‘Babyface Maniacs’: Behind the scenes on Yung Lean’s latest music video

Yung Lean needs no introduction: his early 2010s rise changed music forever. With tracks that prioritised emotion over polish, Lean represented kids from the peripheries reacting to the global pervasiveness of rap music and adapting it to their own realities. He was vulnerable and raw, the first true hero of the cloud rap movement – and it is exactly these qualities that director Leo aims to celebrate in the music video for Lean’s latest single “Babyface Maniacs.” 

“What defines a hero is that he falls, and it is precisely because he falls that he can rise again and continue,” Leo tells Dazed, himself one half of the Suzie & Leo photography duo. “The central theme of the music video is that no matter what happens, you have to keep moving forward. It’s a very simple yet universal idea – the concept of the ‘Hero’ in the mythological sense.”

The track arrives as the latest in a long series of collaborations between Lean and Leo, who previously directed music videos for “Blue Plastic”, “My Stranger” and more. The connection was made when Leo, initially a fan, reached out to Lean on Facebook, and they soon ended up working together on the video for 2016 single “Hoover”. 

Below, director Leo takes Dazed behind the scenes on Yung Lean’s latest music video “Babyface Maniacs”, produced by Frenzy Paris. 

How is Lean to work with?

Leo: Jonatan is a pleasure to work with. What I admire most about him is his honesty, his uncompromising approach, and his willingness to take risks. For me, working with him has always been effortless.

He’s also incredibly hardworking. In my music videos, I’ve often put him in uncomfortable situations – head in the mud, buried, locked in a coffin, hanging upside down – and he’s always been ready for anything, with an admirable attitude. Jonatan sometimes jokes that we’re like Herzog and Kinski.

Did it feel like you shared similar creative visions?

Leo: Yes, I think we have a lot in common creatively. When I first discovered Yung Lean, I immediately felt that he had something different. To me, he’s a complete artist, a modern poet.

Jonatan is a highly cultured person who loves cinema, both contemporary films and the great classics. For example, the reference for the “Friday the 13th” video was Bergman. We went to Sweden to shoot on the island of Gotland, which Bergman was deeply passionate about. It was a small-crew shoot – Jonatan was in a wheelchair the entire time, and we had two bodyguards along with a massive American SUV.

How did the concept for “Babyface Maniacs” come about? Did the arrow visual come to you organically? 

Leo: I’ve had this idea in my head for a long time, and I’ve been waiting for the right moment to bring it to life. The initial inspiration came from Renaissance paintings of Saint Sebastian.

The central theme of the music video is that no matter what happens, you have to keep moving forward. It’s a very simple yet universal idea – the concept of the Hero in the mythological sense. What defines a hero is that he falls, and it is precisely because he falls that he can rise again and continue. I had already explored this idea in the “Blue Plastic” video, where Jonatan moves against the crowd. I think this motif of a character pushing forward and falling is something I’m particularly drawn to. For “Babyface Maniacs”, I also wanted Jonatan’s body to be transformed into a sculpture. The goal was to take a simple idea and push it as far as possible.

The central theme of the music video is that no matter what happens, you have to keep moving forward… What defines a hero is that he falls, and it is precisely because he falls that he can rise again and continue

How did you do those arrows? You really pierced the jacket, right?

Leo: For the arrows, we used a mix of practical effects and CGI – I didn’t want everything to be done in 3D. So we created a neoprene suit with built-in supports to hold the arrows. Then, we put a tracksuit over it and carefully drilled holes in it. We had a set of 100 arrows for the daytime scenes and another set of 100 reflective arrows for the night scenes. I have to say, Jonatan was incredibly patient – it took about an hour each time to set everything up.

In post-production, we added 3D arrows to increase their number and enhance the impact effects in wide shots. We also scanned Yung Lean’s body in 3D, allowing us to create a digital model that ensured the arrows looked properly embedded in each shot. For the close-up impact shots, we used a practical effect with arrows stretched on nylon threads, which were integrated into the costume.

Who are the close-up faces we see at the start?

Leo: Ah, that’s funny, it’s actually Yung Lean. I can understand why people might not immediately recognise him.

For this intro scene, I really wanted to stay in sync with the music and create something that would contrast with the rest of the video. So we used a camera with an infrared sensor, which gives the black-and-white footage its unique texture. For the close-ups, the lighting comes from below. I wanted to create an atmosphere that felt almost like being in a cave – something underground, like a voice echoing from far away.

I’m really intrigued by the set, was this shot partly on location and partly in a studio? 

Leo: The video was shot on a construction site in Moldova. While researching the perfect location before the shoot, I came across images of construction sites in China with endless rows of columns. Frenzy Paris, my production team, and I searched in several European countries, and we were lucky enough to find this location, which matched my reference almost exactly. Since the set wasn’t big enough, we extended the background in post-production. The final shot with the sea is actually a matte painting.

There is a really striking colour palette here – a baby blue wasteland matching Lean’s eyes. What was the thought process behind this? 

Leo: Thanks! For Yung Lean’s videos, I worked a lot with cinematographer Erik Henriksson. For “Babyface Maniacs”, he recommended that I collaborate with Nicke Cantarelli, a highly talented colourist based in Sweden. So I went there, and together we developed this look.

Are there any details in the video that only you would notice?

Leo: The ending is inspired by François Truffaut’s Les 400 Coups. I love the scene where Jean-Pierre Léaud runs along the beach, and the image freezes on his face with the word ‘Fin’.

“Babyface maniacs” is out now – watch the full video above