Director Cole Bennett & Vevo Footnotes Give Audiences a Behind-The-Scenes Look at “Honest ft. Don Toliver”

It’s always a treat when artists provide their audiences with behind-the-scenes looks at the creation of their work. In an exclusive inside look at Justin Bieber’s “Honest ft. Don Toliver,” director, videographer, and founder of Lyrical Lemonade, Cole Bennett, grants audiences insider access to the megastar Justin Bieber’s latest music video.

When first approached with the “Honest” music video, Bennett was given two differing visions that (luckily enough) were able to work together to create the James Bond winter wonderland aesthetic that audiences are loving. With puffy jackets and action scenes being the video’s guiding light, Bennett got to work to create the visually stunning and action-packed video for “Honest.”

In order to establish some continuity throughout the video, Bennett established the color orange as an integral part of the video’s design. After hearing this, Justin Bieber was immediately inspired and donned his now-famous orange ski mask. The ski mask is perhaps the most memorable orange accent in the video, but if you watch closely you’ll start to notice the color in varying shades throughout the video.

Bennett delivers a few other fun facts from the “Honest” music video. At about 1:39 minutes into the video, there is a scene that shows Bieber and crew coming across a man that has been frozen in the snow. Bennett shares, “The man in the snow was actually a PA we had on set, Ryan. His caveman-like beard is really what locked in his role as the frozen man.” Later in the song Don Toliver raps, “Me and JB, we smoke skunk.” Cole Bennett decided to integrate scenes that see JB and DT doing exactly that. On his decision to include this, Bennett says, “This was to show that Justin is human, and that smoking weed is not as bad as some perceive it.” During the filming of these shots the stars wound up smoking quite a bit–in the pursuit of the perfect shot of course. Clearly, the set for “Honest” was the perfect balance of professional and light-hearted.

While you could enjoy the video without ever knowing about Ryan the PA, getting set secrets like these allows audiences to more meaningfully interact with their favorite artists’ content. To be the first to know about behind-the-scenes content from more of your favorite artists, be sure to stay tuned with Glasse Factory!