For their first music video together, Francine Diaz and Seth Fedelin embody the crumbling relationship at the center of Ace Banzuelo’s Muli.
Related: TikTok Strikes Again: Ace Banzuelo’s ‘Muli’ Is The Internet’s New Favorite OPM Jam
When Ace Banzuelo released Muli in October 2020 (yes, you read that right), he hoped that it would do well, as does any artist when revealing their work to the world. After all, the breakup anthem isn’t like most OPM breakup songs you hear. It mixes strong vocals, genuine passion, electronic production, and not to mention a killer guitar rift for a breakup tune that hits harder than most. What Ace probably didn’t expect though was that it would take over two years for Muli to finally get the praise and recognition it deserves after it went viral on TikTok.
Millions of new streams and hundreds of thousands of plays on TikTok later, Muli finally got its highly anticipated music video. And one of the top OPM songs in the country right now deserves a top tier lead cast. And that came in the form of one of the most promising love teams of today, Francine Diaz and Seth Fedelin, also known as FranSeth.
FRANSETH X ACE BANZUELO
Ever since they first appeared in Kadenang Ginto years ago, a strong subset of fans hoped for Francine and Seth to finally have an official project together. And fans got their wish with the announcement of their new show, Dirty Linen, earlier this year. But before that, fans got an extra special treat as the two play the leads of Ace Banzuelo’s Muli music video.
Seth and Francine aren’t strangers to appearing in music videos. While this isn’t the first time that they’ve appeared in a music video together, Muli is the first time they appear together as an official love team and they’re swinging right out of the gate in an emotionally charged music video. Already, people were curious to see what Ace would serve up for the music video to his surprise hit and the young OPM artist really brought out the big guns.
A BREAKUP IN REAL TIME
Set mostly in grassy fields and produced by Chapters, the video’s narrative follows Seth and Francine as a young couple. But over the course of the music video, their relationship encounters rocky waters as they try to put their love back before its eventually crumbles. The visual captures the disintegration of what used to be a promising relationship, with FranSeth struggling to process their pain. What’s interesting about the video is that it also features a strong use of abstract symbolism. Instead of actually being set in a home, the video employs imagery to show a house on fire, burning couches, dying lights, and a smashed piano.
The mostly muted color palette of the music video allows for its cinematography, sparse use of bright colors, and acting from FranSeth to really shine. The two Gen Z stars really bring out the emotion of the song and the chemistry is felt, but we have to give a shout out to Seth Fedelin who really delivered on the assignment of a man collapsing out of love. Ace himself also appears in the video where he and Seth play the same character, with Ace embodying the inner conflicting emotions of Seth.
EMOTIONS MEETS SYMBOLISM
“Everything was heavy on symbolism, but still reflects the intensity of the song,” said Jake Soriano, the director of the music video. This actually isn’t the first time Soriano has worked with both Francine and Seth. But, according to him, this project was the first time that he witnessed the loveteam deliver a nuanced performance and showcase their range as dramatic actors. “They’re easy to work with, because aside from being good actors, they’re also very kind and professional, and both are super funny. We always get a good laugh during shoots.”
As for Ace, he initially was open to doing the music video by himself. But the clamor from the fans led him to change his mind. “At first, I was okay to do the music video alone with what I had, and then we started to get tweets, comments, and messages from multiple fans that they wanted to see me collaborate with local actors.” Ace, who had involved in the brainstorming and creative process of the music video, had his team reach out to FranSeth’s team and to his joy, they gamely said yes. “We were so happy that they were game! Working with Seth and Francine was super fun. I’m proud that we were able to capture the vision of song and present it through the long-awaited video.”
If you’re itching for more FranSeth content, keep an eye out for their first show together, Dirty Linen, which is coming soon. As for Ace Banzuelo, the singer-songwriter and producer is currently working on his debut full length album which is set to drop later this year.
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