CeCe is back and her 15 minutes are up...

This is my first BIG news of the summer kids.

And yet, I cant say anything about it... yet.

-P

Introducing St. Louis' newest country sensation: Ashley Lusk!

Back in January, I had the privilege of working on the set of the first music video for teenage country artist, Ashley Lusk for her debut single: "Crazy For You." Produced by Tony Esterly and Luke Arens at Shock City Studios in St. Louis, MO, the song is a country/pop hybrid in the vein of Taylor Swift that emotes the kind of puppy dog love you can only find in middle school.

And that's exactly where we shot the video! Working with the amazing crew at Lamplight Films, the video was filmed enitrely in one day at LaSalle Springs Middle School, outside of Eureka, MO (about 30 mins West of St. Louis). The man behind the camera, was also the one calling the shots... Cinematographer, Chris Benson served as director, while Esterly and Arens moved out of the recording studio to help keep things organized on set. 

Being both a Director and Editor, this was a unique experience for me. I knew in advance that I wuld be editing the final product, so to actually be on set while the video was filming was a rare occurance, that I usually only have when it is one of my own productions. The ability to see the storyline unfolding during production allowed me to piece shots together in advance, and when it came time to cut... the edit was that much easier because of it. I sat down a few weeks later to begin the first draft of the video, and after a marathon 48 hours, I was convinced that I had it in the bag.

Its is extremely rare that a first cut is the one that sticks, but in the case of "Crazy For You" it was damn near close. The first showing to the Director and Producers was extremely well received, with very few changes needing to be made. And after another day of editing, the video was finalized - one of the fastest edits/approvals that I have experienced thus far in my career. 

On Tuesday, May 28th, the video premiered with a Release Party held at Shock City Studios, where the original track was recorded. In attendance were Ashley's family and friends, as well as industry professionals and members of the film crew (myself included). It was a true pleasure to be a part of this production, and I hope we get another chance soon on Ashley's next big single!

Thanks for viewing!

-P

Kyle Jordan Mueller Returns from China... Alive and Rapping!

The rumour is, Kyle Jordan Mueller is dead.

At least that's what I heard on the internet... but I assure you, he is alive and well and is back with a brand new drum cover. This time though, he has switched it up by adding a little rap in the mix. Looking to expand on his musical abilities, Kyle has begun not only covering tracks on the drums, but also covering them vocally. The first of this new experiment comes in the form of 2000's "Forgot About Dre" by Dr. Dre and Eminem.

When I got the call from KJM that this was his next cover, I was a little taken aback, but I assured him that we could do it right and that shooting it in a studio setting would be best way for us to soften the blow to his hardcore audience. We split the shoot between two days and two different locations: AK Audio Media in South County, St. Louis and the Leather Trade Studios in Downtown St. Louis. It is possible that future video may be on location shoots, outside of studio spaces and could even swing the way of more rapping and less drumming, but until then, I thoroughly enjoy this new format!

This was by far the longest post production I have ever had on a KJM video, and it was mostly due to my indecisiveness on how much of each instrument we should show. Especially since we were trying to highlight Kyle's vocal abilities, his drum skills would unfortunately have to take a back seat.

Enjoy the track and leave you comments below!

-P

Lilly Steele offers fitness with a Big Top Twist!

Earlier this year, I had the privilege to shoot some B-roll at a travelling carnival in St. Peters, MO. The concept was to use the footage for a circus influenced aerial performance by local artist, Lilly Steele. 

Although I had captured some pretty good scenes that established the ambience of being at a circus, Lilly felt that she had not truly perfected her choreography for the death defying aerial performance. So, after about 6 months and plenty of live shows under her belt, Lilly and I met up once more at the Movement Arts Center in South County - St. Louis. Using minimal light (which I have just been obsessed with as of late), we were able to complete the look of her big top act with a few small spots pointed at two separate sections of her silk ribbon.

I chose to use a Canon 70-200mm L Telephoto lens, so that way I could zoom in and capture the intricacies of her movement while hanging 20 feet in the air. I compensated for the wide angles with just a standard zoom, in order to have the option of moving out, without revealing too much of the background. The biggest fail of the shoot though, was the on site breaking of one of my two fill lights, it was then that I realized that I hadn't ordered any replacement bulbs in over a year and was completely out of luck!

I had only seen aerial performances from afar, mostly on the internet and with nothing to protect her fall, I was terrified that if something were to happen, I would be the only one able to break the fall. At least if it did, the camera would still be rolling...

But without fail, Lilly Steele killed it and ran the same routine over and over for almost an hour, until I was able to capture the performance from all angles. The video is set to the moody and mystic sounds of Robert Plant and Allison Kraus, which I believe only amplifies the the creepy carnival vibe that we so desperately tried to accomplish.

Enjoy!

-P 

The X Factor Comes To An End For CeCe Frey

I'm a little late at getting to this (by a week), I was on a shoot all weekend working for Lamplight Films on the new music video for Country artist, Beckey Kelly. In the days before, CeCe was back at it battling for her life on the TV show "The X Factor."

Wednesday night saw a pair of performances from the contestants, one stripped down and acoustic, the other - a fan picked song that allowed them all to show off their stellar stage shows one final time. For CeCe, she came out the gate with a piano driven, cabaret version of Lady Gaga's "Edge of Glory."

She then followed that up with a arena sized rendition of Katy Perry's "Part of Me," which you may remember from her cover version earlier this year. The world had the choice between "Part of Me," Ke$ha's "Die Young" and one other one that I can't remember nor find on the internet right now haha. So what seemed like a shoo in for CeCe, turned out to be her final (and this time, I mean FINAL) battle cry against the judges.

While their opinions were mixed between the two performances, L.A. Reid admitted to feeling a bit wishy washy by having a love-hate relationship with CeCe's performances on stage. Simon Cowell unfortunately had the final word, claiming that CeCe was just not "worth a 5 million dollar contract."

Well really... who the hell is anymore?

Like I mentioned in my previous blog (BELOW), the competition was getting fierce, and the top 3 had been pretty much unchanged since the show started its live run back in late October. With the semi-finals looming and only the the top 4 contestants making it out of Thursday's show, it seemed inevitable that it would be CeCe's final night.

So with the lowest number of photos, CeCe was the victim of Thursday night's Sudden Death elimination. But what struck me as odd, was she did not receive the customary send off video and final thoughts from the judges. She was almost unceremoniously ejected from the competition with no explanation. I sent CeCe a personal message that night that stressed how proud I was of her and far she had come. It was truly an honor to work with someone as talented and driven as she is and I have always told her that when I turn that camera on, the magic just seems to happen when she's in front of it.

This week, she was back in L.A. for the "X Factor Pre Show" and rumour has it, she will be on the road with the contestants as a part of The X Factor Live Tour. Which is really exciting! and I guess means I will have to buy a tickets when the tour rolls through.

One Final word on CeCe's time on the X Factor... The Hollywood Reporter, published an online interview with Miss X to the O, where she talks about meeting Ke$ha immediately after her elimination and her thoughts on being pushed out the door by the producers

You can check that article out HERE: 
'X Factor's' CeCe Frey on Being Inspired by Adam Lambert, Getting Advice from Ke$ha: 'I'm Ready To Raise Hell' (Q&A)

Also, to all of her fans who have been tweeting and e-mailing me: As of now I have had no word from CeCe about the fate of her previous videos. Though I would absolutely LOVE for the world to see the art that we created together, I cannot released said footage without her permission and I will make sure to let you guys know as soon I do.

Have fun!

-P