`So what's it like?'

"My girlfriend burst into tears when she saw the rushes - I was wrapped up in cling film and I kept passing out. In the end they cut me out with a Stanley knife and clouds of steam went gushing up. "The whole thing is exhausting and frustrating. If you're not standing around waiting for ages, you're doing the same song over for hours and hours." That's Rory O'Keefe of the Ultra Montanes on the fun to be had shooting videos.

Currently touring their first album, the Ultra Montanes - Pat Thorp, Ray Boyle, Connolly Herron, and Rory himself on vocals - recently made a new video for their single Late. "We shot that first video, Cells, with an artist, Laurent Mellet," Rory explains.

"Late was directed by a filmmaker, Dara McCarthy. "This one is more straightforward. It's shot on film, which is a bit more expensive, but we like the quality.

"We have a deal with our record company which gives us creative control, so we met Dara and worked the idea out. The company authorises the budget, which is where their control comes in. These days record companies aren't throwing around a lot of money for videos, so ours wasn't all that expensive. We worked a lot with lighting and angles, but basically it's us on the stage performing."

Whatever about the actual shooting, there's a certain amount of pleasure to be had in devising a video, he says. "I enjoy coming up with ideas. You have to really stretch your mind, especially working within the constraints of a budget. "There is an artistic dimension to videos, but they are predominantly advertisements for a song. People will see the video who have never seen us live and you have to give them some idea of who we are. Style and image are important to convey, but the performance, and how you communicate with the camera, are much more important.

"You write a song or come up with the idea for a video, and at that stage it's all personal. But when you do the song or make the video, there has to be some sort of emotional impact for the audience - even if it's just energy you're conveying. And it's up to the director to ensure that something is being conveyed."

. media scope gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Peter O'Kennedy on this page.

next week:

Animation - The art and the industry, thriving in Ireland