Video Production Dreams Realized
Remember your childhood visions of doing bold things that started to seem impossible as you got older? For us, as creatives, making a real-deal music video with a big name artist was one of those visions. As our niche as a content partner to brands became more focused on product marketing (commercial ads, digital campaigns, CPG & DG spots) some of our dreams got quietly shelved. It’s a funny thing to make peace with, especially since our skills, our equipment and our studio were bigger and better than ever. In ways, we couldn’t have been more primed to answer the call for one of those childhood visions…
Fortune favors the prepared mind, as it’s been said. When the opportunity came our way last year, we made true art with an incredible team and a generational talent. Recreation Films partnered with Childish Gambino on a music video for what might be his final album. Woot, wooooot!!!
Challenges overcome included:
- artfully composing several unique scenarios within our studio by leveraging our versatile sets, custom surfaces and creative propping
- achieving diverse naturalistic lighting & images prepped for compositing when required using Previs, live-keying & nimble G&E
- getting 8 babies to spike (look directly at) the camera lens, with help from toys, mellow crew energy and a patient baby wrangler
- capturing everything in a single day to meet the demands of the timeline, budget & precious limitations when working with very young talent
Beyond digital streaming, our work lives in an ultra-rare, limited edition vinyl record box with an LCD player, a first-of-its-kind creation by the artist’s team for his album Atavista. We co-developed the video concept to realize (Donald Glover aka) Childish’s wish to replicate the look & feel of the cinematic film Samsara using infant children.
Our images paired with his song, The Violence, amplify his lyrical social commentary about the impact of violence on youth, making space for hope & living in the present amid the discomfort. We shot over two days in our studio, with meticulous attention to art, lighting and the energy required to get the goods from the little ones.
All babies left smiling. Childish & his team at Wolf + Rothstein were stoked. REC dreamed another dream & realized it. Major thanks to our long-time friends/collaborators @happylittleproduction who are the best in the biz at production with little ones.
Check out the full music video & more here.
