How this Juno-nominated music video director captured the feeling of losing a loved one

When director Jorden Lee was asked to create visuals for Gravity, the last single from rapper Sean Leon's album IN LOVING MEMORY — an album Leon dedicated to his late brother — he decided he wanted to do more than just make a music video: he wanted to tell a story and create a lasting visual experience. 

Gravity portrays a sense of loss and transition without being dark and ominous. The video was recognized at the 1.4 Awards, which recognizes directing talent in short-form filmmaking, and selected for Best Music Video at the Berlin Commercial Festival.  

We spoke to Jorden Lee about his first Juno Nomination.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You linking with Sean, what was the initial conversation like?

Jordan Lee: So I never actually had a personal relationship with Sean. It was actually through the production company that I've been working really closely with for the last five, six years.

Sean sent over three records, and Gravity just happened to be one of the songs that he sent. He said, 'Pick which one you want to make a video for, and we can start from there.' So I listened to the three, and Gravity was the one that stood out to me immediately.

How do you feel the video connects to the larger theme of IN LOVING MEMORY and what are the connections there, visually and thematically?

There is an overwhelming sense of grief and loss and there's a sort of heaviness to the video. You can feel that when you watch it. There's a presence in the video that you don't see, but you can feel. And I really wanted to kind of capture that… it's like there's a longing, there's a sense of yearning for someone who isn't with us anymore.

I think that's where I brought in the faith and the church. 

You have a shots of the hanging rosary. There are some shots of the church. Then you have that shot with him levitating. Talk a bit more about the religious themes here. 

That's just my style. It's less hand-holding and almost gives the audience prompts, things to think about, and recurring images. The shoes hanging — I showed that a couple times, and the rosary. A lot of it was just the metaphor of being suspended, this thing is pulling you down… but sometimes it feels freeing in the acceptance, but it's like a weight that you have to bear. Only through accepting it are you able to be free.

I turn to faith because I feel like, at least in my own life, when I've been at my lowest, sometimes it brings me closer to my faith, but [other times] it also makes me question my faith. That's what the whole video was really about. 

I noticed a lot of the movement in the video: really slow push-ins and pull-outs. Talk about that choice, because I feel like that creates a kind of tempo that matches the song.

I think naturally, I'm a slower filmmaker. I don't cut. I edited that video as well, and I edit most of my work. I was really in control of the pace. I'm so intentional with the frames that I compose. I really want to give time for it to breathe.

In my own life I've faced grief and I've faced loss — not to the extent of Sean — but I think that's why I connected to the theme of the video about being lost, because I also lost something at that time in my life, too. 

I was also sitting with this kind of void in your chest that you don't know what to do with. You can talk to your friends, you can talk to family, even a therapist, but at the end of the day, it's you that is bearing this weight… I feel like my mind is moving a lot slower. I'm just moving around with a heaviness.

The heaviness is what almost influenced the slowness. When I was moving the camera, it's like we're pondering. 

Talk about what it means to be recognized by the Junos. This is an award show known mostly for music. So maybe this wasn't on your vision board at any point, but how does it feel to be recognized by the Junos?

It means the world to me right now. It [came] at a time that I was also facing a lot of doubt in my own life, and I just feel like it was such a morale booster to be recognized for something that I really put my all into. 

It was pretty well received [by my peers], but I think this just was, the cherry on top, to get that kind of recognition on such a big platform. Especially as a Canadian artist. I don't think it gets bigger than Music Video of the Year at the Junos for a Canadian artist.

Is there a scene that, when you see it now, you either go back in time or feel something? What's that scene from this for you?

I think there's a couple of moments. When he's smoking and it's raining, and there's umbrellas around. I just think that it's one of the strongest images I've ever put together. Also, it took the most choreography.

We had stunt supervisors and VFX supervisors. We had a rain rig. We had the camera moving. It was the first time I ever worked with fake rain. As soon as it came down, you felt it. I remember watching it in real time. I'm like, "Wow."

The 54th annual Juno Awards air March 30 at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET on CBC, or stream them on CBC Gem.