Real Situations Shift Perspectives in Depeche Mode's 'People Are Good' Promo

Are people good? Riff Raff's Rich Hall is pretty good. Eight days to prep and one day to shoot this instant classic for Depeche Mode. Travelling from day to night across a metropolitan city, ‘People Are Good’ shows real situations from different perspectives.

Rich Hall said of the project, “It’s equal parts an honour and daunting when making a video for Depeche Mode. Not only do they have music video royalty behind them, but even Riff Raff have churned out some outstanding videos themselves for the band in recent times (Personal Jesus, Wagging Tongue). Throw a world class DOP like Martin Ruhe into the mix, eight days prep and one shoot day then you’ve got a real mind f***.

"I wanted to make an idea that changes multiple times during the video, as if unravelling with the song and our understanding of it. The song reminded me of the fragility of human relationships, how easy we forget, how easily we’re misled. So, I came up with the idea to somehow immortalise those every day, human interactions, in front of a white wall and heighten them to the extent that they feel like art (well, sort of).

"It wouldn’t be possible without the unwavering support of Riff Raff, Black Kite, and the good people at Columbia US. Not to mention the amazing crew, especially the ones who were unloading dirt into a fake grave at midnight - you know who you are.”

Matthew Fone said, “When I read Rich’s idea I knew this was a film to invest in to show the true craft of his ideas, and I think the end film is testament that shows another dimension to his directing talent; the DNA of Riff Raff is about ideas and nurturing talent to the next level, this video for Depeche Mode definitely does this for Rich.”