When searching for a music video director, most people wouldnt think that LinkedIn is the best place to look. However, some really great music video directors, like Leah McKissock for example, apparently have LinkedIn accounts. We know this because that is how she was contacted to direct Belong To You, the breakout music video for singer/songwriter Lena Fayre. We talked to Leah about directing the video, collaborating with her producer Adam Blake Carver, and finding ways to deepen the meaning of the song through the video.
Doug: How did you get involved with this project?
Leah: I got a message on LinkedIn one day from Lena's dad that said, "Can you make a video for my 16-year-old daughter?" Right around that same time, several other pop artists were contacting me. I tend to be pretty picky about which ones I take on, but once my producer Adam and I listened to Lenas songs, we realized that shes not a typical pop artist - she actually has a very sophisticated sound and we think each of her songs sound like a hit. After that, we had a meeting with Lena and we all agreed that Belong To You was the best song for her debut video.
Doug: I'm pretty sure that's the first LinkedIn story that we've ever gotten here on this site. Did they reach out to you based on your previous work?
Leah: We still arent sure how they found me, but its the first good thing to ever come out of my LinkedIn page. Im glad that having that thing has finally paid off!
Doug: What was it like writing the treatment for this? Did you collaborate with your producer Adam on the ideas and write it together?
Leah: At that first meeting, I came without any concepts. I wanted to get to know Lena first and then customize the video to her personality. Ive been lucky to be able to take this approach with a lot of my videos so far- if I didnt get to, it would be like a shot in the dark to make a video that truly represents the artist. We found in the meeting that Lena is more of a calm and reserved person, so I felt that having the dramatic story of the car accident combined with the surreal effects would work well to compliment her performance. I also asked her how she felt about black and white and slow motion (showing her a couple Yoanne Lemoine videos as examples). She said she loved both, so this also helped me get a sense of where I could go creatively while simultaneously making Lena happy.
After that, Adam and I did collaborate a lot. We spent a couple weeks fleshing out the concepts and treatment together. I love having Adam as a producer because he takes a creative approach and hes always on my side. Hes able to help me get the best out of myself while also doing everything he can to make the project work within our budget.
Doug: Your last video for Mika Ben-Yamis Nothing is Wrong had a few production issues, as well as some creative disagreements with the artist. How did this video compare in that department?
Leah: Lena Fayre is the best artist Ive worked with. Her and her father showed us they respected us and trusted us very early on. They let us follow through with our own creative vision because they were happy with the treatment from the start. We feel very lucky to have gotten to work with such wonderful clients!
The production issues we did have were with certain crewmembers and departments at times. These issues are inevitable when youre making a film, especially when youre pushing your budget to an extreme and you care so enormously about what youre making.
Doug: This video is a lot more narrative than your previous work, and I know youre also finishing a short film. Are you now shifting your music videos to a more narrative direction or did you feel this worked well for this particular project?
Leah: The song Belong To You definitely made me want to explore a narrative. With a song that powerful it would be a waste not to bring it to life with a story. I think Ive now begun to reach a new point in my maturity and interests as a filmmaker because of my experience writing and directing a short. Making a short film challenged me in a lot of new ways. I now feel bored of visuals for the sake of spectacle alone. Im more interested in finding reasons for things. All my favorite music video directors find ways to deepen the meaning of the song and I admire that approach when it seems right for the music.
Doug: Were you dealing mainly with her dad thought the process?
Leah: Yeah, we would never really meet with her without her dad there. She's very young, she's only 16, so we were a little worried that he would be really protective and not want her to do anything too crazy. We tried to find a good balance where it was something different and gave her an edge that matched the song, while still letting her be the really amazing pop artist that she is.
Doug: As far as the effects in the video, were most of them computer generated or done in-camera with practical effects?
Leah: We tried to do whatever we could in-camera but some things were impossible either for safety reasons or within our budget, so we had to resort to visual effects for certain things. I think I am most proud of the melting parking meters effect. Our art department worked very hard on this section- pulling it off with a very clever puppeteering approach. Seeing that effect work out so well made me really proud of our team and what we accomplished.
