This past Sunday we had the pleasure of catching up with our buds Northern Faces for our second music video collaboration. This time, for their new single “Firecracker”, which is appropriately blowing up on Spotify. Released on Equal Vision Records, Firecracker’s high energy strikes true to Northern Faces form, hooking you from start to finish, then begs for an immediate replay.

Production for the music video was set at The Church of Troy, a unique wrinkle of the city. The Church is an artist’s studio and event space nestled in the hills of Troy, just outside the RPI campus. We had to make clever use of the space; shooting at night to obscure the location, utilizing production lighting, and a series of roll away displays to bounce light, all creating a unique setting. Each member of the band chose a monochromatic outfit, which we paired with complimentary colors for each of their respective performances.

The lighting set up for this shoot was particularily tricky. The wide expanse of the set made it difficult to use a conventional light kit alone. To remedy this, we suspended a china ball from above the entire set. This provided an even fill and freed up all of our ARRI 650s and our ARRI 1K for effects lighting on the pillars, which you can see bookending the band members as they perform.

Against the lit pillars, dancers from Troy Dance Factory performed choreography, created specifically for the video by TDF’s own Nadine Medina. The dancers were rotated through each of the setups, sillouhetted against the pillars in a style reminiscent of the classic opening sequences featured in 60’s era Bond films. The effect really filled out the frame with an abstract visual to compliment Bryan, Matt, and Marco as they performed.

The highlight of the shoot came at the end. For the final setup, each of the bandmembers would play through the set on the drums. Originally planned to be a simple setup like the rest, a last minute idea from Nick brought the entire production together. We replaced the two-pillar setup rolled all of the pillars into positon behind the drums, and alternated the pillars with lights as they tapered backward to the 1K. This created a gradient of color bars as the back drop to our drumming through-shot.

Working with these guys always yields stellar results. Not only are they extrememly talented musicians, but their knack for creative collaboration, and their ability to communicate their own vision really makes any production with them a delight and we always seem to come out the otherside with something unique and surprising. Make sure you follow Northern Faces and Equal Vision Records and stay tuned into our various platforms to see the video as soon as its released.

Fingers crossed.