: Simon Ingram @Simoningram9

Electrician: Dom Cichy

Electrician: Tim Neill @Tim0thyneill

Electrician: Will Curley

Trainee: George Burke

Production Designer: Max Randall @_maxrandall

Art Director: Georgia Rose Fairman

Art Assistant: Elin Taylor @Elinmtaylor

Art Assistant: Marcus James @Marcusleejames

Art Assistant: Dougal Burgess

Art Assistant: Josh Hooper

Art Assistant: Jude Lilley

Wardrobe Stylist: Lulu Bullock @Lulubullock

Wardrobe Assistant: Elliott Bulman @Elliott_bulman_

Wardrobe Assistant: Ellen Green @Ellengreen._

HMU Artist: Natasha Lawes @Natashalawes

HMU Assist: Sophie Gia Moore @Sophiegiamoore

HMU Assist: Anya Mcdevitt @Anyamac

Wa Stylist*: David Gary Moore @Gary_david_moore

Wa Stylist Assist: Leonor Carvalho

Wa Stylist Assist: Anna Luisa Di Lauro @Annaluisadilauro

Wa Make Up: Anna Payne @Annajpayne

Wa Make Up Assist: Francesca Leach @Francescaleachmakeup

Wa Hair: Yumi Nakada-Dingle @Yuminakadadingle

Wa Hair Assist: Motoharu Iwaizumi @Mthr0905

Movement Direction: Joe Grey Adams @Joegreyadams

Medic: Nigel Britton

Catering: Bowes Cafe @Cafebowes

Film Stock: @kodak_shootfilm

Film processing and scanning: Kodak @kodak

Casting Director: Jinjo Casting @jinjo.me

Assisted by: @cchehe @abbieedouglas @opisoloco

Offline Edit: OkayStudio @okaystudio

Editor: Jo Lewandowska @jo_is_editing

Edit Assist: Michelle Koops @michelle.editor

Edit Producer: Athene Aristocleous @athenexenia

Online edit by Monty Chaudoir @Monty_corp

VFX by Denis Reva @denis.reva_

Conform by Fin Melluish @finmelluish

Colour/Grade by Dante Pasquinelli @dantegiani

BTS Photography: Oliver Chanarin @oliverchanarin