Director: Brandon Tauszik
Brandon Tauszik hails
from the moors of northern England, where one can trace his roots back through
many generations of noble serfs. Amidst adolescence his guardians
smuggled him into the USA where he continued education and impressed schoolmates
with his novel accent. After a mischievous incident at age 14,
Brandon was arrested and legally required to perform many hours of community
service. This labor was performed in the production department of a mega-church
and wherefore taught Brandon the basics of audio, video, and
lighting. At age 19 he began editing Arabic language videos in southern Spain.
At age 22 he retired briefly before relocating to California to work as a
videographer for Invisible Children, a media based non-profit organization. At
24 he co-founded Sprinkle Lab, a commercial video firm based out of a brick
warehouse in the slums of West Oakland. Currently Brandon directs video
projects by day while pursuing documentary photo projects by night.
www.sprinklelab.com
www.invisiblechildren.com
www.sprinklelab.com
www.invisiblechildren.com
Director: Brandon Tauszik
Artist: Antwon
Song: Living
Every Dream
How were you
approached for the job?
I’ve directed music videos for a handful of rising hip
hop acts here in the Bay Area. I actually directed a video for Antwon before "Living
Every Dream" earlier this year. It was very well received and SPIN hailed it as “an early candidate for video of
the year”. Henceforth, Antwon hit me up with a new unreleased track back in May
and asked if I’d be interested in crafting the video for it.
What inspired you on
your idea for the video?
Pictureplane produced the track, which cleverly
samples a 1990 remix of Suzanne Vega’s hit "Tom’s Diner". It’s a
house-tinged party banger that, when combined with Antwon’s playful lyrics,
conjure up images from a Salt N Peppa or Chubb Rock music video.
Antwon’s inherent image not very contemporary; he
stands out as someone doing his own thing. I figured we could get away with
pretending Yo! MTV Raps still existed. Hip hop music was
in a very different place back then, a better place if you ask me. Today we
have semi-mythical characters like Jay Z and Kanye trampling on what once was a
positive art form. I wanted to channel the energy and positivity of that era,
to make people smile and think happy thoughts!
What was the budget?
Antwon is unsigned, so it was barely enough to get it
all done. I had worked with New York streetwear brand Mishka in the past, so I reached out to
them for a collection of their new 90s-inspired clothing. This helped provide a
cohesive and period-accurate wardrobe for free. The choreographer and dancers
were gracious enough to join on the cheap.
What were the
limitations you faced with the production?
Shooting this down in Los Angeles was a necessity. The
landmarks, radiant weather, and vibrant hip hop history of L.A. were a perfect
match for the song. However, this brought up the production cost significantly
as we had to rent cars, find accommodation, and scout locations beforehand on a
separate trip. I also wanted to shoot at some high profile locations, such as
the Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach, but I had no permits. We had to just
show up to these spots with a group of 15 people and hope for the best!
Do you know how much a shooting permit is by the beach
with a small crew? In Sydney it can differ from place to place. But local
councils here are pretty flexible depending on your budget or needs.
Shooting video at Santa Monica Pier
would have set me back $2,500 for a full day plus a $5,000 security deposit.
There are discounts for official student and non-profit projects, but
those didn't apply in my case. Guerilla was the only feasible option!
Venice beach also has their standard day rates, but when we showed up the head
of security found us and requested we pay him cash directly. My producer
informed him this wasn't possible so he said that if "you don't go where I
am, it's fine". He had a pack of big guys without uniforms rolling with him.
Who were your key
collaborators?
Have you worked with
them before?
I work with Jon Smith at Sprinkle Lab, the video
firm we co-founded. We’re usually working together on a myriad of client work.
I used to work with Marshall Bang at Invisible Children and I knew that he knew (nearly)
everyone in Los Angeles.
What was your
production process like?
I watched (and then re-watched) dozens of rap videos
from the early nineties and took copious notes on everything from fashion, to
camera techniques and colors. Then I listened to the song on repeat for a
couple weeks while working or hiking, all the while emailing myself ideas and
notes. After drafting a semi-solid treatment, I went down to L.A. to
scout locations and get a feel for what it would be like shooting at various spots.
Meanwhile the choreographer put together a dance routine and the dancers
practiced. We shot everything over a weekend and then I had 3 weeks to edit it
during my nights, weekends, and vacation.
What was the
turnaround?
I was sent the track in May. We shot at the end of
June and released the video at the end of July.
What did you shoot on?
What lenses did you use?
I shot on a 5D mkIII, but ran the footage through a
VCR and then re-digitized it.
For lenses, I used the following:
15mm f/2.8
16-35mm f/2.8
28mm f/1.8
50mm f/1.8
70-200mm f/2.8
Where did you shoot
it?
All the locations were permitless and in/around Los
Angeles:
Los Globos Nightclub
Pacific Coast Highway (up near Malibu)
Beverly Hills
Silver Lake
Santa Monica Blvd
Venice Beach
Santa Monica Pier
Do you feel that the
client understands the production process?
As I mentioned before, I’d worked with Antwon
previously so he was familiar with my process. He’s not on a label yet, so I
pretty much had complete creative freedom without restrictions from bigwigs.
Antwon loved the treatment, but would let me know if he wasn’t into something
during the shoot.
If you had a chance to
approach it again, what would you do differently?
Honestly, I would have simply done more takes. It was
tough shooting at places like Santa Monica Pier with a group of choreographed
dancers and a huge boombox. The second we would start shooting a huge crowd of
tourists would gather around and gawk and take pictures. I think they thought
it was some kind of show. This helped get us kicked out! But yes, more takes in
each location would have been ideal.
This is one of my favorite videos ever! For rrrreal!
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