Directing a Music Video Entirely Remotely
Okay – so how did we do it, you ask?
I’m excited to share with you just how we were able to pull this off. It’s a bit detailed — which is telling, actually. It wasn’t an easy task.
Composer David Raiklen reached out to me via Alliance of Women Directors. He saw my reel and thought I could take his music and run with it to create an awesome video.
I came to the project with a vision of using this music to pull out the extreme emotion we’re all experiencing during this pandemic. But here’s the thing: we all agreed that we didn’t want this video to be defined by the pandemic. It’s happening around us, yet we’re all still living our lives within it.
I chose a team that I knew would be up for the challenge – and be willing to play, honestly. This piece would be experimental, and I knew we needed a team that could think outside the box.
Our cinematographer, Autumn Palen, worked with me on a Pioneers in Skirts screening event. Have you ever defined a person as “gung ho?” A person who is ready to jump all in? That’s Autumn! We needed someone willing to go the extra mile to make these shots work – and do it safely.
Our editor, Crystal Lentz, worked with me on Pioneers in Skirts as well, so we already had that rapport that editors have with their directors. She understood the underlying intent with my notes, and I knew what she could do – plus, we were both comfortable being honest with each other if something just frankly wasn’t working.
All four of us brainstormed shots we saw in our minds as we listened to the music:
- nature
- slow motion moments
- close up of hands on instruments
- landscapes and star-scapes
- faces
- faces wearing masks
And then we worked tirelessly to get those shot options for Crystal to meld together into the edit. Oh – and we had to get A LOT of people playing instruments and dancing, too!
Then the call for footage went out.
Over the course of one weekend, Autumn was to travel around Los Angeles grabbing all of the musicians (including David as our ‘conductor’), various driving shots, landscapes, oceans, you name it. I imagine it felt very ‘Mad Max’ driving around a deserted Los Angeles.
We were on multiple calls leading up to the shoot to make sure we got enough options in those limited shooting days:
- play with foreground and background options
- rack focus
- slow motion
- panning and tilting to the player and away
- see them setting up and then breaking down
- get their reactions while filming – close ups on their face, their hands
All with a long lens, mind you! We are social distancing…did I say this yet?
That means Autumn had to have a steady hand or the visual would become very shaky (a long lens would feel the camera movement a lot more). And, oh my gosh, ya’ll, the spreadsheets.
If I learned anything in the making of Pioneers in Skirts, it’s how important it is to keep everyone on the same page. For Lights in the Forest, I was constantly updating and re-arranging all of our discussions so that my vision was clear. I wasn’t going to be there physically, and we didn’t have the technology (nor money) to have me wirelessly view the footage. So, this was how I would be ‘in their ears,’ making sure we got the shot!
Side note: There has to be a bit of a “let’s see what happens” vibe – I had to give up some control. I can’t stand next to the camera in this situation, nor sit with the editor and just frame push back and forth. I had to give specific asks and know exactly what I wanted – then hope for the best!
What could I control? I went out to shoot some footage I knew we needed – when you watch the video, look out for my bell, my slow motion fan, my flickering light and my Mom’s rainbow shot!
Simultaneously, we made a call for footage within our personal contacts and on social media. (I wrote a blog post on how I directed people to shoot their videos at home. Click here to read.)
Then came time to edit! With a project like this, we had to set a schedule and work our hardest to stick to it – or we would be gathering footage and re-cutting for weeks! So, we halted all footage-gathering and gave Crystal a few days to work with what we had so far. Once the Editor’s cut was delivered, she and I worked together on a Director’s cut – creating a stronger journey with the footage, using the music to move us into a new story, slow us down, speed us up. Crystal did all of this wonderfully, but it’s normal for a director to then come in and step it up a notch! The collaboration is key here.
Giving edit notes and choosing shots remotely is TOUGH. I had to be incredibly clear in my ask and give very specific timecode notes, so Crystal knew exactly what I was asking. Doing this also avoided a huge amount of back and forth or share screen editing sessions. It really helped us to keep pushing forward.
Then David and I worked together to make sure it was realistic (as much as it can be) for the music performers plus his conductor footage (a conductor should always be slightly ahead of the music because the musicians are following the conductor). We then sent it out for notes from friends – receiving wonderful feedback, including a few repetitive notes that we knew we needed to address.
(I wrote a blog post on how best to give & receive notes. Click here to read.)
We reworked the cut, then gathered more footage – asked a few people to re-record in hopes of being able to use their footage in another round of editing, and then we were picture locked! Post took about two weeks, then we all got on a Share Screen Zoom call together to finalize the piece, the credits and then upload. And here we are!
We were truly using our limitations to our advantage.
This piece was meant to be experimental in all sense of the word. As independent filmmakers, we do not have the same kind of budgets that major studio films have, so we are constantly rethinking our shots or pivoting to honor our story through the resources that we have access to – and it makes us better, stronger filmmakers. (Don’t get me wrong, money allows us to make bigger more immersive stories, and that’s my personal goal).
That’s why I feel at times that this pause in production, and the limitations we will soon face when we start back up again, isn’t going to hit the independent filmmakers as hard, because we are used to smaller crews. We strive in the unknown. Granted, if the expectation of talent and crew is for us to suddenly implement thousands of dollars’ worth of safety protocol (testing each person and checking their temperatures) or pricier production insurance to cover Covid related illnesses – then no, we’re screwed. But, if we can keep making movies but make them with a (quarantined) skeleton crew, then, well, we’ve been doing that all along – no huge change! Except for the isolation part…but you get my point.
The important thing is that there are options. It’s almost as if technology has been working up to this point all along. Some things we may not be able to do right now but that leads us to being creative, and I feel the audience will join us on that journey. I’m not worried. Maybe I should be. Call me naïve, but making this music video has helped me to see that a lot is possible, regardless of what the world may make us feel is possible!
Audience Reactions
I have found the most interesting part about showing this experimental piece to people is their interpretations of moments and shots. Some find that the video wrestles up a memory of travel, of longing. Some feel there is loneliness and then togetherness at the end. Some feel that it’s an ‘Ode to Quarantine’ and how we are all surviving it. To them I answer – Yes, you are right 🙂