Months ago, a friend and coworker of mine mentioned he was going to be directing a music video. He'd seen Gus and Patrick hamming it up here on the blog and asked if they might want to take part.
Might?
Yeah, I think they *might*.
Gus, who was given the lead role, has been telling people about his upcoming "video shoot" for weeks, and yesterday was the big day. I managed to round up a bunch of neighborhood kids (many of them Theater Bug alumni) to be in the video too, which gave the day a totally magical, charmed quality I will never forget.
The kids were amazing. All of them. So attentive and engaged. I had no idea what to expect going into it, and they blew me away.
The first shot, in the classroom.
The next few photos are courtesy of my friend Tim Clo, whose daughters (one is pictured on the right) were both in the video.
Here's Patrick and his buddy Sully (it ended up being a multi-age classroom, though I don't think it's that obvious in the shots).
And Gus, aka "rocket boy".
The video storyline is about a little boy who's building a jetpack. His friends think he's crazy, but in the end he proves them wrong and takes to the sky.
The cameraman was awesome. So great with the kids. And with the camera. Which cost more than the last three cars I've owned combined. (I was like, "How are you not smacking their little hands away from that thing and shrieking, DON'T TOUCH!!!")
This is the lead singer, Greg, who was as kind as he could be. Just like every single other person involved in the shoot that day. Seriously. Instead of "Loathing", the video should be called "Daytrip to Awesometown." (Just a friendly suggestion.)
Location two was the fabulous Hawes house, where the owner is (in real life) building an airplane in his garage. So yeah. Some serious synergystic mojo happening there.
Here's the scene where Gus is building the jetpack ...
This was taken late in the afternoon, about eight hours in, and he was still totally in character.
(Actually right here, he's just being Gus.)
Here's Gus with Hunter the director and Laura the stylist, (who Gus refered to all day as "my designer"). These two built the jetpack (which the boys got to keep, along with a bunch of extra jetpack parts, as mementos).
When we were driving home last night, Gus sighed and said, "I hope I get to work with Hunter again some day." It was like watching an E! special in my rearview mirror.
Getting all strapped in ...
The big reveal.
And (about 10 hours in) a big yawn ...
Aaaaaaand liftoff.
I can't wait to see the finished product.
Honestly, I knew this would be a fun experience for the kids. What surprised me (I'm not sure why) was how calm and focused Gus was the whole time. Like he knew exactly what he was doing and had just been waiting for an opportunity to--take off.
*Photo courtesy of Susan Hawes. A thousand grateful kisses to you.
