Branches

Singer-songwriter Shelby Benjamin (Shel Bee) came to us with the song Branches and a desire to make a music video that lived up to it on a tight, transparent budget.

A music video for Branches that could carry the song's contemplative tone — produced on an honest production budget and with the kind of accountability you'd want when a family member is financing the work.

After extensive location scouting, I shot on outdoor locations across two days, finding a Hollow Tree, with production design creating an outdoor Dining Room tableau. We even found a broken piano on Craigslist, which was a beast to move into the forest. We were film-permitted under the Angeles National Forest framework, with a fire supervisor for pyrotechnics. We ran the budget without a contingency line item to keep total cost transparent and tight, color-corrected and uploaded for the client's approval at the project's close. The final cut went live on Vimeo for the client's private review before public release.