Where Was It Shot: Woodkid’s ‘I Love You’

Looking like an advertisement for Icelandic nature, the music video for ‘I Love You’—what better place than Iceland for such a title?—by Woodkid takes you on a cinematic adventure around the country.

Director of the video and Renaissance man, Yoann Lemoine, has directed music videos for many mainstream artists such as Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry. Woodkid also plays the role of video director, as well as graphic designer, and delves into making his music with the help of Icelandic nature.

Made in October 2012 and shot only in black and white, the video takes you on a journey to the south coast. Scenes following the protagonist as he wanders through the geothermal area of Krýsuvík, the black sand beach of Reynisfjara and the striking glacier Sólheimajökull. You can spend a great amount of time exploring the glacier, as the film crew spent most of the day shooting there. There is an unplanned scene where the main character is taken down by a strong wave at Reynisfjara, which made it into the video but without the part where the entire crew got soaked. The only scene filmed in downtown Reykjavík was inside the independent Lutheran Church, Fríkirkja, which is located on the scenic Tjörnin lake.

Iceland is known to be vividly colourful, but the monochromatic landscape portrayed in ‘I Love You’ shows off its beauty in a subtle way. At first you would think the entire video is CGI—nope, it’s just Iceland in its purest form.