I first collaborated with Romye Robinson aka Bootie Brown in 2015 on the music video he directed for his legendary hip-hop group, The Pharcyde. For his music video for “Suddenly,” Brown found inspiration from the look of Sin City (2005). Wow, I’m just now realizing that the song’s title from that first video is Sins!
To clearly differentiate between the flashbacks in the treatment, we employed both anamorphic and spherical lenses on a RED Gemini. This marked the first shoot with my personal set of Atlas ORION 2x Anamorphic lenses. We went against the typical music video aesthetic and captured the dance sequence on spherical vintage Zeiss Super Speeds rather than the Orions.
Monty Bar just west of Downtown Los Angeles provided a great setting for the bar scene. To supplement the existing lighting and give more of a music video/dance vibe, my gaffer, JC Falcon, installed and programmed a variety of Aputure lights in strobe mode. As you probably guessed, we heavily utilized haze for atmosphere.
The second day of shooting required much less time and crew. For true authenticity, we started our day in Sylmar and shot in Les Les’s studio where Amy Correa Bell recorded her vocals!
Our last stop brought us to Brown’s eclectic Eagle Rock boutique, Store 242. The well curated vintage clothing and music shop served as the perfect backdrop for the song’s finale.
Before I go, I gotta give a shout out to Brown and his killer vocals on the new Gorillaz album. It’s a banger.
Director : Bootie Brown
Cinematographer : Dustin Pearlman
Editor : Vicente Manzano
Color: Joshua Allen
VFX : Jason R Miller
Gaffer : JC Falcon
Key Grip : Derek Buchanan
Swing : Mark De Leon
1st AC : Andrew Baxter
Hair/Makeup : Jeannie Jeffries
Wardrobe : Lisa Chin
Production Coordinator : Greg Campbell
Assistant Producer / BTS Photographer : Mike Relm
Choreographer : Sofie Loeken
Dancers : Kaela Faloon & Solange Zindzi
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