The 2019 Prism Prize for Best Canadian Music Video was awarded to Kevan Funk, for his clip for Belle Game’s Low. We will continue to profile noteworthy Canadian videos, including this one from a Toronto-based Korean-Canadian artist/producer.

Joel Eel: Performing A Crime

Joel Eel is a Toronto-based Korean-Canadian artist/producer. He released a debut album, Very Good Person, in 2017.

He describes this song as an exploration of the idea that being in love can feel criminal in and of itself. It is an observation of how two people intimately in love, exchanging a conversation that can result in misunderstanding. That eventually overpowers the positive motion of one’s intent. 

The music video explores how these interactions take place through the lens of social media. The video reflects on technology as an interface for communication and how that can easily provoke misunderstandings. 

Eel hopes that people from the music video will take away some form of reliability of emotional response. He stated that a lot of songs lean towards parts of falling in love or heartbreak, which appears at the beginning and end of a relationship. And the middle is usually left out, which is where things feel uncomfortably distorted.

In essence, this song talks about the middle part of a relationship. 

CREDITS:

Creative Direction, Direction & Edited by Joel Eel

Director of Photography by James Kachan

Talent: Dina Roudman

Produced by: James Kachan & Joel Eel

Production Consultant: Eugen Sakhnenko

Production Consultant: Arash Moallemi

Stylist / Production Assistant: Liz Daicos

Production Assistant: Lucy Lu

Production Assistant & Hand Model: Oscar Chiu

Post Production by Andre Edwards-Roderique

Colour Grading by Charles-Etienne Pascal

Special Thanks: The Costume House.