Steve Umculo celebrates two major wins during season 2 of the Munich Music Video Awards as his music video for ‘Your Eyes Through Mine’, taken from his ‘Fall From Grace EP’, receives the awards for “Best Cinematography” and “Best Low Budget Music Video”.
Steve Umculo comments on his victories at the Munich Music Video Awards
“This is a massive milestone for me as it’s my first ever international award for any creative project. Gavin Pincus, the DOP, has entered us in a few competitions both locally and internationally. The Munich Music Video Awards was the first one we applied for and I was pleasantly surprised to know that we have already won two awards. May it be the first of many.”
Steve Umculo is the only South African artist to receive an award from the MMVA this season, competing against a vast array of international applications. This project was Steve’s first attempt at producing a music video and brought in a close knit collection of professionals to bring his song to life.
Umculo comments
“I am thrilled about this opportunity and so proud of my team for their hard work and dedication to this project. Thank you for everything, I believe we have done something truly special here.”
The conceptualisation for the ‘Your Eyes Through Mine’ music video started long before the song even existed. Umculo remembers watching the music video for ‘May I Have This Dance’ by Francis and the Lights & Chance the Rapper a couple of years back and thought how he would love to perform a choreographed dance in one of his own music videos.
Umculo then got in touch with local director of photography, Gavin Pincus, who eagerly joined for the making of the music video.
While working on the video concept for the now recorded ‘Your Eyes Through Mine’, he reached out on Instagram to find a dancer for the idea and his longtime friend, and incredible dance talent, Sandi Dlangalala was keen to jump on board.
Steve Umculo recalls
“I was so lucky to have Gavin on board. Not only because he is incredibly good at what he does, but he is the nicest guy that brought such a beautiful energy to the set.”
“Gavin managed to bring in director Cole Matthews and a handful of other insanely talented individuals to help bring this music video to life. It became apparent to me that our final product was going to be my most professional video to date, so I didn’t want to waste it on me prancing around the screen trying to pull off a dance. I decided to bring in the pros and Sandi was a no brainer for the protagonist in this story.”
“He is such a gifted actor and a brilliant dancer. Kiruna-Lind (who I released ‘Just Kids’ with back in 2019) is also a phenomenal talent that I was lucky enough to have in this video. I’ve worked with both of them on production shows before and know they have a great chemistry so having them both on board was a true blessing.”
Cole Matthews and Steve Umculo spent a long time going back and forth about what the story should be for this music video, and after multiple ideas, they decided to go with a less abstract and more relatable concept – the emotional trauma that a break-up can have on one’s mind.
As the video’s story unfolds, we are taken to a barren landscape where the protagonist thinks he sees his past lover off in the distance and begins chasing this figment. After very nearly being defeated, the figment reaches out to our protagonist and pulls him up into a dance sequence.
The twists, tumbles and turns of this beautiful display show that he is now lost in the thought of being with her again. This is until he is transported back to the emotional pivot that sent him down this rabbit hole – the break-up. This is when we see the significance of the barren landscape in which he tries to find her. It is here that she left him. He snaps out of it and back into the dance which climaxes towards a final embrace.
In a last-ditch attempt to hold her in his arms he lunges forward but she disappears, leaving him confused and bewildered. We are then taken back to the car where he sits alone, staring out at the landscape that his mind frivolously wandered. He starts his car, drives off and we are left unsure of whether or not he was able to deal with his emotions.
For Steve Umculo, this was his first time producing a music video and handling a large team of people
“It was incredibly stressful (for instance, we only secured the car about 12 hours before we shot!) but endlessly rewarding. I really enjoyed overseeing the operations of something as beautiful as this.”
“We considered giving me a cameo in the video but in the end thought it best to leave the storytelling to the professionals and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.”
“It was such an enlightening experience to watch this gorgeous masterpiece come to life from the other side of the camera. Every team member did such an incredible job and I am so proud of each individual involved in bringing this video to life.
Thank you for taking the time to watch this music video. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed producing it.”
You can watch the Steve Umculo’s Munich Music Video Award Winning video for ‘Your Eyes Through Mine’ below:
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Steve Umculo and I wish all of the best with his musical endeavors.
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