Behind the Scenes: Vulture party - Blood Wolf Moon

We started with Coffee in the west end of Glasgow. The Band already had a pretty solid narrative put together for the video and it was more of a case of working out what was possible and how we would do it.

A werewolf wakes up. Discovers a line dancing class. Joins said line dancing class.

It was off the wall but strangely specific. They already had locations and a choreographer. I love it when the band bring something to the table because it removes the fear that my creative well will run dry:)

We knocked a few ideas back and forth on WhatsApp to improve the narrative and fill in a few blanks. We opted to not end the video with a blood bath where the werewolf ate everyone. I can’t really remember if we preferred a more wholesome ending, or if I’d talked them out of it due to “production restrictions”… i.e. I didn't know what to order from the butchers.

With all this in mind, we did what we often do. We put together a video storyboard of found footage:

This is more for us than for the band. We basically put together a video out of found footage and google images. It lets us see where storyboard is lacking and where things go on for too long. We can identify bottlenecks and come up with further ideas by creating a mood board of images and footage. It also allows us to build a shot list and plan the shoot.

George Lucas apparently did this with Star Wars with biplane dogfights instead of Tie Fighters and X-Wings. Our storyboard videos aren’t normally for public consumption, but it gives potential clients an idea of the process of creating a video.

With the aid of Comic Sans and some stock clip art, the band created a logo for the inaugural meeting of the Gartcosh Line Dancing society:

Logo for the Gartcosh Line Dancing society.

Kenneth would like me to point out that he didn't design this logo :) We would also like to apologise to any existing Gartcosh Line Dancing Societies and Line Dancing societies in general.

After a quick make up test everything was planned for the shoot:

Make up test for the werewolf.

We decided to do a 2 day shoot. A fair bit of the shoot was outside. We were also using extras for the dance scene. I wanted to minimise the number of bodies who were weather dependant. The money I lost on petrol was worth it for a more relaxed shoot.

First up was the dancing. We were using Gartcosh Social Club. It’s a horrible grey carbuncle of a building in the middle of a playing field behind a housing estate with views of a motorway, but there’s also something quite wonderful to it. These places always remind of being a kid and being at events in function suites and community centres. The smells of last night’s yet to be discovered adult living would be permeating the place and you didn’t quite know what that smell of stale beer and BO was, but it felt wrong but alluring. When books come with Tenor Sax incidental music in the background, I’ll write my first novel.

Anyway, Gartcosh Social Club features a variety of wee rooms and functions areas which are perfect for shooting music videos. We were in a wood panelled one which represented the exact location you would expect a local line dancing class to be held in. As I was setting up I noticed a gratuitous photo of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson taped to a skirting board:

The band had roped in friends and family and we had a convincing number of bodies for the inaugural meeting of the Gartcosh Line Dancing society. There was even catering :)

We setup a few camera angles and lights and filmed the practice sessions with the cast. The werewolf was to view the line dancing through window before joining in, so we had the before and after shots. It was really good fun and a good way to meet the band and break the ice by doing daft stuff. I ended up with loads of footage for what would be a relatively short segment of the video.

And that was the ensemble bit done really. After this we needed a few shots of the externals, and some band shots, but day one had gone well. We ended with possibly my favourite shot in the video where I lit our werewolf with a red light and we are left wondering if she is good or bad:

Day 2 was a tighter affair that just needed the band, but we were moving between various locations. It also represented the most eccentric parts of the video in that we were setting up a werewolf’s bedroom in the woods and then filming them discover a country and western lifestyle. It’s one of those moments where you ask yourself how you got to this point in life…..

What do you do for a living?

Well…..here’s a photo of me at work:

This resulted din some fantastic shots:

As if this wasn’t enough, we needed a make shift wardrobe on a tree, and some sort of retro country werewolf chill space.

It’s amazing how some coat hanger hanging off tree in the woods can turn into something cinematic through the right lens with some editing bells and whistles.

The in-between shots are all follow shots of the werewolf leading us through the narrative. These are in black and white. The video then changes to colour as the werewolf accepts country into her heart(or something like that). I always loved the way Wizard of Oz changes to colour half way through; Reportedly for finance reasons:

This is even more pronounced if you listen to Dark side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. Money kicks in as the door opens. Mind altering drugs optional.

Anyway…. why deal with that nonsense , back to chasing a werewolf round the woods in her pyjamas:

The video was well planned and everyone mucked in. As a result everything ran lovely and smoothly and I think the final product is up there with one of our best.

We got some still shots during the shoot and one of them ended up being he Release Artwork