“The Passion, the People, the Process – The Players That Make a Video Come To Life”
September 30th, 2009 - Written by AdminOr you could be at the mercy of the weather that may or may not cooperate with you. This is especially true if you are not working on an indoor set.
Maybe one of your lead actors cannot make a particular shoot while everyone else was poised and ready for the cameras to roll. This happened one night while shooting the crime scene; the lead actor called 20 minutes after he was scheduled to be on set only to inform the director that, due to unforeseen circumstances, he was not going to be able to make it that evening. But the producers still went ahead, rewriting the script on the fly to account for the change in plans so that they could get the most out of their session – a great save for the evening and a brilliant way to salvage what could have been a setback for the team.
What if you had a night where you were run out of a particular location because some intoxicated on-looker did not appreciate your efforts to shoot a scene in a dark and seedy part of town – all for the sake of authenticity? Maybe he didn’t want his neighborhood called out on camera like that… but still, you lost that location and now you’re scrambling to find a new place to finish that scene. Sadly, this is a true story and actually happened to the producers of To The Rescue’s music video while attempting to film the chase scene.
But when you think about it, would shooting a video on a closed stage have the same real and gritty feel that real locations have? No way. And would you have learned how to work around unpredictable situations? Probably not. You see, struggling during the creative process reveals what we are made of and brings out the best in us… whether it is in front or behind the camera. And if we want something bad enough, sometimes we just have to go out there and ask… and borrow… and beg… and ultimately just go for it!
You want to be able to create a piece that is authentic, holds appeal and grabs people’s attention. So whether you are looking to recreate a big Hollywood production or something that has the feel of an Independent film house production or maybe just showcase the band in all of their glory, any art piece that is nurtured is a real labour of love and it really means putting a part of your soul into every work.
The Finale
A production like this does not happen without some serious thought, dedication and immense effort going into it to make it all come to life. And as you probably gathered from this recount, the quest for being creative and capturing the perfect shots will probably not come without its own frustrations. But I don’t think you can savour the successful wrap up of a project of this nature quite so much unless you encounter some obstacles along the way that puts that fire under your ass to get the job done.
So get out there and shoot your own video! Will you be 100% sure of what you were doing along the way? Well, maybe 80% of the time. Will you be positive that the shots that you captured are going to translate well on screen to give the audience the story you wanted to tell? Well, you always hope that those “one shot deals” were the winning shots, because sometimes there are just no re-dos or going back to try and re-create certain scenes. You either got it when you got it or you have to suck it up and say “We won’t do that on the next project….”.
But it really boils down to going out there and feeling the fear and doing it anyways, despite it all. And if you fall a few times in the process – so what? Hopefully your love of your craft will provide you with the motivation, support and self discipline you need to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and give yourself that friendly slap on the rear to say “Good Job! Keep Going!”
And guess what? The finished product eventually does come to fruition. Just keep on going and keep shooting that footage; As you do, hopefully you will eventually find your way to the end of your project with a few new lessons learned, tucked away in your back pocket. And who knows… maybe in the end, it could very well be the next big thing that garners mass appeal and gets enough attention and praise to win one of those prestigious video awards….
In the meantime, can we say, “That’s a Wrap” yet?
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Don’t forget to watch To The Rescue’s new video below to see the final outcome and keep an eye out for it on MuchMusic – coming soon!
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