Synopsis
A vehicle crashes deep in a remote forest, where a lone man retrieves a rifle and begins tracking an unseen presence among the trees. Nearby, a woman wanders through the wilderness and enters a mountain lake, seemingly unaware of the danger around her. The video cuts between their separate journeys, using the landscape to build tension and uncertainty. As the hunter and swimmer move through the same isolated environment, their stories gradually converge in a sudden, unsettling encounter.
Factoids & Trivia
- The video promotes the vocal version of "Breathe This Air," featuring Megan James of Purity Ring. It reworks the instrumental track that appeared on Jon Hopkins' 2013 album "Immunity."
- The production was filmed on location around Bolboci in Romania. The region's mountains, forests, roads and unfamiliar-looking faces helped create a setting that felt recognizable but difficult to place.
- Cinematographer Michael Belcher used a RED Epic camera with Cooke S4 lenses for the main photography. Slow-motion footage was deliberately kept handheld to preserve a sense of physical immediacy rather than making the images feel overly polished.
- A small drone helicopter was used for the aerial shots. Because it could not carry the RED Epic, the crew mounted a DSLR instead.
- The lake scenes were especially demanding. The water was freezing and it was raining during the shoot. To make the nude swimming sequence less intimidating for the performer, a member of the creative team entered the water wearing only shorts.
- The deer material had to be assembled from separate locations. The crew could not film the animal in the same forest as the armed character, so some deer elements were created practically and matched together in the edit.
- The editing required careful attention to small visual details. The production team adjusted the balance between mystery and clarity so the connection between the separate storylines would emerge gradually.
- The video was released in September 2013 and was presented as an atmospheric narrative rather than a performance piece, with the music's shifting textures translated into parallel human actions and landscape imagery.