Week Seven

INTERVIEW

In the studio this week I was on the opposite side of the camera. I, along with the producer from last week and the two performers were interviewed for a short music television themed segment. I wasn’t exactly comfortable or confident on screen. For the most part I prefer to be behind the scenes. I enjoy acting with a script but talking as myself tends to make me “corpse”, badly. We started off the session by learning two methods for coiling XLR cables. I was already familiar with the process through my day-job, but these techniques were very effective. I reckon I could coil cables as quickly as Forrest Gump assembles and disassembles his rifle.

What we did in studio today was only a small part of everything we as a production group worked on and accomplished since the last session. We had two days of shooting on location which went well. Although we did have some teething trouble to start. I didn’t check the equipment prior to bringing it to location. The battery was flat which initially hampered production. We shot as much as we could of the first verse scene. As we only had a small window in which to use the space available for shooting. We had to keep stopping to charge up the battery enough to finish filming the scene. If I had made sure to charge the battery beforehand, production would have gone a lot smoother.  Although it was in these instances of waiting around for the battery to charge that we talked about ideas. We attempted to do a vertigo shot but failed spectacularly. We were like the three stooges; the shot didn’t work but it did make for an excellent team building exercise.

 When the project was brought to me, I had never anticipated making a music video for a Dolly Parton song. I just felt that as a socially conscious male “artist” I didn’t feel comfortable with the concept of having the singers’ happiness being dependent upon a man. I pitched a bunch of ideas to the producer. One where Jolene would have been a mythic siren, luring men to their deaths at sea. That would have been a nightmare to film on location with the snow. Thankfully we went for a simpler option. Where the singer who is singing about Jolene is Jolene herself. We didn’t really flesh out the concept, we don’t know if the character is aware of the fact that she is “Jolene”. The point is that “Jolene” is a femme fatale who preys on men.

It was a bizarre concept and is undoubtedly one of the most twisted interpretations of a Dolly Parton song ever to be imagined. As well as directing I undertook a significant portion of the editing responsibilities. It was difficult syncing up availability. Thankfully we were able to network and share workflow as it progressed. I was able to piece together a number of rough-cuts which were evaluated and critiqued by the group. Reference points in the timeline where created where changes could be made. All in all, I’m pleased with the work we produced and look forward to our next production task…