02 Jun DASS: Pulse
This is an amazing collaborative video. We received grant money from the Ontario Arts Council to do 5 school projects within one year. We chose The Durham Alternative Secondary School because we have a great working relationship with the staff, we love the building, and we were able to fuse our grant project with a music project proposed by Jim Parker. Together, Empty Cup Media and Jim Parker helped the grade 12 students write song lyrics, storyboard a music video, and professionally record the song “Pulse”. The song includes spoken word components as well as a melodic chorus with a 4 piece band.
After 3 days of planning in the classroom with the staff and students, we had great blue prints for a music video that would be shot at Mary Street Public School in Oshawa and include a lot of their student body. It was a 2 day shoot with lots of production value. Garrett Metcalfe, the teacher at DASS, brought in his smoke machine and performance lights, Jim Parker brought all his audio recording equipment, and we brought our big guns like our jib arm, steadicam and studio lighting kit.
Our first day of filming focused on recording the students deliver the spoken word poem. The next shoot day we shot the b-roll, singer performances, and the visuals of the younger students from Mary Street PS. The set up and tear down was massive on both days. We love being involved with collaborative projects like this one. Working with artists and teachers with similar minds is a great space for creative development. Everyone learns from one another and we can all stand back together and admire the art piece we shaped.