Diamante (IG: thisisdiamante), the glamorous, alt-pop performer, recently released the official music video for “Cool Down,” her new single via Sumerian Records. Cool Down was directed by Grace Stromatt (www.gracestromatt.com), who says the artist is “as sweet and kind as she is talented.”
According to Stromatt, Diamante had a clear vision in mind for the video, and the team had a blast bringing it to life.
“One of my favorite things to hear from an artist is, ‘This is exactly like how I pictured it in my head,’ and I’m so happy we were able to do that for her,” the director shares.
In their initial call, Diamante shared how the song is about trying to save a relationship that is a lost cause.
“She wanted to show this through monochromatic lighting that mirrored the colors of a super nova – the death of a star – blue, red, orange and purple,” Stromatt recalls. “She also wanted the video to live somewhere between sci-fi and a liminal metaphorical space.”
The artist referenced Backrooms as the inspiration for the visuals, and the two talked in depth about how the rooms would be the physical representation of the relationship. Production design would further reflect the emotional state of each color.
“Blue is the most sci-fi, as well as the most sleek,” Stromatt notes. “Things are calm, yet something is not right. Red is the start of the explosion. The alarms are going off. Tension is building. Orange is the disjointed mess, as things fall apart despite her trying to hold on. In the purple scene he is gone, the room is empty yet she is still there, not yet able to accept the relationship is over.”
Additional inspiration for the monochromatic, sci-fi world came from feature films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner 2049
Alex Attalah served as director of photography on the video, shooting with an Arri Alexa Mini with rehoused Leica R lenses. The video was captured in the 3:2 aspect ratio. Editor Sabra Stratton cut the project in roughly one week, which included several rounds of notes going back and forth.
“She did such a great job of building the tension in the edit to emphasize the world caving in around Dia throughout the video’s ending.”
Another key part of the story involves a shadowy figure that represents the other person in the relationship.
“To bring in more of the sci-fi aesthetics, I pitched for the figure to be rotoscoped into a white glow instead,” Stromatt reveals. “This also allowed for us to use him as a motivation for the changing lights. When we transition from blue to red, the figure flashes red, symbolizing his anger as the catalyst into the red room, the next stage of the relationship’s end. The VFX and titles were done in less than 24 hours by another close collaborator of mine, Fernanda Vega.”
Christopher Medina handled the color grade, completing it in just a few days and “knocking it out of the park” the director adds.
Stromatt also credits producer Tanja Meyer with helping the whole project stay on track.
“Tanja and I have worked together on more music videos than I can count, and I’m so grateful to get to work with her,” says Stromatt. “She’s the best at handling all the fast-paced logistics so I can focus on the creative.”
