Synopsis
A dark music video for J.R. Richards’ song ‘Precious Stone’ that featured on ‘Criminal Minds’.
Director’s Statement
PRECIOUS STONE is a music video that was shot on a very cool location; that being the morgue from an infamous TV series. The song was written for a ‘Criminal Minds’ episode, so in keeping with the shows ‘dark’ side, I felt that the shoot had to be equally fitting.
I wanted to create an unusual beginning, book marked with the ending. So I thought an angle that I have never seen before (thankfully!) is from inside a morgue fridge. Our actress, dancer, real trooper (!), Kate Kadow, was more than happy to be wheeled in and out of the fridge with the camera balanced on her stomach. I just LOVE that shot, and also the end shot with our actor and Executive Producer, Jason Koiter being pushed into the fridge. Brilliant! I was extremely happy with how that turned out.
I also felt it was important to create a ‘dark’ feeling that wasn’t the usual predictable FBI story, so we brought in the ‘Sirens’ Greek Mythology incorporating subtle aspects of the mythology from the time of dance (noon) which always ends in death, to the doctors name, along with the Siren’s name on the FBI documents… and more.
As a music video is relatively short, I wanted to have a short intro to bring some of the story upfront, so little had to be explained during the short film. JR Richards, the singer / songwriter has an uncanny resemblance to one of the key actors in ‘Criminal Minds’, so it was too tempting to get him kitted up as a Special FBI Agent 🙂
I work with the awesome DP duo, John Stephens and Ryan Southwell. We work well together, as I am really particular about the beauty of each shot / angle, wanting it to be cinematically stunning and be able to stand alone as an epic photo. They’re the most brilliant team, that always go the extra mile to get the right shot.
MIN REID
