Music videos are always hard.
…Especially on a low budget. Especially in the bay. Especially during the week where everyone got hit by omicron. Especially during Christmas when everyone went home. Especially after a grueling year where so many in our community got burnt tf out. Especially when all of your friends that want to support you don’t feel very supported themselves. But everyone jumped in anyway. Not only did they jump in, they rolled with the punches, they did it with enormous pride, they did it with joy, and they gave it their all.
And just like that, what began as a very casual conversation between Josiah Johnson and me about wanting to do something cool and unexpected on the very heavy topic of forgiveness and shame - became a bloody dance piece in which 50 strangers came together to give everything they had.
The video premiered on American Highway - you can find a small interview with Josiah there.
And you can find the song - and more of Josiah’s gorgeous music - here.
“We wanted to see physically all these spiritual bodies, the ghosts we carry from our pasts, the unhealed traumas, the stories, and the fears of other people underneath all of that. Those are the seeds that grew and transformed, aided by a mighty, creative team from the Bay Area film community, into this video. ”
BTS
unit photography by Matt Evearitt, aka @beholdcreators.
In the original treatment, I wanted to set all the extras on fire, but a what is a low-budget music video without a couple of clever compromises. My old friend Darren and his buddy Evan showed up on set, we placed some tubes for lighting reference, and they just went to town. Here’s a VFX breakdown of the last shot from my dear friends over at Beast.
Some video snippets on the evolution of the choreography (by Natasha Adorlee, one of my favorite dancers) - Syra was actually a LAST MINUTE REPLACEMENT after the original lead fell ill right before rehearsal. She literally threw herself into the role, and if you keep watching, you get to see the bumps and bruises she had to prove it.
and if you really want to see how the sausage gets made ⇩
Click above for the original treatment to the video. It’s my first time writing treatment in Squarespace, and I don’t think I wanna go back.
← Lastly, Josiah and I have been friends for nearly half a decade now. On top of being an incredible musician and lyricist, one of my favorite things about our friendship is just his willingness to try jump into anything, full of big-hearted faith. Our music video developed because of his stubborn openness. And to demonstrate a little bit of what I’m talking about - here is a little side quest that I roped him into last week. I told him that we’re gonna serenade somebody because nobody deserves to spend their birthdays alone. He agreed, asked no questions, and jumped right in. The result is a tender and goofy musical ambush. It made my week, hope it makes yours too.