Charli XCX puts Vincent Cassel through set chaos in ‘Camera’ video
The Aidan Zamiri-directed clip arrives ahead of Charli XCX’s new album Music, Fashion, Film, due July 24.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
Vincent Cassel is having a rotten day at work in Charli XCX’s new “Camera” music video, where a desert shootout scene keeps falling apart in full view.
Rolling Stone reports that the clip, directed by Aidan Zamiri, puts the French actor at the center of a fictional movie set meltdown. Zamiri has worked with Charli before on visual projects, and this one leans hard into its film-set conceit.
The video follows Cassel as he attempts to get through a dramatic desert gunfight sequence. On one attempt, the fake-blood effect does not fire. On another, the squib finally bursts, but the take is spoiled when an overheated light starts throwing sparks, according to Rolling Stone.
Charli appears in the video too, though Cassel carries much of the action. Rolling Stone describes her role as seemingly the director of the shoot, with Charli seen riding along with the camera as it travels on a dolly track.
The whole clip is presented as a single continuous shot, with no visible cuts. That one-take approach adds to the behind-the-scenes movie energy, as the camera tracks the production’s mounting problems rather than breaking away from them.
Another taste of Music, Fashion, Film
“Camera” is the latest song released from Charli XCX’s forthcoming album, Music, Fashion, Film. Rolling Stone reports that the record is scheduled to come out Friday, July 24.
The track follows earlier album cuts “Rock Music,” “SS26” and “Wink Wink.” Charli made the album with longtime producer A.G. Cook and frequent collaborator Finn Keane, according to Rolling Stone.
Charli recently addressed expectations around the sound of the new record in a Rolling Stone cover story. She said the idea that she was making a rock album had grown out of public discussion rather than her own description of the project.
“Obviously, I know that there’s been a lot of conversation around me making a rock album, which is something that I never said,” Charli told Rolling Stone. “But to be honest, I’ve never thought about genre in a binary way. I find that to be a very old-school notion. I don’t even know what the genre is. It’s just me and A. G. Cook and Finn Keane, doing our thing.”
Festival dates and a fall tour
After the album arrives, Charli is set to play several festivals, including Lollapalooza and Outside Lands, Rolling Stone reports.
She is also scheduled to begin a North American tour behind Music, Fashion, Film on Sept. 11 in Philadelphia. The run is set to end Oct. 23 in Las Vegas.
For now, “Camera” puts the album’s film fixation right on the surface: Cassel under pressure, Charli behind the apparatus, and a take that refuses to go cleanly.
This story draws on original reporting from Rolling Stone.