On Tortured Souls, “I Feel Strange Love” Depeche Mode Video

So last year some time in the summer I was DP for a couple of music videos for this guy Vincent… here’s the first finished song films…

The Story- This was, like any, a mostly fun shoot with some disagreements between shoots. The director, Vincent, gave me run of the PAs & acting cast most of the time and he had these really bright little rigs which we turned into spotlights by rapping tinfoil around them. So I got to really express myself even within the shape of his vision. We shot it in about 3 different locations, one of which was the production office for Charles Band’s Full Moon Features of Puppet Master & Evil Bong fame.
The office was in a loft building located in skid row, so it granted me the opportunity to see some cool props and later a pile of human crap on the sidewalk. Oh LA, you’re such a nutty place.

While waiting for the final product I was actually worried cuz this was the first time I shot something without being the editor as well. But it turned out fine. A couple of the scenes are over-processed for my taste, since I tend to shoot with the end coloring in mind, and I noticed some shots were reused which raises my eyebrow but nonetheless I’d give the editing a solid score of 90% but only because I am dissecting & overthinking it like crazy. I’m sure it plays fine for the viewer, plus there was a lot of story to fit in between images of pale people screaming and ripping up their guitars and I can understand alot of the choices that Daniel J. Pico made.

Lessons Learned- Always take your footage home with you, you can never have too many lights, LA is your first inconvenience & leg up when making a video there, DSLRs are kinda stupid for video (first time with the 60D) also… craft services are an easy way to waste money & be a DP on some other director’s set and learn from their stress factors ;^)

Didjano- The Dominatrix character was played by a very kind and spiritual girl (Leila Bamdad) who as it turns out is quite modest. The little girl in the beginning of the video, (Montana White) was among the 10 most talented & instinctive actors I’ve ever worked with. The drummer is quietly pretending to play while the PAs are moving the cymbals. The actor being whipped (Vinnie Coppola) was actually bound, gagged and lightly whipped for half an hour, tough fella!

Your Turn- I did not DP every scene, there were two (I think) scenes shot by Brad Porter after I left the project. The lighting and shooting styles are both pretty different from my stuff. Can you figure out which 2 scenes I didn’t shoot? Comment below!