Those Dangerous Days…Making “Na Na Na”
Posted by Jonathan on Wednesday Sep 28, 2011 Under Art, UncategorizedIt’s been a year since we filmed videos for the My Chemical Romance album “Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys”, and I’m feeling a bit nostalgic. Let’s look back!
ART IS THE WEAPON: I was originally hired to help the band write a few short vignettes that would find the Killjoys in a series of adventures. Gerard and I came up with some cool ideas, but the realities of filming what were essentially half a dozen scripted short films forced us to consider another approach. So we decided to take all the best stuff from those vignettes, alongside some of Gerard’s original inspirational imagery, and make an extremely potent and fully-realized vision of this world.
Also, we REALLY wanted to see that Trans-Am tear ass through the desert.
After seeing the early footage from that day, it took about 5 seconds to make the decision that we should head back out to the desert to tell more of the story. So with more locations, car chases, explosions, and our fantastic crew we filmed the “Na Na Na” video.
Those few days we spent in the desert were some of the best of my life. I not only got to participate in the writing, but had the opportunity to help out the art department (headed by the wonderful Jason Fijal), and even got to contribute to some of the filming. The spirit of collaboration was alive and well on this project, I don’t think there was one person didn’t go above and beyond their “role”. If you ever have the chance to run around the desert with your friends, shooting laser guns, I suggest you take it.
Here are a few photos and notes from behind the scenes:
- Our day begins…
- The Diner sign from the opening.
- Graphitti Detail…Party Poison!
- “Drac Is Wack”
- Our wall, as seen in the video.
- The mailbox contained art and messages from MCR’s family and friends.
- My mailbox message was dedicated to my turtle, Kibbles. Who passed away shortly before the shoot.
- The mailbox, as seen in the video.
- The Boombox. Originally painted by Jason. Gerard asked me to add the “Boom” before shooting. I had no idea how visible this little radio would become!
- The Boombox, as seen in the video.
- Making the Power Glove prop, originally a backround element, this thing found it’s way into one our favorite scenes.
- All done!
- “I love the Power Glove…it’s so bad.”
- OH, SNAP!
- Claire Vogel and I shooting a thrilling scene of Dr. D eating beans. Unfortunately, it was too hot for tv.
- Yay, Power Pup!
- Ugh….Power Pup.
- I’m storyboarding an idea for a new shot, while Grace films.
- Art Students.
- Jason Fijal turned my terrible Blade Runner pun into a magnificent prop!
- Maw.
October 5th, 2011 at 10:51 pm
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October 7th, 2011 at 2:15 am
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November 4th, 2011 at 8:23 pm
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November 15th, 2011 at 12:42 am
Sounds like an amazing experience!