The making of Rain (Official Music Video)
Inspiration and New Beginnings
Back in December of 2015 after screening the first cut of my short film The Honest Truth, Alanna Sinclair approached me to film an official music video for her song Rain. I listened to the song, paying close attention to the lyrics, and it was then that I said yes. The song spoke to me and told me that despite pain and heartache, there is still the possibility of something beautiful. It is a metaphor for those moments when we experience loss, sorrow, emptiness; it is also a metaphor for endurance, perseverance, wholeness, and strength. Without pain it is impossible to have comfort, naturally the good must come with the bad. I took to translating the song visually and came up with an idea where the characters were placed both within and outside of modern day. We were fortunate enough to have so many generous contributions from friends and family, who made it possible to capture the story in the exact way we had intended. Not only were we able to shoot in a 19th century Tudor-style Manor House in Norfolk, CT, but we able to acquire vintage props such as a radio, luggage, and umbrella as well as a near vintage truck. Each of these vintage props coupled with the overall beauty of North Western Connecticut added to our aesthetic—the beauty vis-à-vis the pain.
If you’ve ever done a project of any sort, you know that it requires some degree of planning. Crazy right? In the case of Rain planning was everything. Of course plans are meant to be broken. One of the first obstacles we faced when planning Rain was in fact the weather, go figure. Since New England weather has a mind of its own, we learned quickly that our plans had to be flexible. Another obstacle came during the scheduling phase. Since everyone we worked with had jobs and other priorities it became pretty difficult to find the perfect day, luckily we were able to settle on May 11thand 12th. From there it was smooth sailing. I was able to draw up a storyboard, plan shots in Shotlister Pro, and schedule each day. Once I had this information, I met with the Sinclair’s discussed my intention and verified that we were on the same page. Once the clients were happy, we were happy as well.
It was 3am on May 11th as I quietly listened to Rain and reviewed the many storyboards that I had drawn up over the past months. I knew that since my crew was practically nonexistent that I had to find a way to work as efficiently as possible and the only way I knew how to was preparation. At exactly 5am, Sam (my Editor/Gaffer/PA/etc.) and I packed all the necessary equipment into my car and headed out. To say the weather was chilly would be an understatement, but this discomfort was a small price to pay for a majestic sunrise that would kiss the edges of the world and saturate the fields of Norfolk with a golden hue. The white airy fabrics that hugged Alanna’s body and the bright red pigment that adorned her lips only added to the aesthetic that only setting or rising sun could provide. In order to capture a full glimpse of her surrounding and illustrate her resilience, I decided upon three setups: A full shot, a handheld track, and wide upshot. This coverage provided some of the most beautiful shots I have acquired to date. Moving on.
Back at the Manor, we began setting up for our rain scene using the make shift apparatus that Sam had built earlier that week. Did I mention Sam is also our resident handyman? Hmm, well there you have it. Earlier in the week, Sam built a homemade rain machine that was instrumental in creating the look that I was going for. He made this rain machine based on a design featured on Tom Antos’ YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT9sDx27TFw). I would love to say that everything went exactly according to plan, but Murphy’s Law always prevails. For the next couple hours we had to deal with the sun perfectly ducking behind clouds only to come back out and ruin the shots. Naturally, we had to shoot quite a few shots. Though it was hassle waiting for the sun to be diffused by the clouds, the overall experience during the rain scene was one filled with smiles and laughter, and of course everyone involved got soaked.
The next few hours was dedicated to getting shots of the truck and B-roll with Alanna.
Much like day one, day two provided beautiful shots that help to tell the story of a broken heart. It was on this day that we met Phil, the love interest of the film. I was most nervous that Phil and Alanna would struggle to find something that would make each scene that much more believable, but that anxiety quickly dissolve once I witness how easy it was for them to form a natural chemistry. I won’t go on and on about the PDA that saturates this particular film, but I will say that I believed it and almost felt like I was intruding on something personal. After we had finished shooting our two lovers in the park we returned to the Manor to shoot the breakup scene. I was thoroughly impressed by both Alanna and Phil performance. The quiet distance between the couple and the echoing radio broadcast only added to the feeling of disappointment and emptiness throughout the song. Our final shots consisted of singles with Alanna, most of which were designed to be bleak and somber, especially the window scene. For me, windows are expressive of the things we long for such as freedom, love, understanding, and transparency.
During post Sam beautifully wove together clips and brought what was in my head to life, but I’ll leave the editing to Sam. What I will talk about is the color of the film. I chose to go with a washed out and dark tone for the majority of the film as I felt the song called for it. I also wanted to give the illusion of dark clouds coming in and to separate the bright and saturated look of the memories gone by. This separation of light and dark creates the illusion of distance that is the central focus of the piece.
Overall, this experience was both rewarding and informative. I have learned a tremendous amount from this project and it inspires me to go further and to be more ambitious and experimental. I hope that both this video and this blog entry inspire others to create and unlock their fullest potential as much as it has inspired me.
Rain was Shot and Directed by Kewan J. Harrison
Produced by Ten Out of Ten (www.1010pro.com)
Lyrics by Alanna Sinclair and Nick Petrone
Filmed at the Manor House in Norfolk, CT (www.manorhouse-norfolk.com)
