The Briefing Room

The Brief:

Smoke & Mirrors in conjunction with London-based One of Us and Stranger, just completed the Flame and color-grading work on a unique Jon Glazer-directed music video for alt-rock supergroup The Dead Weather.

Treat Me Like Your Mother features Jack White and Alison Mosshart of The Kills (Mosshart is a member of Dead Weather) colliding in a ferocious and surreal duel with automatic weapons. The face-off is set in a dusty field bordering a gaudy suburban housing tract, where the duo unloads their clips in a relentless onslaught that complements the music’s powerful cadence. Despite skewering one another with countless bullets, both walk away as the video fades.

Smoke & Mirrors chipped in with many of the effects for the firing and impact of the weapons, including bullet hits, ground hits, and muzzle flashes. Color grading was by Mark Horrobin (Smoke & Mirrors London) while New York had Sean Broughton, Nic Seresin and Philip Akka lead the S&M effects with Tony Lawrence nodding it via S&M London.

“It is not often one finds a band willing to take such a risk as this, nor is it common to have Jon Glazer directing it. To find ourselves being asked to join the party was both an honor and a privilege that everyone at Smoke & Mirrors was proud to be part of,” said Broughton, Smoke & Mirrors co-founder and creative director.

The full-length video premiered in the U.S. on Cinemax July 11 and in the UK on Channel 4 July 13.

The Creds:

Artist: The Dead Weather
Song: Treat Me Like Your Mother

Production Company: Academy@HELLO!
Director: Jon Glazer
DP: Max Malkin
EP(s): Lizie Gower, Liz Kessler, Sheira Reese-Davies
Managing Director: Line Postmyr
Producer US: Rachel Curl
Producer UK: Mark Whittow-Williams

Telecine: Smoke & Mirrors/London
Colorist: Mark Horrobin

Post/Effects: Smoke & Mirrors/NY
CD: Sean Brougton
Flame Artist(s): Sean Broughton, Nic Seresin, Philip Akka, Sam Caine, Stephanie Isaacson, Tony Lawrence (UK)
Producer(s): Paul O’Beirne, Lauren Shawe
VFX Producer(s): Belinda Grew, Leigh Warner, Paul O.Beirne, Lauren Shawe

Post/Effects: One of Us/London
VFX Producer: Rachael Penfold
VFX Line Producer: Chaya Feiner

Visual Effects: Stranger

Editorial: The Quarry
Editor: Paul Watts

Audio Post: Wave Studios
Mixer: Johnnie Burns

About SMNY:

New York and London-based design, animation and VFX studio, Smoke & Mirrors was founded by Creative Director/VFX Artist Sean Broughton (NY), Penny Verbe (UK) and Mark Wildig (UK). A creative and artist-driven company synonymous with vision and originality since its inception, Smoke & Mirrors has consistently succeeded because of its collaborative approach and ability to build lasting creative relationships with directors, producers, agencies and clients alike.

Production in the New York office is lead by CCO Sean Broughton and MD Jo Morgan. Diverse projects range from work on the Harry Potter and Bond film series, to commercial campaigns for Mercedes, Burger King, Miller Lite and Sirius. Recent music vid clips include Feist’s 1 2 3 4, and I Feel It All. Each office is fully networked together with complementary systems allowing the companies to share resources, expanding local capacity. Close involvement with hardware and software manufacturers and developers has kept Smoke & Mirrors at the forefront of innovation and technology.

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