We're ticking off the days until the MMVAs by profiling 2010's Video of the Year nominees.
The Video: "Summer Girl," Stereos
The boys of Stereos pack their instruments and Auto-Tune into their ’69 Chevy and set out on the ideal Labour Day weekend. On their itinerary: a bonfire party with pals, some rock ‘n’ roll and an afternoon of girl-watching…at the Scarborough Bluffs?
Director: Aaron A.
Notable Credits:
"Do It," Nelly Furtado
"Your Man," Down With Webster (Also up for a 2010 MMVA.)
"Lady Killer," Kreesha Turner
The Video He Wishes He Directed: “Find Your Love,” Drake (dir. Anthony Mandler)
Full disclosure: Director Aaron A. admits he’s biased. “Drake, his whole camp, I’m good friends with them and I went to high school with a bunch of them,” he says, though that doesn’t affect the fact he finds the recently released video inspiring. “It’s kind of gritty and it’s more like a little short film. And that definitely inspires me because a lot of videos are so safe because the label and manager just want to see that their artist looks good, and it’s not necessarily about the art-form of videos.”
Where the Concept Came From:
It’s a song called “Summer Girl,” people. Why get experimental when the song already comes with a built-in boy-meets-girl concept? According to director Aaron A. his objectives going into the shoot were simple: make it summery, add a little “stylized hip-hop flavour” (which fits with the young band’s hybrid sound) and set it all on that most summery of locations, the beach.
“We were originally going to go down to the Caribbean,” he says – but those aren’t the aquamarine waters of some island shore you’re seeing in the video’s opening scenes. “It had to change to shooting in Toronto, “A. says, chuckling. “It was quite interesting to find a beach that looked summer-ish at four degrees.”
Toronto’s Scarborough Bluffs in early spring doubled for a summer resort in the clip – though the overcast skies, bare trees and brown water of Toronto in April meant that A. had to downplay the beaches and bikinis aspect of the video. To make up for it, he turned up the focus on the party. And you can’t have a party without music.
The director wanted to be sure to really showcase Stereos in the video. “It’s their first video, so you really want to get their image out there” – a point on which “Summer Girl” delivered. The video debuted on MuchMusic in heavy rotation. But the clip wasn’t just the Much audience’s first exposure to a Stereos video; “Summer Girl” was also the band’s first experience with a Stereos video.
“They’re great guys. It was their first video so they were excited, and they were really nervous,” A. says. “They didn’t know how they’d look on camera yet, so it was kind of like going back and forth and showing them.
“Just having them perform and have them do what they naturally know how to do is always the best thing, I feel, on a first video because it puts you in a comfort zone, and then you’re not trying to be something that you’re not.”
Biggest Challenge:
“I think the biggest challenge on the video was just keeping everyone energized, and you know, feeling comfortable with each other when it was such a cold day,” says A., who figures the shoot lasted between 16 and 17 hours. “Being outside in a t-shirt all day long is quite draining. So trying to keep the energy up for the main performers and into the night, that was probably the most difficult part.”
Especially when – wardrobe-wise – the difference between cast and crew was “night and day.”
“I was wearing a big parka,” A. laughs, “and I’m sitting there trying to tell girls in bathing suits, ‘OK, it’s really warm out, it’s summer time.’”
The Moment to Watch For:
“Summer Girl” goes out the way any great long weekend does: with fireworks. But the cascading pyro that lights up the band on the final chorus took some “movie magic” on A.’s part due to some very un-summery weather. “The wind picked up so much that night that it was just gusting. It was pouring rain, so the minute the sparks went off, they started blowing away instead of falling down,” he says. The shots were tweaked in post-production, he says, and the director says he’s proudest of those shots. “The best part of the video for me was making the spark wall,” he says. “With those you have a limited amount of takes. So it’s where the pressure’s really on.”
Biggest Splurge:
The band’s ’69 lowrider. That fire-apple red boat of a car was necessary for clinching a bit of “Summer Girl’s” sunshiny vibe. “You see that [lowrider], you think right away of Southern Cali,” says A.
The 2010 MMVAs are broadcast Sunday, June 20 on MuchMusic. Get more coverage at dose.ca/mmva
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