They sent me a link to the directors website. Daniel Garcia lives in New York but works with Bent when he's on the West Coast. Please, I beg of you, look at his work. I was inspired by him even before I met him.
The band Ash is also located in New York (they're actually an Irish pop band), but it would have cost 10x more to film over there than here, so they flew the director and band and put them up to work on the music video. And thankfully, the locals and myself benefited from this :)
As I mentioned in my previous post, I had to leave the Quavondo photo shoot early to make it to film this. They had originally only required one day of filming, but they realized a space was too small so they extended the dates and needed me a day earlier, along with the full day of filming.
I rushed and raced to the film site where I was immediately fitted for wardrobe and for the second time that day, got make-up done.
(that's myself and chicken purse!)
After that, Daniel came in. Because he was a person of authority, I did not say anything. Speak unless you are spoken to. I am not a fool, and I have to prove it! He would say yes, no, try this, try that, not that, I like the stripes, try that instead, ok that's good.
Costume on, as the film crew was setting up the shot, Daniel led me into his "office" (which were the stairs around the corner) and he laid out the concept and outline of the video. He gave me the overall "feel" of my character, and by then the team had finished setting up and we were ready to shoot.
That entire paragraph sounded incredibly suggestive. I swear I didn't mean to.
Just a couple of takes later, we had gotten the shot and we were free to go. I met my co-actors Drew Aguilera and Ben Farmer. I would get to work directly with them on the full shoot date.
Excited that this was actually happening, and realizing that since they had my face already filmed that they'd have to use me for the rest (I was in complete denial. Nothing is real to me until a physical product comes out of it!), I somehow managed my way through the next day, waiting and waiting until I could shoot the full video.
The day came. I had parked a block away, arriving 20 minutes early so I could have time to breathe and collect myself before walking on set. I had called my good friend Elliott and he successfully calmed me down enough for me to be able to leave my car. I was shaking, but it was also kind of cold out.
Side Note: Just to let you guys know, filming took place beginning at 9pm.
Daniel greeted me on set and we sat and talked for a bit. I took the opportunity to ask about New York, his job, his commitments, etc. I wanted to know more about the industry he was a part of--he probably has so many connections (which I found later was true. Cartoon Network, anyone?). We weren't allowed a lot of time until he was called off on set to figure out what to do.
The entire night was extraordinary. Unfortunately, I still don't think I'm allowed to talk about it in detail, but there were about 20 extras, us three leads, the band, and the production team on set, usually all at once.
We filmed the scenes backwards. At one point I had to yell at my "boyfriend" (Ben), and we did multiple takes where he reacted, didn't react, led the argument, where I led the argument, etc. Shots from my POV, his POV, full scene shot, etc. At one point Daniel came up to me and said "ok, this time I want you to just lay into him. And Ben? Don't verbally react, just kind of take it." Daniel made a mistake by saying that.
Things you don't know about Meredith: a lot. I knew I had to yell at one point or another, so before we shot anything I made sure to give everyone a good enough impression of me before it was completely ruined, if the opportunity should appear. And, well, it definitely appeared.
Side Note: everything was filmed without sound because in the music video, it is obviously unnecessary to have any dialogue--just the movement of words spilling through our mouths.
I'm not going to type out my rant about how he never &#$& listens to me, how he doesn't give a #$@&( about me or us, how it's our one-year anniversary, how I @*(&%$ hate this diner that he took me to, how I do everything for him, how his friends are @$*% and nobody likes him, how his brain is just as small as his ****, and how he only thinks of himself...oh...
Unfortunately it was a lot longer and more full of profanity than I'd like to admit. After a good minute Daniel interrupted, laughing, saying "OK, OK, CUT! Cut!!!" The entire room cracked up. Red. I apologized profusely. Good second first impression, huh?
We filmed until 7am. We were exhausted by the end of the shoot and I had to drive back to Eugene the same day.
Side Note: Don't do that.
The production team was so kind and accommodating, the actors were wonderful, and the entire experience was unbelievable. It went by so fast, and even though we were exhausted I was incredibly sad to go home.
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Video is below, enjoy!
Total time: 10 hours
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaIuL13WfzQ&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&hd=1]
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