The music video for No Orphan was shot a significantly long time after the release of the song itself - about half a year later. Subsequent edits would take a long time as well, leading to the release of the music video over a year after the initial release of the song. Still, it proved worthwhile as the video does have a distinctive feel to it, and we got to shoot in an awesome location.
I was working in Kenya at the time, and during my Christmas and New Year holidays, I got to go with some of my co-workers to a resort on the east coast of Kenya, right on the Indian Ocean. This spot ended up being the location for half of the music video, the rest of the footage being shot right on the campus where we worked.
These water scenes were a challenge to film mostly because of how early in the morning it was. I woke JD (the camera man) up at 5am sharp, before the sun had started to rise. We walked down to the beach and began shooting me against the sunrise. The shots ended up being beautiful enough to not really need much editing.
Another challenge with these shots was that the water was filled with sea urchins. This was fine when we were out swimming a little bit deeper - it was easy to avoid them. But while standing, I had to be careful not to thrash around too much or step too hard in the wrong place. One false move would have landed me a foot full of spines.
We had initially planned to have more of a plot in this video. We had planned out a sequence following a young girl and a supernatural antagonist who was trying to get her to give in to her fears. Ultimately we ended up not having enough time to shoot those scenes, and the final edit of the video had to introduce drama in a new, and simpler way.
The upside-down shots ended up being symbolic of being in darkness and confusion, and as the song progresses towards the bridge, the video progresses towards sunrise - at which point the world is righted. It represents patience and assurance in one's identity while waiting through times of disorientation.
Considering how low budget this video was, I'm amazed at how it turned out. With any luck this won't be the last music video for KOZEN.