Silent Mode - Yaz León

Director’s Note

I met @yazleonn in person (and watched her show!) when I went to London in June. At that point, she had been working on another iteration of the Silent Mode MV, and I told her to keep me in the loop and see if I could help out at any point.

Turns out “any point” was a week after I left, when she told me that she was now planning on a concept involving running away from a party, and was going to film it herself with her friends using shitty cameras and a 360 as well.

The very first concept had involved a granny to signify Yaz’s diminishing social battery, but hiring a grandmother willing to chase a bunch of kids proved harder than expected. The vision was for the MV to have a playful and fast-paced mood, without leaning into slapstick or forced humour. so I suggested that Yaz wear a wig and a dress and chase her friends around to heighten its absurdity. As the storyboard grew in ambition, I also brought in our DP @ronanoloughlinwhom I met through @oddgoats. He brought with him my least favourite camera, but may have singlehandedly changed my opinion about it after our shoot.

This was the first time I had directed remotely, but the shoot went buttery smooth all thanks to the relentless enthusiasm and grit of the crew and cast, especially our AD @the_colourblind_artist. Also a huge thank you to @sinadolati_ and @binrashed.pro who gave a lot of advice on how best to film 360. In other news I’m dizzy from editing all the 360.