Synopsis
A young skateboarder leaves his urban surroundings behind and sets off across the sun-baked landscapes outside Los Angeles. Riding through empty roads, industrial spaces, desert terrain, and wide-open plains, he appears to move without a clear destination. The journey gradually becomes hypnotic and dreamlike, with the skater's solitary movement matching the steady pulse and expanding textures of Jon Hopkins' electronic track. Rather than resolving into a conventional story, the video presents escape itself as the destination.
Factoids & Trivia
- The video was released in April 2013 as the visual companion to "Open Eye Signal," the first single from Hopkins' album *Immunity*.
- Professional skateboarder Chris Chann stars in the video. His continuous movement gives the eight-minute track a physical sense of momentum without relying on dialogue or traditional narrative.
- The concept was built around a city kid escaping his everyday life in the only way he knows: by skateboarding. The journey was intentionally framed as moving from nowhere to nowhere, echoing the track's lack of a fixed destination.
- Jon Hopkins said the treatment stood out because it offered a cinematic interpretation of the song through color and movement rather than a literal storyline.
- The production was associated with the British company Colonel Blimp, with Tamsin Glasson credited as executive producer and producer.
- The video won Best Cinematography at the UK Music Video Awards, reflecting the importance of its expansive landscapes and carefully composed images to the overall effect.
- The clip became one of the most widely recognized visual interpretations of Hopkins' music and has also appeared in presentations of his audiovisual work.