Grahm's Guide
to Music Video Locations
Keane - “Silenced by the Night” (2012) Filming Locations
The Video
The UK-based band Keane had first achieved international success with their song "Everybody's Changing" in 2004, and their song “Somewhere Only We Know” hit the American Billboard Hot 100 in February 2005. By 2012, they’d had 10 songs in the UK Top 40, with hits around the world.
In 2012, Keane released their fourth studio album, Strangeland, on May 7th worldwide, and on May 8th in North America. On March 12, 2012, the band announced that “Silenced by the Night” would be the album’s first single, to premiere on a BBC Radio 1 show on March 13, 2012. The official music video for the song, directed by Christopher Sims, was released on April 4, 2012.
The Locations
The video for “Silenced by the Night” was filmed primarily in Texas.
If you have any tips on locations that I missed, please contact me on the Grahm's Guide Facebook page.
SPOILER ALERT: The descriptions below include plot points of the film. If you haven't seen the movie, you can buy the Blu-ray on Amazon.
This page of filming locations is “exclusive,” in the sense that there doesn’t seem to be any other information online about the filming locations for the road trip scenes.
Fort Stockton - 77
As a telegenic dark-haired Boy and a blonde-haired Girl travel on a road trip, we see a highway mileage sign showing distances to “Ft Stockton - 77” and “San Antonio - 383.”
The sign is on eastbound I-10 near the interchange with I-20, at approximately 31°05'19.96" N 104°02'51.84" W.
Reference: I was able to determine this from a Google Maps recon, based on the sign information.
The highway sign for Fort Stockton - 77, as seen in July 2018
The Hotel El Capitan, as seen in July 2015
Hotel El Capitan
While the Boy and Girl experience the tangled emotions of a new relationship, their journey takes them past a bright neon sign for the Hotel El Capitan.
The sign is atop the real Hotel El Capitan, 100 E Broadway, Van Horn, TX 79855.
Reference: I was already aware of the Hotel El Capitan due to my familiarity with the area.
Texas Flag Mural
In the light of the car headlamps the Boy takes pictures of the Girl as she strikes a playful pose against the backdrop of a Texas flag mural.
The mural is actually located at a former Magnolia gas station at 305 W Broadway, Van Horn, TX 79855.
Reference: I was able to locate this spot with a Google search that led me to a beautiful photo of the mural, which indicated the location at the Magnolia station.
The Church
In their travels, the two stop to contemplate the beauty of a small-town church nestled behind a grove of trees.
The church is the Harper Presbyterian Church, 147 Oak Rd, Harper, TX 78631.
Extras
Surprisingly, the road trip scenes were filmed during a real road trip, which saw the actors and crew driving from Los Angles to meet up with Keane in Austin, Texas, as explained in a “making of” short film. (See “SXSW 2012” below for more.)
This short also includes brief interviews with the actors discussing the concept of the video and their time on the road, but they remain unnamed in the documentary.
Fortunately, an American Cinematographer magazine article mentions the road trip to meet up with Keane, and more importantly, identifies the attractive pair as Meghan Edwards and Julien Borno.
Ms. Edwards, who is so mesmerizing as the ethereal Girl in the video, now makes ethereal music as Harmony Horizon, as seen in the video at left.
Keane at SXSW 2012
As part of the promotional push prior to the release of Strangeland, Keane made several appearances in Austin, Texas in conjunction with the 2012 SXSW Music Festival.
On Thursday, March 15 at 5:00 p.m., they played at FILTER Magazine’s Showdown at Cedar Street at the Cedar Street Courtyard. Their performance of “Silenced by the Night” can be seen in video posted on YouTube by “ovrbyte.” (See a setlist from setlist.fm.)
On Friday, March 16, they played the Rolling Stone magazine “Rock Room” at the (now-closed) La Zona Rosa. (Bandmates Tom Chaplin and Jesse Quin discussed SXSW and Strangeland with Rolling Stone.)
On Saturday, March 17 at 11:00 a.m., they played the 93.3 KGSR SXSW Live Broadcast at the W Austin hotel. (See photos from SavvyImages.)
Later on Saturday, March 17, at 11:30 p.m., the band played an official SXSW showcase at Stubb's Bar-B-Q. (See a setlist from setlist.fm.)
After all of those shows, on Sunday, March 18, the band filmed their scenes for the “Silenced by the Night” video in a quarry, described in press as a “lime salt mine,” outside of Austin.
Meanwhile, the road troupe left Los Angeles on Thursday, and met up with Keane at the quarry on Sunday.
The result of such hectic activity is an evocative video with vignettes that are, at turns, playful, tempestuous and romantic. Watch it again, and soak in the hopeful message, “But you and I, we're gonna rise again.”
For Laura: “‘Cause, baby, I'm not scared of this world when you're here.”