PRE-PRODUCTION PAGE

Artist: The Ramona Flowers
Track: Strangers
Label: Distiller Music
Director: Brad Hasse

LISTEN TO THE TRACK (PLEASE KEEP PRIVATE AND DO NOT SHARE!) 

LOCATIONS

The following are pictures that I took on a preliminary scout earlier this week. 

The first set of pictures are in "Brooklyn Bridge Park." It is in what is described as a "hot zone" in NYC, so we are trying to secure permits to this area first. 

The following are various locations around DUMBO Brooklyn, NYC. This is where the night scenes would happen, where the dancer can fully get lost in the song. 

PROPOSED TALENT

"Kid the Wiz"
aka Randy Vargas

Casting Tape:

TEXT FROM TREATMENT...

CONCEPT

This track has an euphoric feel to it. The type of song that’s fun to just put on repeat on your headphones while exploring a new surrounding and getting lost in the emotion of the moment. The video itself will be as simple and as enjoyable as that. 

I'm looking for someone that I could do a lot of improv with. I've done a lot of spontaneous shoots with dancers and all take place around moments of curiosity and experimenting with the environment. This entire video will be filmed in that way as well. 

The crew will mainly consist of myself, a cinematographer, a few assistants, and the dancer. We'll wander around New York City looking for locations to play around with and just making it happen. All guerrilla style. I know this is quite loose, so the entire team needs to be the type of group that is happy to collaborate in this way. 

Here's an example of a video I've done with a similar tone: 

Here's an example of one that is still playful, but more focused just on the dance: 

STORY

The story itself will be very simple. This is a visual concept, driven by the track and the movement of the dancer around New York City. It will be abstract and playful.

What we will be seeing for the entirety of the video is the dancer's exploration of New York City. It's a place that he's always wanted to visit, and now he's going to experience it all with his headphones in, using his own personal soundtrack while his lets out his emotion via dance and movement amongst the beautiful exteriors in this city. 

We won't get bogged down with backstory or a big premise, we'll dive right into the beauty of dance fitting to the song. We'll let emotion and movement keep the audience engaged. 

Parts of the video will be a montage of many different moments and locations, all cut back to back, and certain sections of the video will feature one single location cut like a mini-story. For example, let's say that he finds a bus stop to play around in, we may focus on his improvisational choreography in this area for 20 seconds in the video until he gets bored of waiting and decides to move along. 

Or, let's say that he finds some costumes or a mask, we'll let him playfully use that for a portion of the video, until losing it and moving onto the next sequence. 

Footage will be captured in both day and night, intercut for rhythm and feel rather than any sense of continuity. We'll gather that this trip takes place over a few days, not just one night. 

In the very end, the camera will stay behind, locked off on a beautiful and empty street while our dancer carries on into the distance. His journey isn't over, but as the music fades out so will our opportunity to join him on this adventure. To experience this for longer, we'll just have to watch it all over again. 

LOOK & LOCATIONS

The footage will be very abstract and focused on being striking and emotional rather than "establishing" every scenario. For the night scenes we'll play around with both existing light, along with a few battery powered options. It doesn't have to be realistic, it just has to look amazing. During the day we'll make sure to keep things looking elegant and fresh with the sunlight and shadows. 

This will take place in New York City, with potential boroughs including Manhattan and Brooklyn. It'd be best to focus on one area to give us the maximum shooting time possible, rather than traveling from place to place, and the wonderful thing about New York is that every single street offers a surprise for props and style and variety of looks. 

CONTACT INFO:
BRAD HASSE
based out of NYC   •   mobile +1 (310) 595-5377   •   brad@bradhasse.com