Sam Creighton’s Music Video for “After Midnight”
Sam Creighton – After Midnight Music Video
The Appeal of the Song
Do you ever hear a song and immediately feel the need to hit “repeat” as soon as it’s over? The first time we at Spirinity heard Sam Creighton‘s dance-beat single, “After Midnight,” we had to do just that! Not only were we excited to make the video for this single, but we were all the more thrilled to be the ones to debut Sam’s first music video ever! And it wasn’t only “After Midnight’s” catchy musicality or Sam’s songbird vocals that triggered our enthusiasm, but the all-too-familiar story and ultimately empowering message of the song that struck us so compellingly—and we knew that we needed to capture both that as well as the visceral emotions of the song in actions and arc the music video!
The Lyrics
The song begins: “I did it again. My loneliness took over me…” Many of us can immediately relate to the feelings of loss and regret we feels when we open again to a person we know we just can’t trust. And when romance is involved, the stakes can be all the more high! Loneliness is a powerful thing when it haunts the human heart. So many have received that not so subtle text before: “U up?” We know it’s wrong. We know there’s no way this goes anywhere we hope it might. We know the pain it leads to? But, sometimes, right now, you just don’t care. Of course there is no REAL or lasting satisfaction or love that can be found when we use one another just to alleviate loneliness. We yearn for—we need—more meaningful connection and relationship than that. But it’s so easy to fall into cycles repeating destructive behaviors, and sometimes—for some strange reason—the risk even sounds like… fun. And sometimes anything sounds better than that aching loneliness. The heart knows it needs more, but sometimes we just don’t want it to be true.
The Video
As the video opens, Sam is awakened by a call in the middle of the night and immediately responds with glee. When she arrives at the house, a push-pull dance begins with her love interest (played by the co-writer of the song and a talented singer himself, Will Jay). We hired one of our favorite choreographers, Kedua, to help show the dynamic struggle of simply wanting to be wanted by another, while also longing something more. Reset. New night. Sam gets another late night call, and while she does answer, she’s notably less eager and excited this time around. As she heads over to the lover’s house, she plays a bit hard to get, but ultimately she gives in. Repeat. Reset. On the final night in the video, again the phone rings. Sam awakens… Will she answer? You may have an inkling, but you’ll have to watch to find out exactly how the dramatic denouement plays out!
For this project, we worked closely with Sam’s own ideas to bring the personal resonance of this story to life. She actually wrote the song after receiving one of those texts herself! With the goal of empowering viewers to reevaluate themselves, to be reminded of their real value and their real power to love themselves and view themselves as worthy of far more than the empty promises of some one night stand. We were impressed with Sam’s commitment to this message and to empowering her viewers and fans. She was willing to be shot in representations and visualizations that she’s not used to, and she even fully stripped off her makeup at one point, perhaps communicating a truth that words alone could not.
Final Thoughts…
Visually, we enjoyed playing with symmetry, color, contrast and patterns, paying some homage to a director we all hold in high esteem—Wes Anderson. With slow movements, stylized sets, eclectic wardrobes, and a dramatic color palette, we were more than happy with the final product!
Overall, we loved collaborating with Sam and can’t wait to do so again soon! To be sure, the calls between us have much more love and endurance than those in this video! Be sure to check it out!
We’re really passionate about creating music videos. If you enjoyed this video, we invite you to check out some of our other projects we’re really proud of:
Jasmine Kara’s Music Video for “Fade to Black (Official Video)
Dylan Bernard’s Music Video for “Forever for Now”
Alexa Friedman’s Music Video for “Enraptured”
If you’re curious about our process, we take a deeper dive into the process on this page.