beachouse

Developing this video was a little different than what I’m used to - aside from the shoestring budget. James knew he wanted to film at the studio and we had a variety of locations, only steps away, to play with. I wrote them all down: a recording studio, bathroom, shipping containers, some nice old cars, a long road next to a cemetery, and a cemetery. It was like creating a box to work within, which is limiting and freeing at the same time.

The song (spoiler!!) is about an ex. I wanted to capture James’ state of mind as he exudes his feelings towards her into a song, and by the time the song is done, I wanted him to be over her. The original concept was that by the end of the video you would see YJames (the performer) whack James (the writer) off the head with a shovel, and drag himself away to the cemetery where he buries his past self.

Even writing this down, I still regret to say that we couldn’t get all of the shots in time. Our stunt double didn’t show up during his time slot, we lost our daylight, and we didn’t have enough lights in the budget to do the scene at night. So I had to make the decision to cut the scene and try to find a workaround with the footage we already had.

I have to admit the edit was really tough and I had to step away from the footage for a month or so. It’s hard letting go from the original concept, but I don’t think we really had a choice. Rescheduling the scenes would cost us money we just didn’t have. Maybe I’m rationalizing things so that I can still enjoy the video, or maybe I’m maturing. Who knows. The important thing is that we finished the project and we were all happy with the results. It’s James’ first story-driven video, and I hope it does him well.