A History of Reasons

Director Człowiek Kamera Works with Band Cairo on their Cinematic New Music Video

Picturesque wide-shots, otherworldly fog, and slow-motion walkers, make for this almost surreal music video by Polish director Człowiek Kamera. Created for Toronto-based band, Cairo, it perfectly compliments the orchestral, alternative pop sound of their single, A History of Reasons, which is awash with harmonies, reverb and ever mounting tension.

‘My style consists of collecting places and people in the specific form. In this video I chose fragments of reality which describe us as people in movement, we move only forward.’

The video is reminiscent of one of those dreams in which you are chasing something you can never quite catch. No stranger to making music videos for bands in Poland, and around the world, this mesmeric, hallucination-like quality is recognizable in many of Człowiek’s works. He is now working on a short documentary. He told us more about this video:

The Plus: Why did you chose to show just the back of most of the cast?

Człowiek Kamera: What was most important for this particular video, was the space in front of the characters and surrounding them. It’s easier for us, the viewers, to identify with the character but, at the same time, to preserve an objective view in the situation in which those people are involved. There are some faces that can be seen but it was our conscious intention to present those faces as short as possible. Things we don’t see usually stimulate our curiosity. Despite the fact that we can’t see those faces or we see them for a short time, we are able to feel the emotional connection with the presented situation.

TP: Do you have any particular sources of inspiration?

CK: I try to point toward one source, but now I’m connected with many of them. Usually it starts from curiosity about image or word, next at the stage of developing the idea I try to listen to quiet music – usually it’s classical music but there are exceptions. I also try to listen what my family and friends say. Then I make extracts from all of these and I put it into assumed form. This needs more time than typical process of creation, but on the other hand it seems to me to bevery organic.

TP: What was the most difficult part of making this video?

CK: If I answered that it was me, it would be the sincerest truth.