How Will Norman plays with grime

German expressionism and model railways aren't ever going to be the top answers on Family Fortunes when presented with 'grime', yet for freelance filmmaker Will Norman and artists Jme, they somehow work.

With a creative collaboration that sparked out of a chance meeting on a different shoot, the pair decided to work together first on On Top - a black & white, striking opus - and the irresistible TMNT - putting both star and featured artist 8syn in a delightful train set diorama.

We caught up with Norman to find out how he masterminds his mash-ups, and why technical wizardry still needed DIY craftsmanship.

Where did the idea for the TMNT music video come from?  

I’ve had the idea for a while. I love model trains, miniatures, and anything that represents the real world. My mum’s cousin was a model train collector so I guess there’s a bit of personal nostalgia in there for me. 

The concept was a modern, gritty twist on a model railway of London, featuring roadmen and grime stars. Model villages usually portray an idealized innocence, so I wanted to juxtapose that with the city's rawer side. The contrast of loud rappers and quiet, observing model enthusiasts excited me, and when I heard Jme rap "Oh my days, I got bars," I instantly pictured a model enthusiast spitting that line. 

I actually pitched the same idea last year, but it didn’t get picked up. After impressing Jme with our first video, On Top, he was keen to make another, and when I heard the infectiously-fun tune TMNT, I knew we had our track for the train treatment. 

What was the process for finding the micro location? 

In music videos, I won’t pitch anything that I can’t actually do, but I like to push just past the limits of what I know. I wasn’t entirely sure of how all the parts would come together, but that was exciting to me. 

The first step was finding a physical train track, and it had to be a London-underground themed model railway. I did a ton of research and eventually found three leads. One had vanished, another couldn’t be contacted and the third was John Polley, a kind of king of the London Underground model railway circuit. 

In music videos, I won’t pitch anything that I can’t actually do, but I like to push just past the limits of what I know.

I found John’s infamous layout ‘Abbey Park’ and was instantly enamored. It had modern tube stops, red and white carriages and recognisable high street shops. My heart soon broke however, after I discovered that the Abbey Park team had had creative differences and had decided to break up the model railway. 

Still, I gave John a ring to ask if he might know of alternatives. As luck would have it, John said his crew were just about to launch a new model railway, their first for over 10 years. It was called Carlton Vale, and it was perfect for our video idea. The only catch was the date - John could only do June 29, which clashed with my best mate’s stag do in Portugal.  

But when John Polley gives you a date, you work around it.  

I told my mate that while he and the lads were out on the streets of Lisbon, I’d be on a six-hour Zoom call, directing a music video.  

That’s exactly what happened. 

How was the shoot? 

The shoot took place in a small shed in Essex, where the Carlton Vale layout had been set up. My wickedly talented DP, Cassius Kane, and gaffer, Adam Trz., were on-site with Howard, Roger and Robert, the model enthusiasts featured in the video.  

One challenge was that the shed didn’t have Wi-Fi, which we discovered the day before filming. Cass stepped in and hired an Elon Musk Starlink to provide a remote Wi-Fi connection, allowing me to direct the shoot from Portugal. 

Howard and the Carlton Vale lads were fantastic to work with, and the whole crew embraced the DIY nature of the project. I hand-painted the miniature figures, Cass printed custom 3d figures, and Jme even 3d-scanned himself and 8Syn using Luma AI. Additionally, I used Etsy and eBay to source extra models to populate our TMNT world.  

Howard and the Carlton Vale lads were fantastic to work with, and the whole crew embraced the DIY nature of the project.

If you check the credits, you’ll see how small the crew was. It was a very low-budget project. We did a lot with a little, but I dreamt up so many ways to expand the idea with a bit more budget, and have actually turned those thoughts into a ‘music video cookbook’ that is locked and loaded for the next opportunity. 

Are there any details eagle-eyed viewers should look out for? 

When I pitched the idea, I framed the town as a representation of modern-day London, with iconic grime and uk rap moments frozen in miniature. For example, Skepta is depicted as the man in an all-white tracksuit (a nod to Shutdown), Stormzy is wearing the red Adidas tracksuit in a park (Shut Up), and Unknown T is riding around in a red G-Wagon [Homerton B].  

I’ve been getting good with AI, and this really helped when “world-building” as we generated cutaways of our miniature, modern-day London to include chicken shops, police cars and road men on electric scooters, all adding to the feel of a contemporary city.   

In my videos, I try to build relatively original worlds that will stand out on a timeline.

It was a lot of comping shots together in after effects, and making AI-generated images come to life with various AI programs. I also have to say that Chris Bell at Wash LDN did a fantastic job at bringing all the disparate bits to life with a vibrant grade that nailed the vibe we wanted.

In my videos, I try to build relatively original worlds that will stand out on a timeline. I fused German Expressionism with London Grime in Alarm Bells [below], and I’ve blended model enthusiasts with rappers in TMNT. There’s also a reference to Noddy in the visuals - if you want an instant hit of serotonin, watch the Noddy title sequence on YouTube. It’s 40 seconds of pure bliss, with beautiful bubble-font, multicoloured lettering, which inspired the design elements in the video. For instance, when Jme and 8syn say, “I got bars,” the text pops up in that same style. 

Shout out Witty for making the letters. 

Shoutout Enid Blyton for making Noddy. 

How do you find collaborating with Jme? 

Jme has a strong and standout approach to releasing music. We met on the video shoot for Alarm Bells by Manga Saint Hilare, in which he had a featuring verse. He loved the video and invited me to Skepta’s studio to talk music videos. We spent two hours going through his ideas and his unreleased material. He explained how he wanted to move away from the standard streaming release model, where music is basically here today, gone tomorrow. 

Jme was really hands-on for both TMNT and On Top, and it felt fitting that we made such a crafty video with an artist who has been making their art in their own unique way for so long.

He’s inspired by the old-school approach, where music was released as a physical product, creating anticipation and making it more meaningful to fans. For On Top, he created USB sticks shaped like one of the evil CEOs from the video. Fans could buy these USBs and get the track that way. For TMNT, he and 8syn performed the track at a live-show and sold “TMNT-shirts,” which included the song and video. 

Genius products and all available on www.BoyBetterKnow.com.  

Jme was really hands-on for both TMNT and On Top (he used his actual spade in the video), and it felt fitting that we made such a crafty video with an artist who has been making their art in their own unique way for so long. He’s properly cooking up creative ways to engage fans while ensuring artists are fairly compensated. Jme is obviously one of the hardest mc’s but beyond that, he’s a great guy who is very funny and a joy to work with. Hopefully we’ve got more to come. 

How do you feel about the projects now they’re out? 

Originally, Jme wanted to make simple, low-budget videos that could be done quickly.  

Instead, we ended up with two standout projects that go far beyond that original scope.