She & Him Video - Behind the Scenes!

Hey Guys!
This week I worked on a reeaallllyyy exciting project! - I made a music video!!

It's been a super incredible experience that I thought I'd share all about with you!

I made the video for This Contest by She and Him, a band that I adore that's made up of Zooey Deschanel (She) and M. Ward (Him!). The winner will be announced on Monday, July 1st and gets two round-trip tickets to New York City to see the band in concert on July 8th at Central Park as well as backstage passes to meet the band! Eeeeeee! 

It's been a whirlwind week, as I decided to enter the contest after my dear friend told me about it on Friday! I spent the weekend drawing story boards, assembling my team, choreographing, finding costumes, nailing down the set and more. I knew I would film the video on Tuesday, so there were only 3 full days of prep! Gah!

This is the first video I've directed, and the first time I've ever choreographed, so I knew it was going to be a pretty big undertaking. Luckily, I have some amazing people in my life who helped me - I put together a cast of 8, and a crew of 7, not to mention external help and advice from loads of other great people. Wow! 

My Vision for the video was this: A brief, unrequited love encounter turns into a romantic dream sequence, all taking place on the Manhattan Subway in 1965. 

I pulled inspiration from many of my favorite films from that era, including everything from "Viva Las Vegas" to "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg."

I'm not gonna lie, I got a little Howard Hughes Obsessive about the whole thing, but I knew exactly what I wanted and really wanted to try and make sure it's what happened. 

Even though there was a little stress (and a ton of coffee!) I had sooo much fun figuring everything out, designing things from costumes to staging, and putting together each puzzle piece as I went along! I learned so much about so many different elements! I also feel overwhelmingly lucky to have so many people in my life who were so super supportive. I couldn't be happier or more grateful for how much fun this project ended up being! 

Here is some behind the scenes entertainment:

1. A Mood board for the whole team to show the aesthetic I wanted
2. The pic of my outfit I sent to my bestie:

Early Storyboard Sketches and Choreography Notes:

Goodie Bags I made for the cast and crew! 
Everyone got candy, then Boys got Whiskey & Fireworks, Girls got Sofia Champagne (My favorite!) and Lip Smackers!

Wardrobe Shots & Back Stage!

 

A lovely Note from Jake in our Bathroom the morning of the shoot and a wonderful piece of advice from a director friend of mine!

My Busy Day was filled with several little mini-breaks! 
Sofia in the Hallway during rehearsals, then some later during my 7 hour editing project! Whew!  

1. My Amazing Assistant Director Setting up Cameras!
2. A Choreography Rehearsal over the weekend

 

ANNNNND Here's the Final Product!!

Hope you like it! 
PLEASE share this YouTube link around, I'm so proud of everyone's hard work and would love for it to get exposure!

Annnnd for you readers, As a little Bonus:
A Behind-The-Scenes Video!!! Check it out! (Gotta be on a computer to see it, sorry)

This whole thing has been an amazing experience, and while obviously I'd really love to win (FINGERS CROSSED!), no matter what the outcome of the contest is, I've had an incredible time working on this project. Hopefully it won't be the last!

Thanks so much to everyone who was involved, it was a real team effort!