The Creation of LIFE - Shyweezyy
(Directed By Mark Crooks)
LIFE is a very nature based music video project that is comprised of many locations around Anne Arundel County that ultimately brought the visuals together. LIFE is truly a passion project because I explored many colors and video styles throughout the entire production process, purple being the primary color of interest.
PRODUCTION
Instead of having locations pre-planned out, I decided to get together with the artist and scout the locations in real time. We landed on this perfect gravel road that was lined with beautiful trees and tall grass fields. On the second day of shooting, Shyweezyy and I went to the guitar store to pick up a purple music sheet stand to use as a makeshift easel for the painting. At this point I knew that the video had to not only revolve around paint but the color purple.
The most challenging part of creating the visuals for this project because I let the footage for this video sit on my SSD for months. The opening scene with the flowers is metaphorical as it represents growth, nature, and life. Nature is the universal constant when it comes to life in general so the locations and visuals wrap around the story told in the song quite well. I love the way the song and its bass really flow with the nature in which it is filmed. I wanted the painting to be more integrated and intentional throughout the scenes as if the video is also a painting within a video within a painting creating a visual & poetic paradox.
TOOLS USED
I used Final Cut Pro and Adobe Suite for the visual effects seen throughout the music video. I also used the Sony A7s3 as my primary camera to shoot every seen in this video.
CONTRAST
This project introduced the exploration and the use of black and white color grading in my music videos. The B&W clips give the colored scenes more impact, creating that desired purple pop and contrast throughout the video. I needed to emphasize the colors that I am capable of getting out of my camera and this felt like the perfect way to direct the focus of the viewer.
