How We Did The Last Dance Car Crash

The Method to Our Murder

Now that you've see Last Dance, you may be wondering "Tatty, how did you do the car crash? Did you actually crash the cars? Did you actually kill Maggie?" Well, blogpost reader, the answer to all your questions is no. Except the first one, that's not a yes or no question, but I will answer it right now. This is how we created the Last Dance car crash.

Step 1: Research. When we started this process, we had no clue how to create a realistic car crash, so we did some interweb investigating and discovered a fairly simple yet realistic looking method.

Step 2: Location. We had to find a place where we could film a fake car crash that 1) wouldn't have any other cars, 2) would be lit well enough to film at night, 3) wouldn't look too much like a parking lot, and 4) we wouldn't get busted for "suspicious activity." We settled on the parking lot of Miranda's old elementary school at 10 o'clock at night.

Step 3: Filming. How the heckle are we gonna actually film it? We knew the effect we had to create, but it would be dark, and we had to get close enough shots so you couldn't see the houses in the background. I ended up climbing in and on both cars in many uncomfortable positions to get the shots we needed.

So that's not really a tutorial, but I'll give it to you here:

In order to film a car crash without actually crashing cars, we parked the cars so they were nose to nose with only enough space between them for a person to walk through. Then we taught our actors how to act in reverse, starting with their bodies forward and their heads down, and then when they floored it in reverse, they shot back and looked happy again. In editing, we reversed the shots and sped them up so it looked like they were driving at each other. Then we did quick cuts between angles and a fade to white on "impact" so the viewers couldn't tell that the cars didn't actually crash.

Here are the Youtube tutorials we used to learn the technique: Film Riot https://youtu.be/oHXlMvWtfmw?t=9m16s and Pegleg Media https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJF9bwY1CHo. 

Thanks for being awesome and crash your cars responsibly.

Last Dance

Music Video and Brain Child

Story time! About a year ago, I was searching through the depths of Youtube and I happened across an incredibly amazing song called Last Dance by Camera Can't Lie. I immediately fell in love with the song and for a solid week, it was the only thing I listened too. Then, on a Wednesday night in a loud, smelly skating rink in North Kansas City, I was struck by the inspiration bus. Images of dancing and fairy lights and roses filled my mind. And then I, being the cruel, heartless person that I am (not really), decided there needed to be a tragedy.

This is where I suggest you watch the video, so I don't spoil anything. Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhC_hBw3G_I

So that was my idea, and about 6 or so months later, the squad (Miranda, Alec, and I) found the perfect opportunity to bring it to life. 

"The door to the heart is open and shut,
like the warmth of your breathe."

First, we wrote a pitch to present to the class, which they approved. We proceeded to the planning phase with me doing research on how to create certain effects and props, Miranda working on a schedule as well as creating the shortlist with Alec while I voiced my visions. We found actors (one of which ended up being Alec) and set our dates for shooting.

Day One came and it was way colder than we expected. Alec and I climbed on the roof to hang fairy lights over the patio while Miranda set up on the ground and Maggie (our lead actress) became more acquainted with the song and our plans. Then we taught our actors a basic dance sequence and set up to film. It was quite dark, so some of our night shots ended up a little grainy, and it was freezing (I felt especially bad about the weather because Maggie was in a tiny dress), but we powered through like the awesome filmmakers we are and were ready for our next location: an elementary school parking lot.

"If this was our last dance, I'd wait in the rain,
to see your face."

After several failed attempts at filming a car crash, a few car breaks to warm up, a group of guys driving by to make sure the (fake) bloodied up Maggie lying on the ground wasn't actually dead, and someone calling the cops on us, we finally wrapped for the day and went home to celebrate our success.

Day two was far less dramatic, consisting of "getting ready" shots, an infuriating twelve takes of a single, simple shot, and ending in a cemetery. So I guess it was a little dramatic, but it was far more fun and relaxing because we weren't fighting against darkness and coldness. And we stopped at a little corner Kool-Aid stand, so that was cool. We finished filming that day and started editing the next day at school.

Editing was fun, Miranda at the lead of course, and we made a few different videos: the Actual one which is the one in the link above, the "Alternate Ending" one which is only available with a link and is hilarious, and a Blooper Reel of us being stupid. We presented the Actual video and every seemed to like it. It's one of my favorite projects and I'm really proud of how it turned out. 

There are a few things I would change of course. I wish we had had more light in the night dancing scenes so it didn't have to be so grainy. I wish the fake blood looked more like blood and less like barbecue sauce (which it did in daylight, but night in streetlamp light). I wish Alec had worn nicer pants. 

But these are things I can live with, because I'm proud of Last Dance. I hope you enjoy it!