James Edwin Myers JR. directed and produced this fantastic music video from the band Debutaunts called “Everything’s Perfect.” James has provided us a wonderful write-up of the details that went into the production. Enjoy

Pony Ghost Productions

Here is his write-up:
The concept of the video was based loosely on the song’s theme. The hook is “Everything’s Perfect” but it’s really basically saying “Nothing Is Perfect” and I tried to capture that sentiment. Boiled down, it’s about break ups, isolation, and how hindsight affects your perception. I think those are things almost everyone can relate to.

The video was shot on a Canon 7D. I wanted the video to feel cinematic, so I mostly stuck with wider lenses. I’d say nearly 75% of the shots were the Canon 24mm f/1.4, with the rest a mix of the 50mm, 16-35mm and 200mm. We used a Sachtler FSB-6 fluid head with carbon fiber legs and monitored with a Small HD monitor on a hot shoe mount. Tracking shots were on a DIY rollerblade dolly. “Steady cam” shots were a Glidecam HD-2000.

I wanted the lighting to look as cinematic as possible, and in pre-production we decided we’d try to simulate the “Die Hard Look”; aka anamorphic streaking. We tested a few home made streak filters and 2 point star filters, but nothing really felt quite right. Then, Billy at PC&E mentioned a trick using fishing line behind the rear element. We tried it out and it looked great.

Lighting was a 5 piece Arri Softbank kit and two DIY mini nine lights that Troy Stains (the DP) and I built. The performance was all shot in the “A Room” at Glow In the Dark Studios in Atlanta.

We shot the motel footage at a motel near the studio called the Cheshire Motor Inn. It’s kind of a notoriously shady place in town – a few famous people have died there. That stuff was all guerilla style; just checked out a room, hauled up lights and went for it.

Funny story: just as we were getting started we popped a breaker. The dude at the front desk figured us out, but just nodded and winked and asked that we not trip it again. At that point I told him we were shooting a music video, but I’m pretty sure he figured it was… less couth. Just another day at the Cheshire Motor Inn, I guess.

For post I edited in Final Cut Pro. I always convert the 7D footage to Prores 422 with MPEG Streamclip. Troy graded in Apple Color. We went for a pretty stylized look, particularly with shots that were meant to feel like memories.

Update:
Here’s the “behind the scenes” making of:

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