Storage 24 Music Video Shoot (part 1 of 2) (6.7.09)

so, last sunday, my friend Daniel Guaqueta (who’s also the drummer for Storage 24) invited me out to shoot some behind the scenes photos as the band prepared to shoot their first music video for their single “No Surrender”

i said sure.  i love behind the scenes stuff.  i’m that guy who’ll buy a DVD, not for the movie, but to listen to the “director’s commentary”.  i love it.

so, the shoot was scheduled to start at 9:30am till 9:00pm.

i shot over 400+ photos.

after my initial edit, i cut that down to 263.  far too many to post.

so i went back for the brutal final edit and cut that down to 153 photos.

still too many to post in on entry but if i cut anymore then the “story flow” just wouldn’t be the same.

so, after posting my dilemma to facebook and twitter everyone said “make it two posts stupid” LoL

so, here’s post one of two.  even with 75 photos, it’s still a mega post so let’s get started.

game on.

this is where the majority of the magic happened.

Farish Street in downtown Jackson.  farish is still undergoing revitalization so there are still abandoned storefronts and open areas of land that we had free reign of as we filmed.  and we used that to the fullest.

all the rest of the photos will be in black and white.  i’ve always thought that black/white is the way to go when you’re doing behind the scenes documentary photos like this.

Amile Wilson (who was our director/cinematographer) and Baby Phred (vocalist for the band) as we scout out one of the buildings being considered for the shoot.  we actually ended up using this building for one of the big scenes in the video.

getting the building clear.

now, i’ll be the first to admit that this isn’t the best photo in the world.   a bit too overexposed IMO.  but i kept it because i think it says a lot about, well, everyone that came out to help with the video.

take a look at this photo.  here you have the drummer and lead singer of a band doing, what’s pretty much, grunt work.  nobody had to ask, they just did it.

no egos were on display that day.

i think that says a lot.

really like this shot of Baby Phred.

this was also the first time me and Phred hung out for any length of time.  i have to say, he’s a cool guy.  crazy as all hell, but cool LoL.

quick shot of Talon. (and yes, that’s his real name)

Talon isn’t a member of the band but he played the lead character of the music video.

this would be a good time to mention that, it was really really hot that day.  mississippi hot.  meaning humid as hell.

this is important to remember each time you see a shot of Talon running, throughout this day long shoot.

Amile getting his gear set up.

his gear being a camera, a LCD viewscreen,  and a steadycam harness.

remember, it’s a mississippi hot day.  none of that stuff he’s putting on is light.

did i mention none of us are getting paid for this? LoL

Daniel G. going over his notes for the shoot.

Daniel was also the producer/director for this shoot.

i feel weird giving people titles.  this entire shoot was really a team effort.  if you had an idea, you could suggest it and maybe it was used and maybe it wasn’t but it was expected that other people would chime in like that.

really good working environment.

still getting set up.

that guy you see in the background there is Carlos.

we didn’t know him from adam.  heh, he was just walking down the street, saw us getting all set up, and wanted to know what was going on.  so he hung out for a bit.

(and i think even he chimed in with ideas.  and i think we even used some.  that’s just how we roll in jackson.)

Talon being introduced to his wardrobe (which were a pair of baggy pants, basically)

…yeah, not really sure what’s happening here LoL

time to get to work!

talking out the shot set-up and scouting out good locations for the first scene.

first location found!

gonna have Talon come running up from behind that wall, looking scared and hauling ass.

why?  guess you’re gonna have to watch the video to find out.

Talon on the move!

i can’t wait to see how this scene looks on the final cut of the video.

that’s the good thing about working all digital.  instant scene review.

as you can tell by the smiles, it was looking good.

Baby Phred checking out the cuts of the scene.

Daniel G. giving Talon some directions as we get set up to shoot the last part of this scene.

let’s look in the other direction and see where Daniel is telling Talon to go.

downtown Jackson.

(oh, and Daniel was telling Talon how he was supposed to run across the lot and through the opening in the fence)

yep.  just a creepy baby doll.  laying in the cross in the non-paved portion of the lot we were in.

stay classy jackson!

first scene wrapped!

time for a quick “let’s take a break so we don’t pass out from heat stroke” break.

Daniel G. and Carlos.

taken just a little bit before Carlos had to bounce out.

thanks for hanging out Carlos!

that mississippi sun wasn’t playing around.

this is also the scene were we had our first two injuries!

Daniel G. : ok, for this scene i’m gonna need you to run up to the wall, looking scared, fake fall, get up, and then take off running again.

Talon: cool.

Daniel G. : and be careful.  be very careful.  safety is paramount!

Talon: cool, man.

Daniel G. : please be careful.

Action!

Talon goes for the wall and falls face first, feet flying up in the air, eating the ground.  hard.

All of Us:  holy shit!!

Daniel G.:  are you ok?!

Me:  is he ok?!

Baby Phred: (turns to Amile) tell me you got that on film!  tell me you got it!  that was fucking great!

Amile: (working the camera) i think i did i think i did!

Talon: i’m ok!

(i had to paraphrase all that but, that’s pretty much how it all went down LoL)

the thing i remember most about this shot and this part of the scene was Amile screaming “Run!  Run!  You Keep Fucking Running!!” as he chased Talon through the grass across the lot LoL

which, of course, led to Amile getting injured.

which, of course, led us to get that hell out of that grassy lot before it killed us all.

Amile ended up twisting his ankle.

Talon ended up with cuts and bruises over his arms, chest, and wrists.

but that didn’t stop us!

NO SURRENDER!

the next scene took us inside this abandoned building, to shoot some interior scenes.

it was about, at this point, when i start wondering if any of these old buildings have asbestos still in them LoL

exploring the building when i turned around and saw this shot.

walking back to the table (there was an old table in this building) after discussing ideas for the scene

by this point of the shoot Clay Hardwick (to the right of the photo) had joined the party.

his inital plan was just to hang out and shoot some behind the scenes video.

heh, that plan didn’t last for long.  by the end of the shoot he was running one of the main cameras.

injuries?!

psh!

we’ve got a video to make!

scene review!

Amile explaining to Baby Phred’s kids what he’d like for them to do for their upcoming scene.

working with kids can be tricky, but they were no problem at all.

getting set up and checking the distance

yes, this was all part of the scene

(and don’t worry city of jackson, it’s just wash-away chalk!)

some last minute instructions for the kids and for Baby Phred’s lady, Stephanie

Action!

Talon runs into the scene…

and takes off as if the hounds of hell are after him!

let’s see how this scene looks, in the big picture sense…

ok.

Talon runs from around the building, towards the camera and the girls walking down the street…

…hits the wall, look crazed and afraid, as steph pulls the girls to her…

…and then he takes off running!

Cut!

let’s review!

everyone loved review time!

it was cool seeing it come together piece by piece.

(and yes, that is Baby Phred with an umbrella.  the day wasn’t getting any cooler)

getting some pick up shots of the interior.  killing time while steph and the girls get their make-up done.

that’s right, with the arrival of Shondra, our make-up artist, the crew continues to grow.

scary eye-makeup time!

scary eye-makeup time for steph!

i have to give Shondra credit, doing make-up couldn’t have been easy in that heat.

it had to be thick enough not to sweat off but not so thick that it just looked silly.

hard to pull off.  but she did.

success!

it’s Megan!

she brought us food!

this made her one of our favorite people ever!

the kids reviewing their just completed scene in the scary eye make-up.

(i didn’t shoot it because it was, basically, the same scene as before just at a different angle)

and that’s a wrap for the kids!

lunch break!

(and many thanks to The Pizza Shack for sponsering lunch for the shoot.  you guys rock!)

after lunch, it’s time to start getting the equipment unloaded for the big full band shoot inside that first building we scouted out when we got there that morning.

just had to throw this one in here.

i think they make the cutest couple.

awwwwwww

(yeah, i’m a big softie)

this is where we’re gonna be setting everything up

Clay, doing what i’m doing, but with video and not photos

the crew continues to grow.

Sam (our sound guy) starts getting set up.

Sam starts getting people mic’d up for the next scene.

Laine get’s mic’d up too

(and yes, if you’re keeping track, the folks getting mic’d are new.  crew keeps growing and growing)

Clay getting some “director’s commentary” from Amile as everyone get’s set-up for the car scene.

heh, i’m sorry.

but Baby Phred with that umbrella just trips me the hell out LoL

man, that had to be a tight fit in that car

(you’ll see more of the car scene in part two.  this proved to be one of the hardest shots of the entire day so, after a few false starts we decided to put that on hold after getting the first part of it and get some more stuff done first)

the wheelchair was actually there for a purpose.

as you can see, it was never used for it’s intended purpose LoL

Unkl Ryan (DJ for the band) also not using the wheelchair for it’s intended purpose.

making the call to put the car scene on hold and to go find a building to get some good running sounds

smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em!

Courtney (the woman in the middle) joins the crew!

(and no, i don’t know why Phred’s making that face.  maybe he misses his umbrella)

the hunt for a cool, empty building to get running sounds in begins.

(you can’t actually hear Talon run, when he runs in other scenes.  so getting running sounds just means we’re trying to get that sound so it can be looped in)

success!

in fact, this building was so cool that, after we got the running sounds we needed, we stayed a little longer to get some more scenes that we needed for other parts of the video that we hadn’t gotten to yet.

i’ll tell ya a secret.

Daniel G. couldn’t wait to get that hell out of that building LoL

but we made him stay because, as me and Amile and Clay noticed, the light was just great in there.

i mean, look at that light.

just great.

but all good light in cool buildings must come to an end and after a few more minutes Daniel had had his fill LoL

so now it’s time to head back to the rest of the crew.

on the way back Daniel wants to try to get some more pick up shots (i think.  i’m still a little fuzzy about why we were shooting this)

told you we kept him running!

and that wraps it up for part one!

part two should be up Tuesday!

till then, hope you have a good one and see ya next post!