Bloc Party are back on track, I mean, they are about to release a new album!
While we all wonder if this first song is going to define the inclination of “Four” (the upcoming album that will be released on the 20th August) or is just a song, we enjoy the video.

We learn from the credits that the merit goes to a total female crew, Nova Dando directing and Kelly Armstrong managing the editing. After you take a look at the video you’ll notice what this poor girl must have been through in order to edit this.

As a musician I appreciate, a whole lot, how the video is based on the syncopation of the song (that sounds more like a broken cd player effect). By the way, what I mean is that, following the rhythm in music videos is something that we already saw, but following this rhythm is something mental, an ungrateful job that makes you dizzy, so, we, again, compliments with miss Kelly for the editing.

Let’s talk about the direction: Nova Dando is still best known as a fashion stylist, but is now making big strides as a director after having directed Bloc Party frontman Kele’s solo video for What Did I Do, now she’s got into this poptastic, hypnotic video.

Luckily we have reached Kelly Armstrong that unveiled only for us some secrets behind “Octopus”.
 
WPD: First of all, how the concept was chosen? It was an idea of the band, or the direction team had white paper in choosing what it had to be shot?
 
KA: The concept came from a collection of inspirational videos that we all had admired. Nova and Kele wanted to make something visual and completely different to what is already out there. We didn’t want to make something which had a predictable story line. We wanted to make everything pop with color, texture, repetition and dance.
 
WPD: What role, in the concept, do the gymnastics athletes play? In the last minute it seems like the play an hypnotic part, that is quite interesting!
 
KA: The dancers broke up the aggressive aspect of the edit. They are the soft and elegant side of the video, whereas everything else is very fast paced and punchy. Although the electric guitar solo is very past paced, we wanted to contrast the sound with the two dancers, their hoops and the hypnotic circles in the background.
 
WPD: How long did it take to edit the whole video?
 
KA: The first edit took a week- and a very long week at that. We knew how heavy the edit was going to be before we went into post, however I don’t think we realized how many cuts in total there would be.
Once we got at it we realized that we wanted it to be crazy and therefore long days were necessary.
In total it took about a week and a half of very long days, however it was well worth it. I think if you’re a serious editor and you love what you do then you don’t get discouraged by overtime.
 
WPD: What software did you use?
 
KA: I used Final Cut Pro 7 and Kris (special effects) used After Effects.
 
WPD: What camera have been used?
 
KA: An Alexa.
 
WPD: Where was the video shot, and why did you choose an ambient warehouse-like like this?
 
KA: The video was shot in London in a warehouse near Dalston. We wanted a grimey, run down look that would simulate a 90’s music video. Its funny how trends work, back in the 90’s all the music videos were very similar and now a days you just don’t see that style anymore.
 
WPD: I have noticed a contrast between the perfection in details, like the decoration of the room where they play and choices, as to leave in frame the peoples that are holding the green back, there is a particular reason for that?
 
KA: Once again it just comes back to doing something different. The set was dressed to look like a 90’s garage band and we kept the extras in on the green screen because most people would cut it out. The whole idea was to do something stylistic and different. Its good to get people talking.