Dude makeup, Hair wax, and Foot Long Subs

This past Sunday was probably one of the busiest days we’ve had in a long time. A lot of you guys know that we shot a video for “Dedication”, and we also know that a lot of you guys couldn’t make it and really wanted to, so…this hopefully this blog will give you guys some feeling of being there.

It’s 7am and the buzz of the alarm clock bouncing of the walls and smacking me in the face is a little less abrasive today. That reason being that our video shoot is today. The general gut feeling this morning is roughly 95% excitement and anticipation, 4% anxiety, and 1% I need caffeine. The only reason for the slight case of anxiety is that we’ve spent about a month and a half widdling down different concepts, locations, and other necessary details to make the video as perfect as possible. The hope being at this point is that it all comes together as planned. Going out to our cars this morning it’s impossible not to notice that the temperature has dropped from somewhere in the mid 50’s the morning before to 27 degrees with wind. This should make the outdoor shots a “pleasure” to film!

8am - We all arrive at the club where we’re going to be shooting the video (Dingbatz, Clifton NJ). Its maybe 29 degrees now and it’s still just as windy.

8:30am - Once we get into the club, Mary (Makeup), Alexis (Hair) and Rachael (Hair) find a well lit place by the bar where they can work. It’s pretty amazing to have them there because they’re good friends of the band in addition being professionals (Alexis is actually Chris’s sister). Over the next hour all four of us go through makeup and hair wax and the shoot begins. Around this time, Casper the production manager comes in with a couple dozen donuts and two boxes of joe and those of us who are still getting “worked on” (haha - this is the most masculine way to word this) are forced to watch other band members and crew eat the food that we could almost swear you could see getting a little colder by the minute. But….that’s the price you have to pay to look “ridiculously good looking”.

9:30am – The first outdoor scenes of Chris outside are being filmed.  I’m going to avoid details on these shots because the video will be completely fresh when you guys see it but, I will say that they were shooting by a senior citizens crossing sign and some old man and his dog (knowing that we were shooting) walked up right behind Chris and came right past him. I’m not sure if irony outweighs annoyance at this point but I do know that I can’t wait to be an old man. I pretty sure you can do hundreds of things like this and completely get away with it by saying you’re senile. 

10:15am – The rest of the outdoor shots with me, Joe, and Evan are filmed. Again details are spared but I will again make a point to say it was windy and that because of my fine Dutch heritage, I needed a little more make up due to what the well educated call “rosy cheeks”.

11am – The lighting guys arrive and we realize very quickly how hooked up we are. We chose the club because the stage is the perfect height and size, and the ceilings are about 16 feet, which is perfect for a jib (it’s just a long arm for the camera so you can put the camera high above the crowd). The lighting guys spend the next hour setting up the same lights you guys see at any of the arenas in the cities you live by. While the lighting guys are setting up, we also pull our equipment up and get the stage ready for the next 4 hours.

12pm – The fans start to arrive and line up in the back of the venue. The indoor performance shots are almost set to be filmed. All the lighting is set and getting tweaked, we’re set up and super stoked to finally be able to get our fans involved in the video. At this point the whole back half of the club is packed with people waiting to get on the floor in front of the stage. The shooting isn’t going to start for another 30 minutes so we all jump off the stage and come back to hang out with the amazing people who came and to also eat some subs that Casper brought over for us.

12:30pm – The first of the indoor shots are filmed. Half of the audience is filmed at this point and already the energy is ridiculous!

1pm – The full audience shots begin. We run two full takes of the song with the Camera on the jib and then the band takes a quick break to get some air.  Where there’s energy and lighting there will also be heat…a lot of it. So needless to say, this is the first time today that we can actually appreciate the temperature outside because it only takes us a minute outside to cool off and get back on stage.

1:30pm – Once we get back inside we run the song about 5 more times with different cameras at different locations throughout the club and stage. Every single take has the same face melting energy from the crowd and by the end of this series of takes, we’re both blown away by the crowd and also exhausted and in need of a quick break. While we’re getting air and water, Mary, Rachael, and Alexis clean us up for the last series of shots.

2-2:30pm – Our director Mike spends the next half hour taking the main camera off the jib so that he can set up the camera on a tripod in the back of the venue. For the band and the audience this next half hour becomes a jam session/sing along of everything from our songs to Jason Mraz to Michael Jackson. Surprisingly, as amazing as the video is to shoot, this next half hour is my favorite of the day. As a band, we love hanging out with you guys off stage, but this was different than any other way we’ve ever chilled with you guys before. So Good!!

2:45-3:30pm – The last series of shots begin. The first take is completely dedicated to capturing all the fans in the crowd. The last takes are basically dedicated (pun definitely not intended) shots of different band members for each take of the song. Once again the crowd is insane and not even showing any signs of fatigue from the heat and tightness in the room. Unreal! At around 3:25 the last take is shot and the shoot is over.

3:30-4:30 – Now that the shoot is over its finally time for everybody to spread out, cool off, and hang out. We just came out with new merch that we’re selling at the shoot (you can also find it online on our online store) and we sold a lot. We spend the next hour signing those new shirts, people’s arms, chucks, and surprisingly two people’s necks. Definitely an amazing way to end the shoot!                

4:40am - After we waded through a sea of Dunkin Donuts, dude makeup, hair wax, dead car batteries and foot long subs we took advantage of a few needed hours of rest, and then headed into the city around 10pm for the TRL Finale after party. That my friends you’ll hear about in the next blog. Thanks for stopping by/Stay Classy! -Gary