Shot in one continuous take, the video features footage of a ballet dancer performing a live visualization and interpretation of the album, to which Johnston applies a concept he has developed using a digital version of an analogue technique called slit – scan photography to create a totally immersive experience, a fascinating merger of sound and vision, to the most spectacular and enthralling effect.
Here is what Johnston had to say about the video
“I enjoyed producing the Weightless video for Just Music, they had an exceptional amount of trust in me which gave for a rare amount of creative freedom. With Ambient Zone 2 they wanted to replace the static album artwork with a short film. I knew there were very few videos out there that have explored this avenue so I took the commission.”
“I don’t want to give too much away but it’s an important part of the experience to fully understanding how deceptively simple the Ambient Zone 2 video is. Watching from start to finish will help paint the bigger picture. The shoot was an intense 4 hours and a scary two weeks of editing before I finally knew everything had come together correctly.”
Rachel Bodger (Dancer) :“After a trial run in my living room in Edinburgh and a few pointers from Richie I began to get a feel of what movement and positions would complement the effect. It would have been very difficult to choreograph and memorise an hour long piece of movement, and so the final performance was improvised. Richie was keen for it to be my own interpretation of the music, which lends itself to slow, controlled movement; exactly what suited the stretch effect of the video! While this wasn’t strictly a ballet dance, I feel that my history of ballet training helped create the fluid movement seen in the video.”
Ambient Zone 2 album (TAO059) is set for release 20th November. It is the 5th volume of the Just Music Cafe Compilation Series.