Working in crews of up to 6, we had to create a music video to any song/piece of music of our choice. The video had to be in a style appropriate to the music. Each crew could have a maximum of 2 cameras and include up to 30% non-original footage. It was to be a group edit.
“When David Bowie stepped onto the stage as Ziggy Stardust in 1969, one of the world’s greatest gay icons was born and the rulebooks were forever rewritten.” (Oppenheim 2016)
Jack suggested making a video using the David Bowie song Rebel Rebel. Telling the story of a young transgender woman who finds the strength to be herself with the support of Bowie’s lyrics and example. Sam agreed to portray the main character, with Jack taking the place of Bowie. “Despite increasing representation in contemporary media, LGBTQ youth continue to be characterized predominantly by negative or one-dimensional portrayals in traditional offline sources of media […]” (Craig, McInroy and McCready 2015) This was an issue we felt we wanted to address.
I got the opportunity to direct – a role I’m especially interested in learning. It was challenging but enormously satisfying. We agreed on a two-day shoot – one at Jack’s house and one in Studio 2. We allocated tasks to the crew and everyone did their part well. Once I got the script from Sean, I wrote a complete shot list for our first day of shooting, that was the main story and getting all the footage was vital. “The director must constantly think about not just what the camera is capturing, but how that footage can be edited together.” (Ascher and Pincus 2012) I also arranged the studio booking. That day was performance based so I had a plan but no formal shot list. “Actors are often extremely vulnerable to disruptions of mood and should be treated with respect and deference.” (Ascher and Pincus 2012) Bearing in mind the challenges Sam and Jack were both facing I did everything possible to make them comfortable and support them in performing. Although it was hard and stressful everyone who took part genuinely gave it everything
I learned that even a short and relatively simple shoot takes a great deal of organisation, time and energy, and that however long you think something will take, it will take longer. There were some issues with camera focus, but in the finished video it works as a metaphor for Sam’s character trying to get her identity into focus. As our teacher wisely told us, “If you find a problem, make it a feature.”
Research:
Oppenheim, M. (2016) David Bowie: How the glam rock artist became an LGBT icon. The Independent [Internet], 11th January. Available from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/how-david-bowie-became-a-gay-icon-a6806041.html [Accessed 31st January 2019].
Craig, S. L., McInroy, L. and McCready, L. T. (2015) Media: A Catalyst for Resilience in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Youth. Journal of LGBT Youth [Internet], 12 (3) pp. 254-275. Available from https://www-tandfonline-com.yorksj.idm.oclc.org/doi/abs/10.1080/19361653.2015.1040193 [Accessed 31st January 2019].
Ascher, S., Pincus, E. (2012) The Filmmaker’s Handbook. A Comprehensive Guide for the Digital Age. 4th ed. New York, Plume.
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