Prism Prize Eligible Video:  Pleasure Craft - Work It Out (Ft. Mingjia)

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The 2020 Prism Prize for Best Canadian Music Video was awarded to Peter Huang, for his clip for Jessie Reyez's Far Away. We will continue to profile noteworthy Canadian videos that were eligible for the Prize, including this one from Toronto-based multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer Sam Lewis.

Pleasure Craft - Work It Out (Ft. Mingjia)

Pleasure Craft was created in 2017 from the mind of Toronto-based multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer Sam Lewis, after moving to the big city from British Columbia to study as a trumpet major at Humber College. 

Lewis takes the opportunity of Pleasure Craft to move between 80s yacht rock, new wave, and unusual synth-pop. His music speaks to issues like addiction and how masculinity is perceived in today’s society, drawing on inspiration from his own struggles with mental illness. 

His video for Work it Out (the single off his latest release, EP2 ) was directed by Shawn Kosmo and features Mingjia speaking to the same issues that stay true to him. There are two prominent colours displayed in the video; beige and red. The colours are interchangeable to the lyrics being sung in the background. Switching between calming and electric movements, they aren’t just randomly selected, but are meant to symbolize the "strained, aggressive presentation of self" and the "suppressed inner conflict trying to escape."

Video directed by Shawn Kosmo 

Lighting by Lewis Caunter

Music by Sam Lewis and Mingjia Chen

Mixed by Alan Han