Bringing dark lyrics to life for HellYeah

Lyric videos are hot and on the rise. About time I got my hands dirty with them.

Black Fawn Films sent me a treatment for a dark and twisted story that sounded delightful to this filmmaker. It was for the latest song from hard rock band HellYeah.

Moth is off of the band's fourth album, Blood for Blood, and explores themes of self-destruction in the pursuit of happiness.

“It’s a song basically about - there are so many things in life that you know are wrong and you’re going to get burned, but you have to give it a try, whether it’s relationships, jobs, this, that or another. It’s like a moth, it sees that flame and it’s drawn to it even though it’s made out of paper and he’s going to get torched when he gets there. That’s kind of what the song is all about.”

With a relatively simple concept and little turnaround time, this video incorporated some dark imagery inspired by the opening credits to David Fincher's Se7en and in-camera stop animation. The story was shot over two days with an additional day for the stop-motion segments to feature the lyrics. The entire video was a one-man crew production: shooting, editing and colour grading.

What helped with this video was the clear direction given by Black Fawn as to what the video was going to look like. They communicated a concept and let me take it and run with it. Storyboards, visual references and a deadline were given. The rest fell into place.

All that was needed was the basement of a local store in old downtown Guelph (Thanks to Grey Rock Clothing Co.) and two gorgeous actors who I knew were perfect for the roles as captor and captive (Erin Stuart is a very talented and mesmerizing model/actress. However the identity of our mysterious lead must remain unknown.)

The stop-motion element was new for me. What an excellent way to reveal the lyrics of the video with the theme of the story.

P.S. After cutting out all of the letters from magazines and gluing many of the ransom notes together, I have a newfound respect for the patience and attention-to-detail of creepy stalkers.

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Photographing Erin is such an easy task. Just look at her!

Enjoy the video above and give it a share with your music-loving friends.

Check out more stills from behind the scenes here.

Want your own lyric video done for your band? Contact me and tell me what look you're after.

Camera Equipment:

Canon 60D

Cinevate Duzi Slider

Atomos Ninja 2 Recorder & Field Monitor

Manfrotto 504 Tripod

Rotolight Anova 2 Bicolour LED Light

Litepanel 1x1 LED Lights

Riftlabs KICK Light

100mm f/2.8 Macro lens

17-50 f/2.8 lens

Cinevate Duzi Camera Slider Preview

For a guy who loves a moving camera it's anybody's guess as to why it's taken me this long to purchase a slider. But that day has arrived with the Cinevate Duzi. After a few days of shopping around and deliberation I ordered the Duzi and 3 days later it showed up on my doorstep as I was enjoying my morning coffee. Even though it ships from Thunder Bay, it came surprisingly fast.

A slider is akin to a dolly in that it allows the camera to move smoothly left/right or forward/backward while filming. The Duzi is only 24" long but it is capable of adding just enough movement to enhance an otherwise ordinary shot.

Cinevate Duzi and morning coffee

I LOVE being able to move the camera during filming which is why I use the Glidecam so often. With the slider the camera can move even steadier over a shorter distance and the movement can be slow and subtle, which is difficult to pull off with the Glidecam.

Coming in at $399 plus any of the bells and whistles that go with it (all-terrain legs, carrying case, sling, etc.) plus a head to attach the camera onto, this was an easy decision to make. The Kessler CineSlider comparably is $1099 and is 3' or 5' long. For a quick setup and the ability to grab 'n go quickly, the Duzi appears to be simpler and more convenient.

Now I get to take it out and play. The weather's good for trying out some exterior shots and there are a few shoots coming up that the Duzi will come in handy on.

Stay tuned for more shots and notes on how well it works out.

Remembering Sarah Jones

Sarah Jones, a camera assistant with a smile and personality that lit up many film sets, died in a tragic accident on February 20th while filming Midnight Rider. The story has been covered by many, many websites and publications and shared by most folk in the film industry. It has spurred the Slates for Sarah movement, calling for safer work conditions for crewmembers on set. While filming a scene taking place on a set of train tracks, the crew was startled by an oncoming train that then struck and killed Sarah, along with injuring several other crew members. Questions are still being asked regarding whether or not the crew had clearance to be physically be where they were, but it does seem painfully obvious that the proper precautions were not taken.

Sarah Jones

A video highlighting Sarah's career and passion played at her memorial two days ago in North Carolina. It really tells you how delightful a person she was and at the 2:35 mark an incredible montage kicks off that displays the outpouring of support from many cast/crew, a lot of whom worked closely with her.

Attention to the sometimes unsafe work conditions combined with rigorous demands of film sets has happened as a result of what happened to Sarah.

You can read more about Sarah here.