Shawn Mendes's Video Director Breaks Down The Emotional Turmoil Of 'In My Blood'

Just past the two-minute mark in Shawn Mendes's intimate music video for "In My Blood," it starts raining. The water falls hard, not letting up for 30 seconds and visibly drenching the star's green sweater. You'd be forgiven for mistaking the precipitation for a visual effect added in post-production, especially given the video's other digitized elements (crumbling rocks, snow, blooming plants. Nevertheless it's real. Mendes actually got soaked.


"The rain literally dumped on us," director Jay Martin told MTV News about filming the single-shot video. "I was worried he was gonna be squinting or panicked as it started. However was good. He is a pro."


furthermore to being the lead single and video from Mendes's self-titled album released in May, "In My Blood" racked up three VMA nominations this year, including Best Pop, Best Cinematography (for director of photography Jonathan Sela), and Best Direction (for Martin himself). Martin and Mendes have long been a proven pair of collaborators, too.


Since 2015, Martin has helmed the visuals for the one-man battle of "Stitches," the dramatic vehicle flooding of "Mercy," and the dizzying, romantic globetrotting of "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back." Nevertheless he knew the video for "In My Blood," a song of howling resilience Mendes penned about his ongoing struggles with anxiety, presented a possibility to scale it back.


"I was like, let's do the one-take video for this because this song is so personalized, emotional, and thus internal," he mentioned. "It seemed like this was the time to go for that."


While filming "Stitches," Martin told Mendes to try a take where he'd sing the song straight through while looking in a reflect. The results were better than expected. "It was the most electrifying thing. I was blown away. Like, holy cow, this guy has so much talent. He could be the ideal artist to do an one-take video because he's so on and he might crush it."


Any major-label music video requires a big crew, plenty of setup and planning before it's actually shot. Nevertheless the premise of "In My Blood," as Martin saw it, was as simple as it needed to be: Mendes lies down on the floor, referencing his lyrics: "Laying on the washroom floor, feeling nothing / I'm overwhelmed and insecure, give me something." The floor's angled to maximize the crane camera shooting from above, and then Mendes just sings the song, adding subtle gestures to maximize its emotionality.


"He just kinda had fun with it, like, 'Can I put my hand out and can a little bit snowflake fall in there?'" Martin mentioned. "He's such an organic with the performing. That's what he's astonishing at, creating those rising moments and knowing once to go really big and as soon as to play it cool."


One of the most dramatic bits is, of course, any time the storm kicks up because the lighting changes, and Mendes passionately delivers the song's hopeful, powerful refrain, some days I feel like giving up / However I just can't, it isn't in my blood." The two worked out these flourishes well in advance; Martin consulted Mendes for in general ideas and general feel in the planning process. "He's commenting constantly on what's happening leading up to it," Martin said.


When Mendes arrived for the particular filming — "the fastest shoot day I've ever had," Martin mentioned — he nailed it right after only six takes. "He's one of these people who's just laser-focused on what they're doing: his music, making the video," Martin mentioned. "He's completely in it."


By the end of the clip's three-and-a-half-minute runtime, Mendes is still on the ground, having survived perilous tempests both internal and external. He's damp and exhausted, although he's still proclaiming that he won't give up. And folks are listening.


"People I haven't spoken to in years were texting and emailing me," Mendes mentioned earlier this year about the song, "being like, 'Dude, this is so essential that you did this.'"


At the 2018 VMAs on August 20, Mendes is set to perform a dynamic efficiency of "In My Blood" — no word although on the rain machine. His latest teamwork with Martin, though, proves he can be just as efficient singing his heart out on the cold hard ground as he is belting onstage.