Synopsis

In near-total darkness, glowing lines and shapes appear, move and vanish in time with Sleeping Beauty's "City Lights." The video turns long-exposure photography into a playful stop-motion world, with light trails forming abstract drawings, symbols, figures and flashes of color. Rather than following a conventional narrative, it builds an improvised visual performance around the song, making the process of drawing with light part of the spectacle. The result is a handmade, dreamlike interpretation of the track's title.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was created as a light-painting project, using long-exposure still photographs assembled to create the illusion of moving drawings.

• Its visual concept was inspired by the Japanese light-painting collective PIKAPIKA. The production team deliberately developed its own approach rather than copying that group's technique.

• The project grew out of an idea proposed after the band contacted the filmmakers about making a video for the single.

• Benjamin Taft handled the main photography, while Daniel Palmer contributed additional photography. Editing and post-production were shared by Taft and Jonatan Westman.

• Johannes Petterson and Jonatan Westman were among the principal light-painters. Sleeping Beauty's members also participated, with drummer Bjorn Janson singled out for creating many of the detailed light paintings.

• A production tutorial called "Animate with Light" was published alongside the project, making the basic technique available to other filmmakers and visual artists.

• The video was presented online in 2008, while the "City Lights" track is listed as a 2009 single release.