David Scheurs had a bright idea for the video 'That Man': a video that consisted out of references to titles from the 1950s and '60s. Director Maikel van der Laken and Will Productions asked Planet X to assist in the execution of the video.
This video would also be the start of the collaboration with typographer/art director Donald Roos and Planet X (now, this collaboration has become a special department: Planet X Title Design).
In the video, Caro gets lost in a graphic world with a vintage look and feel, looking for ‘That Man’. Maikel had an extensive storyboard combined with reference material of titles sequences.Before the realization, we did extensive research into titles. The countless original designs from the 1950s and ’60s, especially of Saul Bass, we have been able to translate into a consistent world for' That Man '. Thus, the clip also became an homage to the work of Saul Bass, with both hidden and clear references everywhere. Meanwhile, on YouTube clip has been watched over 5,000,000 times!
The EP ‘Emerald Island’ contains six new songs including 'The Ghost of You'. The song is a dark tango, in which Caro sings about the man who is only present as a ghost.
While making plans for the music video there was an additional challenge. At that moment Caro was pregnant. However, restrictions make it creative and we decided to film Caro only as a portrait and just move the environment.
As a source of inspiration, we took early film and photography. Due to the long shutter speed, models often had to sit down for a long time. As a result, their gaze alienated, giving the portraits a hauntingly beautiful look. Then we designed some Victorian-style rooms that remind of early movie decors. The camera is wandering through the rooms and finds a portrait of Caro on the wall. The camera passes through Caro's portrait and goes into the next room. To emphasize the raree-show feel, motion graphics artist Roel Meijering created a 3D world using only 2D elements.
inspiration
Sketching
In 2017 the emerald island emerged from EP. Here, Caro hit the path of Exotica music. Raphael Bartels designed the artwork, which we then used as the basis for designing and animating a whole new series of background projections. Based on these animations, we also developed a teaser that was used on social media to give fame to the new tour.
The collaboration between Grandmono and Planet X started in 2011. Earlier that year, Grandmono broke all records with the album Grandmono Presents: Caro Emerald — Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor. A project by producer/songwriters David Schreurs, Vincent Degiorgio, Jan van Wieringen, and the Amsterdam singer Caroline van der Leeuw. After the hits 'A Night Like This' and 'Back It Up', it was 'That Man'-s turn to get an own music video.
After the 'That Man' video followed the creation of various stage projections for her international shows. In 2017 Grandmono asked us to make a music video for "The Ghost of You" of the LP "Emerald Island"