A music video for Korean-Canadian singer SORAH's debut single, Heartbreak From Home - a synthesis of dark hereditary trauma and a dance-pop beat.
Music Video. 2023. 03:19
Roles: Editor
Director: Cynthia Zhou
Deliverables: x1 Full Length
The Assignment: Create a music video that starts with a melancholic cinematic style of pacing, before transitioning into a ramped-up "double time" cut speed more akin to a K-POP music video, without losing the narrative thread of a woman coping with family trauma.
FROM THE EDITING ROOM
Heartbreak From Home was an opportunity to dial in the art of hypercuts and montages.
​
The singer, who I worked with directly in the later stages of the edit, was very particular about two things; she wanted her music video to feel like a film, and she wanted it to steadily accelerate in speed until it hit a fever pitch by the end. The best way to accomplish this was by allowing the BPMs of the song to set the cut pacing.
​
Editing is always a detail-oriented job, but music videos are a different beast entirely; you start thinking in terms of frames, not seconds. The song becomes the tempo of emotion, and cutting to match is a race for the senses; the slightest sound becomes a chance to change gears, and the most subtle transition can change the environment completely.
​
I honed those techniques on this music video, and have carried them with me into a lot of the work I've done since. It's a fun time.