The music video tells the story of a bank heist gone wrong, all shot from first person POV in seemingly one continuous shot. The hero desperately trying to save a hostage amidst the total carnage that ensues.
The film鈥檚 visuals perfectly match the atypical intensity of The Weeknd鈥檚 latest track, hurtling along at the breakneck speed you鈥檇 expect from Naishuller, the director behind the viral sensation (128 million views and counting) and this year鈥檚 , billed as the world鈥檚 first POV action movie, an insane 90 minute edge-of-your-seat piece of POV madness that follows a newly recostructed cyborg on a relentless mission to save his wife, The former winning countless awards globally, the latter winning the Midnight Madness award at last year鈥檚 Toronto film festival before opening on 3,000 screens in the US earlier this year.
Whilst undeniably violent 鈥 False Alarm boasts masked men, car chases, explosions, insane stunts and lots and lots of blood - there鈥檚 also a softer thread that runs through the film in the protector/protectee relationship between the hero and their hostage.
鈥淚t was critical to get the right girl for the lead as she not only had to carry the romantic aspect of the story but be a tough actress able to work in not the most pleasant of conditions,鈥 states Naishuller. 鈥淲e auditioned over 250 girls but Kristine Froseth (who has just been cast as one of the lead actors in TNT Vampire drama Let the right one in) caught my eye right away. She possesses the unique mix of seriously impressive acting chops, a very fragile beauty and tops it off with a superbly tough yet easy going character. I think she enjoyed being around explosions and cars flipping as much as the guys on set did.鈥
Shooting in LA rather than his native Moscow was a departure for the director, as was his choice of camera for the project.
He had first experimented with POV filming when he invested in a GoPro for a snowboarding trip, shortly before discovering that he actually sucked at snowboarding. Needing to find another use for his newly acquired GoPro, he decided to shoot a music video for his band Biting Elbows. The resulting video, , garnered over 6 million views on YouTube and the attention of Great Guns, who have represented him since. He subsequently shot Bad Motherfucker and Hardcore Henry on GoPro too.
For False Alarm, however, Naishuller wanted to give the film a more cinematic look, ultimately settling on using the Codex Action Cam, a relatively new device that, until now, has largely been used to shoot elements for action scenes in big Hollywood movies.
鈥淎fter Hardcore Henry, I was pretty much set on not doing anything POV related, at least in the near future. But when this track from The Weeknd came in and I listened to it, I couldn鈥檛 help but get excited for the possibilities,鈥 says Naishuller. The key, in my mind, was to make sure that whatever I shot in POV had to be a step up from all that came before, which I believe my team and I have accomplished in the video for False Alarm. Apart from the faux continuous-one-shot feel of the video, the visual aspect of telling this simple yet elegant 鈥榗rime doesn鈥檛 pay鈥 story was greatly improved by using the Codex Action Cam which was introduced to me by Starr Whitesides, our DP on the project. It made the film feel much more cinematic than is expected and took the visuals to the next level.鈥
Shooting a music video for an artist that wasn鈥檛 his own band was another novelty for Naishuller, and a thoroughly enjoyable experience at that.
鈥淚 think Abel鈥檚 approach to this project was very smart. He picked a director whose work he enjoys and let him go wild. His notes were minimal and very constructive, with each and every one of them, bar none, making the video better. Our mutual appreciation of each other鈥檚 work made this a true collaboration and I am ecstatic that he is as happy as he is with the video.鈥
鈥淲ith 鈥楩alse Alarm鈥, the second single released off The Weeknd鈥檚 upcoming album Starboy, we鈥檙e getting a whole new take on R&B prophet Abel Tesfaye鈥檚 range鈥 states The Times. 鈥淭esfaye usually restricts himself to smoother tunes, letting his falsetto do the work. But 鈥楩alse Alarm鈥 is an uncharacteristically frantic, up-tempo ode to unrequited love, his signature delivery interrupted and heated up with raw, unrestrained shrieks. The song has a distorted 80s vibe鈥攁nd an underlying energy with eerie edge.鈥 A furious energy matched by Naishuller鈥檚 impressive visuals.