Creating a Short Film for a Music Video
freezing weather, with a limited budget, sound like fun? It was for the
directing duo of Kyle Shoup and Scott Fredette of Cincinnati-based
motion design/production company Lightborne who concepted and executed
a short film for "Summer Skin," one of the tracks on the new Death Cab
for Cutie album "Plans." The piece is one of 13 short films created by
a different director as part of the band's anthology "Directions."
Watch and listen to the the directors' commentary on "Summer Skin"
below.
Here.
brainchild of otaku-house, the production company owned and run by
childhood friends Nick Harmer, bassist for Death Cab for Cutie, and
video director Aaron Stewart-Ahn. They saw the opportunity to make a
short film set to a Death Cab song, without adhering to the formula of
the traditional music video, so there would be no arbitrary performance
footage and the band themselves would not appear in the films.
told through the lives of white-collar 9-5 working stiffs. Water
coolers, data entry, and melancholy complacency are revealed through
children acting out the typical office workday and set against idle
playgrounds.
singer/guitarist/songwriter Ben Gibbard's ability to write such a
bittersweet metaphor about finding happiness in life.
illustrate moving on, growing-up and compromising," explains Shoup.
"His voice in this song suggests that he's reluctantly putting one foot
in front of the other and marching on. It's like he's tended his
childhood resignation. I wanted to show the pressures of the workplace
– the fear of getting fired, awkward and frowned-upon office romances,
meetings and pointless tasks. But I also wanted to show that all it
takes is for one kid to remember what his summer 'childhood' was like
to realize it's time to get his life back."
suggest kids playing and swimming in the summer, and place the children
working on a playground. The Lightborne team ended up shooting at a
playground across the street from the studio Shoup credits the
youngsters for their amazing performances and good behavior despite the
freezing temperatures.
never seen before the day of the shoot," comments Shoup. "At the
beginning of the day we lined up the available 51 kids, and I had to
pick who was who from a gut reaction. We had 56 set ups, which we
somehow managed to complete in 10 hours. Everything fell into place
nicely, and these kids were awesome! The entire day, we had parents
waiting just outside of the frame ready to put jackets and blankets on
the kids between takes. I was really pleased with how simple we were
able to keep this video, and how much of an emotional connection the
kids have made with those who have seen it."
very smoothly, so I felt comfortable that we could try and execute all
our set ups. And because the kids were so responsive and enthusiastic,
it made the shoot fun. In addition, the weather helped us, because it
was a grim gray day with nice soft lighting so we could move quickly
from set up to set up. It was the smoothest shoot of non-actors I have
ever been on.
Lance Bangs; Director P.R. Brown; stop-frame animation maestro Ace
Norton; acclaimed graphic novelist Jeffrey Brown; longtime Death Cab
photographer Autumn de Wilde; writer/director Rob Schrab; music video
directors Laurent Briet and Monkmus, as well as Aaron Stewart-Ahn
himself.
Label: Atlantic Records
Directors: Kyle Shoup and Scott Fredette
DP: Gary Bush
Art Directors: Rob Gray, Kyle Shoup
Executive Producer: Scott Durban
Producer: Amy Schaefer
Editor: Jeremiah Shuff
Assistant Editor: Nate Clark
Compositors: Dave Irion, Kyle Shoup
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