We are used to video imagery that has been heavily edited – or perhaps furiously edited is a more apt descriptor. So I find it refreshing to stumble upon something that is quite different. It is in that frame of reference that I offer you my latest #TBT.

Coming from the ear-wormingly good Cowper all the way back in 2011, he was joined by creatives Matthew Redlich, Jaymis Loveday, Daniel Graetz and Jen Dainer to record and film both video and audio for the song Morning Prayer. Recorded in a single session at the flood-destroyed Graetzmedia studios in West End, Queensland, Australia, Loveday went on to make some visual magic with a bit of know-how, and a weird party trick. As he wrote,

“To achieve a perfect focus pull over the 4-minute staring contest, I modified the camBLOCK moco system to control a follow focus whip. This clip was the first shoot to utilise this technique. Several months later, camBLOCK shipped their official focus/zoom motors.

There is no trickery in the single-shot nature of this piece. Cowper really can keep his eyes open for that long. In the dozen or so takes we shot, I think he blinked in two of them.”

Up until the guitar solo, Loveday tracked the position of the reflections on his right eye (left on screen). Then when the solo kicked in, he switched it to track the position and rotation of both his eyes. The final effect? Mesmerising.