IMAGINE THE MUSIC VIDEO, OR EVEN BETTER…MAKE IT!
My commute to work is about 30 minutes. During that time, I do various things, depending on my mood. If I’m feeling productive, I may listen to podcasts or audiobooks. Other times, I listen to music and get my groove on, much to the entertainment of people commuting alongside me. Occasionally, if a song is really hitting the spot, my mind wanders to one of two places. I either start choreographing a dance to the song in my head like I’m Mia Michaels or Debbie Allen, or I envision the music video I would make if I were… a music video producer person.
The land of imagination is playful on its own. So, the Playfull Humans lite challenge in this post is to pick a song and let your mind wander. Imagine yourself singing the song at a concert at Madison Square Garden or being the drummer in the band playing at the Hollywood Bowl. Live the fantasy. Sing into the hairbrush. Drum on the desk. Or…imagine the video you would create for the song. But, if you want the win, don’t just imagine your music video. Make it.
While trolling Spotify to find some good songs for the gym (Why is it so hard to find good workout songs?), I came across Peanut Butter Jelly by Galantis in a workout playlist. Say huh? Never heard of the band, but intriguing song name. So, I played it, and could not get it out of my head. I listened again on my way to work. Then I started choreographing the dance. Then I started imagining the video. The next morning I played it again and the video starting becoming clearer. Then I started unintentionally scouting out locations to shoot the video on my mornings to work. (That beautiful graffiti mural in Echo Park…our neighborhood…)
One night, my TV writer neighbor, Rishika, and her kids were over, and my kids started playing “Peanut Butter Jelly” because now they were addicted to the song too. I told her about my music video idea, which, in summary, was about two moms getting their kids off to school and then playing around town in various vignettes before the kids get home. (Are you seeing a theme in my life yet?) She said, you should make it! So, I thought, yeah, why shouldn’t I make it?
Actually, I could think of many reasons…lack of time and the learning curve of iMovie or Final Cut editing software being paramount. But, screw it, that’s not the spirit of a Playfull Human! Ok then, I said, you make TV shows, tell me, what do I do next? She said, storyboard it, and later sent me a template she found on the internet. (Google “storyboard template”, you’ll find a ton.) So we’re clear that I am not setting the bar very high for you, my friends, this is part of my “Peanut Butter Jelly” storyboard. Hey, it gets the job done.
Music video storyboard
Time to pitch the idea. As a testament to my awesome village, my friend Julie immediately said, I’m in! She even had a friend from college who was a videographer and agreed to shoot the video for us. What?! Amazing. But…unfortunately, we had to part ways for irreconcilable differences. To his credit he wanted to participate creatively as well; but I had a vision. I just needed someone to hold the camera.
No matter…with the power of iPhones on our side, we were off to the video races. Julie’s husband, Jordan, shot video of Julie and their kids per my direction. Nice. My husband, Sean, took video of me and my kids at our house. One night, Julie and I coordinated basic costumes for the vignettes. We shot a few scenes in our front yards. Then, one weekend morning, Sean, Julie and I packed up our costumes and my kids, and we hit the LA locations I scouted: my favorite Echo Park graffiti mural and the Echo Park lake. My kids sat in beach chairs playing on iPads while Sean shot video of Julie and I cavorting around town. I’m sure we looked hilarious; but then again, we are in LA. So maybe not.
For the final video footage, one night, Julie and I donned matching wigs, shirts and sunglasses in front of some green fabric (our make-shift green screen) while my husband shot scenes for the other-worldly, dance-techno part of the video. The plan was to replace the green with some outer space or futuristic background I could dig up on the internet. Ok! Raw material complete.
After a few tutorials were in the bag, I started cutting footage and piecing together my video in iMovie on our Apple desktop; but I ran into problems about 1/4 of the way in. Although iMovie is great and easy to use, I was pushing it to its limit with my video, according to my hubby. Too many cuts. He said…you’re going to have to use Final Cut. (Dum. Dum. Dum.). Then I stalled. For months. What a setback. How could I learn a new program and start all over on the video? Long story short, my husband helped me import the footage, gave me some tips, and I was off and running again. Nearly a year after the idea, the video was complete! So, without further ado, I present my version of “Peanut Butter Jelly”:
Side note: After hearing the song initially, it never even dawned on me to look for the song’s official video on You Tube. (Julie’s friend actually found it.) I conceived of and storyboarded my video assuming, for some odd reason, that I was creating the one and only video for this magical song. I’m glad I didn’t see the official video until after my idea was already baked because…my goodness…it is life-affirmingly fabulous. But, clearly Galantis has conveyed a message through this song because both of our videos scream the same theme. Break out of your daily persona for a moment and play!
On that note, if this post does not inspire you to create a video or otherwise flex your musical your imagination, do me one favor. Watch the real “Peanut Butter Jelly” video from Galantis (below). If it does not make you smile, you are not human.
Now, go forth and spread some Peanut Butter Jelly, kids. Do it like you owe me some money.