___In January, I gaffed a music video for Jason Mraz called, "I wont Give Up." I worked closely once again with Director/D.P Matt Roe (http://matroe.com/). We have worked together on numerous projects in the past but the stakes were raised a bit on this one as it was our first collaboration under the direction of Mark Pellington (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0671210/). Mark has directed some amazing projects in the past and I was excited for the chance to finally work with him. We scouted two main locations that would be used for both performance and "story" takes. I use the term "story" loosely because the concept for the video doesn't involve a true narrative element, but rather a combination of powerful images for the viewer to interpret/see/digest/feel. I like this concept a lot because it allows people to watch the video and then develop their own individual interpretation of it based on how the images make them feel.
The first location was a very old house and it's surrounding property. I could tell on the scout that it had a ton of cinematic potential. It featured rusty old furniture, broken down cars, overgrown trees and bushes that twisted into tunnel like semi circles. I knew the location had a ton of history and I felt like I was walking around on egg shells the whole time because I didn't want to disturb any memories that had been created and preserved there for so long. I think I whispered the entire time for that same reason. It's hard to pin point exactly how it made you feel to walk around there, but for me I think it was mostly a feeling of wonder. I wondered about who lived there and the experiences they had. I wondered what their story was. As soon as I saw the people who had been cast and the faces that would be placed in that environment I knew it was going to make for some powerful images. Each face had so such character. I wondered about the people that were cast the same way I wondered about the house and the property.
The shots we got in that location looked amazing and were perfect for the song in my opinion. To me the song is about perseverance. It's about staying strong and fighting for what/who you want or believe in no matter what. I think all of the faces were perfect because you look at them and you can tell that they have been through a lot. You immediately connect the themes of the song to those faces and you start to imagine a story for each of them. They have all undoubtedly been through a lot and they "didn't give up." They are still here and "it was worth it." I also liked the way the little boy and the baby were incorporated into the cut because they bring a sense of time and depth to the piece. It's an amazing contrast to go from the boy's innocent/unsure and exploitative look to the confident/proud weathered look of the older people.
___The second location was a giant rock quarry where we focused on more people/faces and the performance. I think this location worked well because the towering piles of loose gravel rocks and dusty atmosphere reinforced the themes of hard work/persistence and staying strong. One image that made the cut and really sticks out for me in this location is the wide shot of a policemen on top of a gravel pile looking down at a slightly wrinkled American flag. We used an Ageeba (powerful smoke machine) to create billows of smoke that curled up and over the rock piles. (ABOVE LEFT) We also used it in the first location in the early morning and it looked amazing because it gave shape to the rays of sun that were spilling in through the tree branches. (ABOVE RIGHT) We shot the performance takes at the rock quarry with a ton of smoke at sunset which gave the smoke an orange/pink hue that was further enhanced in the color grade.
I learned a lot on this shoot, not from a technical standpoint but more from an emotional one. The fact that I have written this entire post without mentioning a single technical aspect of the shoot on either the camera or lighting/grip side is shocking. Watching Mark and Matt work really opened my eyes to a different kind of shooting. Both of those guys shoot heavily based on instinct and emotion and they like to shoot what feels right immediately. This was a shooting environment unlike any I have ever experienced and although overwhelming at first, it really was amazing. Mark is all about connecting with the actors to get the performances he needs. There were even some takes where he would be operating the camera with one hand while holding the actors hand with the other. That's pretty amazing. Mark doesn't really like lighting and grip equipment (I'm assuming because he feels limited and confined by it) and it definitely clashes with his shooting style. I learned on this shoot that sometimes it's less about making every shot aesthetically pleasing and more about capturing the right emotion. There is definitely a delicate balance there. Matt shared with me a piece of advice Mark gave him once a while back which was, "Shoot more with your heart and less with your head." I'll be remembering that from now on.
