A write-up on the making of Astral Eyes' Succubus video
September 2, 2016, Skitz and Roman ventured into Las Vegas, Nevada for an exciting video shoot with Jin N Tonic and Kristy "Pure Rebel" Jessica. This time around, Roman did the writing, directing, and editing.
You may not know this, but Roman's a huge fan of early Robert Rodriguez. He loved El Mariachi, Desperado, and Dusk 'Til Dawn. In fact, he loved those movies so much that he bought the book Rebel Without a Crew.
Now, one major difference between Astral Eyes and Rodriguez, even when we're starving, we're still feeding the crew. Roman has a strong belief that his tribe eats before he does. He's always felt that way.
Regardless, it's a damn good book that showed some insights in how to make a movie for cheap. So, he formed Bleeding Ulcer Productions and although it went under, once you get a skill set, nobody can take it away from you. You always have it. Roman knows how to direct and edit the old fashioned way, before computers made everything easy.
So after three videos directed by the very talented Nick Testa, Roman decided it's time he starts directing the videos himself. Starting with Succubus, of course.
So, what do we need?
A camera, a location, and actors. With a music video, you already have the sound. We used our cell phones to play back the song so we can play along with it and be in perfect time.
Camera - Canon Rebel DSLR. Why? Why not? It's a pretty good camera.
Location - Red Rock in Nevada. Gorgeous desert. We started really early in the morning and got to work several hours with fantastic lighting. Plus, it wasn't so hot that it would have sucked.
Actors - Skitz Blackheaven, Jin N Tonic, and Kristy Jessica were the main ones. Roman intentionally cut his part so he could spend most of the time behind the camera. It of course helps that Jin N Tonic and Kristy Jessica are both gorgeous! And they're both quite intelligent, and worked well with Roman's directorial style.
Dissecting Roman's directing style - err on the side of too much movement. Use the tripod sparingly. Action. And sexiness. And more action. And more sexiness. And of course, with a side of Heavy Metal!
Dissecting Roman's editing style - reflect the directing style. Action and sexiness. When you have beautiful women to work with, let the world know you have beautiful women to work with. Show them! Show them early, show them often. Also, constant movement. If the scene doesn't have movement, cut it to one second. Use dissolves to put people throughout the picture. Make each scene like a painting. And lastly, cut with the music. You'll notice how well the cuts went with the music. That's intentional!
So enough of the film geek talk. Here are the promo pics!
