Ella Ezeike’s “Babe” is a Cinematic Summer Romance
As summer comes to an end, Ella Ezeike looks back on summer love–the intensity, the play, the highs and lows of sunbathed entanglement.
This year’s impassioned arthouse romance, “Babe” joins beloved cinematic love affairs such as Dirty Dancing, Call Me By Your Name, and Like Crazy.
Profound intention graces every frame of Ezeike’s debut music video. Evoking the dreamy essence of 2010’s nostalgia, Ella’s visual storytelling expresses the authentic emotion of a couple’s romance and breakup.
It is the attentive, careful craft-focused approach that makes the shared moments between the lead couple feel so tender and the world of this narrative feel so alive.
Ezeike narrates this love story with a surreal and intimate visual language. Ezeike is renowned for starting her directorial career shooting on film.
I love the rawness of film. I love the intimacy of film. When you shoot on film, you can be a bit more intentional about what you’re shooting. It was difficult because for music videos you need to get a couple takes of everything. You have to really think about and be considerate about what you want to capture.”
Ella Ezeike
Louis Culture and Tora-I tell the story of their relationship through glimpses of a couple’s tender shared moments and heated arguments. Ella cast close friends who are not together, but had met before prior to the shoot to play this passionate couple.
“In the beginning they were very shy. Once we got everyone moving along, eventually, that comfortability and their chemistry really shined through.”
Ella Ezeike
The artists sing with profound emotion, reflecting on the joy of their memories and recounting their perspective on their painful separation.
“Louis sat with this song for over a year. So he was very clear on how he wanted things to feel, and what the story was. I think it was coming from a very personal place. When you’re writing from a personal perspective, you can tap into those emotions within the performance and let it guide you.”
Ella Ezeike
From glamorous layers to the intimacy of a simple button-up, the wardrobe of this music video tells its own story.
Ezeike writes, “For the cast, I wanted it to feel very real and comfortable, but slightly elevated. I wanted the outfits to give the audience a bit of insight into who their characters are. Tora, specifically, is very eccentric with her style and had a very clear vision of what she wanted her wardrobe to look like. I think her style is very distinct.”
There is a strong sense of place throughout “Babe”. The neighborhood is alive behind the characters and musicians. There is a vivaciousness to the bustling avenues and lively basketball courts.
“I live in London, and the artists are from London as well. So shooting in our city felt like the most natural choice, but I wanted a sense of ambiguity –like you couldn’t necessarily place it. Mixing the energy of a place like New York and London felt like the most obvious choice to me. I wanted to channel this documentary style way of shooting and rawness that a lot of my favorite music videos have. No gimmicks, no crazy edits – just performance and camera work.”
Ella Ezeike
The dynamic, character-filled background builds out the rich world of this love story.
“Storytelling is a pivotal part of my work, so making sure I have those layers as well as cinematic, surreal undertones was important to me. I wanted to make sure I stayed true to who I am as a director by letting authenticity and humanity and emotion carry in the work, allowing audiences to get insight into these people’s lives. Which is true to where we all live.”
Ella Ezeike
Crafting a timeless narrative of youth, reminiscence, and summer romance, Ella Ezeike’s “Babe” unfolds a nuanced love story with a cinematic flair and compelling intentionality.