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!

My House

A Music Video and an Epic Tale 

Once again, it's time for a long overdue post (though due to a recent opportunity, I'm glad I saved this post until now. So gather 'round and I'll tell you the story of our music video to the song My House by PVRIS.

Flashback to March 2015. The annual eMagine Media Festival hosted by my school was fast approaching and my partners (Miranda and Alec) and I were hustling to figure out what we were going to submit. We agreed on a music video, but to what song? The next day, we all came prepared with a few songs each and some key elements we would incorporate with each of them. Song after song we went through, some more promising than others, and then we heard it. Miranda had brought us the song My House by PVRIS and our minds were unanimously made up.

So we had a song. Now the video. And the fast-approaching deadline only a week away. 

(*Quick Tip: Procrastination is a terrible thing, especially in the film industry, and should be avoided at all costs. However, you will notice from many of my posts that it's easier said than done.*)

Anyways, we decided to stick to a recurring theme of our videos: strong independent women. We recruited Sarah (the same Sarah in the Old Scars/ Future Hearts imitation music video) and my friend Brigham as our actors, only giving Sarah two days to learn the song. We bought a bunch of cheap glass at a thrift store and tested many different ways to track Sarah as she walked (Alec ended up sitting in the trunk of his car and out Miranda's sunroof while we drove less than 2mph down the street). We also set up the studio at our school for the dark room shots.

It was a stressful week, but we managed to get the entire video planed, filmed, and edited in time for the deadline, and it turned out way better than we ever imagined. And when the night of imagine came, we ended up walking away with second place in the category. Quite an accomplishment I'd say. However, an even bigger opportunity was just around the corner, well, if it takes three months to round the corner.

Miranda and I meeting Lynn Gunn and Brian MacDonald
of PVRIS at Vans Warped Tour 2015

Miranda and I were checking the lineup for Warped Tour 2015 when we noticed PVRIS was playing this year. After both freaking out in excitement, I decided to ask one of my friends who just so happens to own a plug business that sponsors and travels with Warped Tour if she could figure out a way for us to meet PVRIS. She did. When the day of Warped came, Miranda and I were ecstatic. We were going to meet the band responsible for the song that we used and won an award with! And at the last second, I decided to grab a flash drive with the video on it to give to them. Well, the time came, and Miranda and I were nervous as we handed it over and explained it, but Lynn (the brilliant and gorgeous lead singer) seemed so impressed and excited and we walked away in disbelief that the whole exchange had actually happened. I don't know if they ever watched it, but it feels so amazing to know that something we made, made it's way back to the people who created the song.

So that's the grand story of our My House music video. From conception, to production, to award nights, to the hands of PVRIS, this video has been on quite a journey, and I'm glad I was along for the life-changing ride.

(Due to copyright laws, the video is no longer available on Youtube. When I figure out where and if I can post it without getting busted by the internet feds, I'll post the link here. Until then, thanks for imagining. Never stop.)

Music Video Imitation

A Very Loose Interpretation

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. That's what they say. So what better way to pay homage to our favorite musicians, than to imitate their music videos. That was the mission, should we choose to accept it, and indeed we did.

First off, when I say "we," I'm usually referring to Miranda and myself due to the fact that she's my best buddy and we make a good team. Our skills and capabilities complement each other's and together we have everything we need, at least most everything. The challenge that came with this project lies not in lack of a certain skill, however, but in the shear abundance of music that we each listen to. We spent a solid day just trying to figure out a video to imitate and we ended up with "Na Na Na" by My Chemical Romance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egG7fiE89IU) and "Stay The Night" by Zedd feat. Hayley Williams (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-gyZ35074k). We also picked a different song to set our imitation to, "Old Scars/ Future Hearts" by All Time Low (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnoJ_0lk_5w). With our resources decided, we could now begin planning.

Step 1: Watch the reference videos. Memorize the song. Choose elements you definitely wish to incorporate into the final product.

Step 2: Plan out the video. Making the shot list fell into Miranda's hands, while editing down the song fell into mine, which I was excited about (music editing is one of my favorite things!).

Step 3: Film the video. This is where we hit a few road blocks. First came the wonderful bipolar weather of Kansas that kept us from checking out equipment on the only day Miranda and I could've both filmed, only to completely stop as soon as we got home. That was fun. So then we ran into the issue of I now had to film everything by myself, and I have little confidence in my camera abilities, at least when there's no one else there to help me figure things out. But I did it anyways and two days of filming later, we had all we needed. 

"Na Na Na" by My Chemical Romance

Step 4: Edit the video. Miranda took on that task, as she usually does, for I am not a video editing person, rather a music editing person, as I've mentioned before (which I did have to employ during editing due to a tight deadline, and a little less footage than we planned for). But editing is where we greatly imitated the video: split screens and quick edits, etc. 

Our Video

Step 5: Share your video. Sharing in terms of this class consist of putting it on a server and then projecting it in the front of the room for everybody to watch, as well as posting it on Youtube (here's the link for that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIEaQGjTiB8). 

Well, there's our process from start to finish. Now onto the part where I say all the things I wish we would've done instead of what we actually did. Initiate new list!

1. Our video increasingly became a looser and looser interpretation of our reference videos, and by the end, if we hadn't stated our inspiration, no one probably would've know we had any. Also, we started off with two reference videos, and in the final product, the second wasn't present at all.

2. Thing two I would change is the fact that we have an actress, emphasis on the tress, singing a song sung by a man. I didn't notice it until the end, but now it's all I notice.

3. If I could film it again, I'd try to get wider angles of the car driving, but that was just a lack of resources on our part. It would've been possible if we had had another car to follow Sarah's with someone else driving so I could move around in the car and film, but since it was just me, I figured it wouldn't be wise for me to try to drive and film at the same time. Safety first!

Well that's about it. It's not a terrible video. I actually quite like how it turned out, especially compared to some of our other projects. So you should check it out and let me know what you think!

Here's the link for our final product again, in case you missed it in Step 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIEaQGjTiB8

Fire and Ice Final Video

A Tale of Revenge

This is a post that is long overdue, and by long overdue I mean we finished this video three months ago. But it turned out pretty well I thought, so here we go.

For our semester final in Entertainment, our teacher gave us a Three Day Film Challenge: three days to plan, shoot, and edit a 90 second short film with certain elements we had to include (ice and the phrase "cold as ice"). As usual, Miranda and I immediately paired up and began brainstorming ideas. Now here's a fact about me that became extremely important and critical to our short film: I like fire. Problem is, fire is the exact opposite of ice, the required focus element of the project. But what makes a crappy story five times better? Conflict. Here we had two opposing elements, two opposing forces, and our idea for Fire and Ice was born.

So you know I like fire and conflict, but I also like writing. I took some inspiration from poems I found on the internet and wrote a voiceover to go with our idea. Miranda took it in her hands to find us some actors to play the parts and the next day, we were filming. Some conflicts arose, and no, not the good kind, like inexperienced actors and unexpected rain, but we managed to work with the conditions we were given and the next morning we were hardcore into editing. We both edited versions of the video, struggled a little with finding music, and we were done by the end of the day, very pleased with what we had accomplished. And our teacher, who hardly ever gives out compliments, said she really liked it! I deem this project a definite success!

Here's the link for Fire and Ice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeJJvEUsafw

True Affection

Music Video and Holiday Mishap

Welcome to the post where I will focus on the importance and necessity of multiple plans: Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and so on.

The Mission: Make a holiday/seasonal music video to be included in a holiday video medley to post on e-comm's youtube channel.

The Process: We had two weeks to plan, film, and edit this video and we had to use people in the school as actors to show diversity. Our Plan A was a New Year's Eve party with a depressed main character who eventually says "screw it" and joins in the festivities (set to the son The New Year by Parachute). But complications arose and we were unable to go through with our original plan. Problem was, we had a limited amount of time and we really needed to figure out what we're were going to do instead.  In cases like these, I'm glad to have planned for failure. Plan A was out the window and Plan B was only halfway there, thus Plan B and a Half was born! Plan B and a Half (PBH) included the song from Plan B (True Affection by The Blow) as well as a new and improved concept to go along with it. Planning, planning, planning, and we were finally able to film the Monday and Tuesday before the due date. We encountered a slight problem though; seems we had forgotten that the whole point of the video was to make it "holiday-ish," a key element which we completely passed over until we were at the very end of filming. A quick adjustment to the ending by adding a wrapped present and it still didn't really turn out "holiday-ish," but we could at least kind of claim it was.

The Story: Basically our story goes like this: two people (Lucas and Meg) are in love, but because they're in different cliques, their worlds are keeping them apart. But they still figure out a way to be together.

My Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofo07iozP-o&list=UUh-lU5OKHGmlvWCqjJ6mteQ

The Final Medley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_0NygarNqg

Hope you enjoy and Happy (insert winter holiday of choice here)!