Hasta La Ideas

A Field in England director Ben Wheatley has made his first music video – a spaghetti western-style live action clip for Editors single Formaldehyde

“A lot of directors come up through making pop promos: I didn’t,” Wheatley says. “My route in was through advertising, internet and television. The pop promo is something I’ve always been interested in. Music plays a big part in my film work and I’ve always admired the work of Michel Gondry, Chris Cunningham,  David Wilson and Dougal Wilson to name but a few. I was very flattered to be asked.”

The promo (above) was shot in a day in Almeria, Spain. “We shot on the old sets for Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West,” Wheatley says. “It was quite an experience. The sun is so bright and strong (I’ve just shot four features in a row in the UK; that kind of thing impresses me!) The mountains look amazing and everywhere you look you feel the vibe of the spaghetti westerns (they actually pipe the Morricone music in on loudspeakers so it’s impossible not to feel it).”

The Promo stars Simon Smith who also appeared in Wheatley’s Down Terrace film.The crew were also regular Wheatley collaborators with Nick Gilespie shooting, Andy Kelly art directing, Charlotte Hayward on make-up and Andy Starke and Claire Jones producing.

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