Every project is a challenge b/c and an opportunity, so when we needed to put together a music video for Mike Singer, one of the top artists from Germany, it was all hands on deck.
Having less than 24 hours, we needed to come up with a few filming locations:
Desert location where we could shoot a few car action sequences as well as fly the drone.
Hotel suit large enough to host a filming crew, actors and extras
Find props - needed a real casino POKER Table
Find a picture car
Find scene actors and extras
Find a cool reptile or animal for the video
This was a tall order and I basically told the production - SMACKTALK - from Germany that if we were unable to deliver, then we would not collect the payment.
Keep in mind, had to do all that in less than 24 hours, since they were flying back to Germany in 2 days and this was really a last second call.
Cool. Ok first of all needed to find a picture car. Since dune buggy was out out of the question b/c its a liability thing and noone will rent it out, proposed a Slingshot which was affordable and cool. Guys loved it. Alright moving on.
Had a few desert locations where we previously filmed a few music videos so that was pretty easy, however finding a room large enough, on a short notice, under budget and cool enough for a music video was very tough.
For some reason at that time, all the Large Hotel Suites in Las Vegas, where we filming, were booked or just way too expensive so we proposed an alternative.
If you get creative, you can go onto AirBNB and find all kinds of cool alternatives. Case and point Palms Place Suites, a residential high rise off the Las Vegas Strip with a panoramic view of the strip. Large, cool looking and affordable. So I made a few phonecalls and we booked it on the spot. Not only that but we were able to fly a drone and get some awesome opening shots for the music video.
Next came the props, namely the poker table. Some quick internet research pointed out that it was actually cheaper to buy a real Caesar Palace poker table than to rent one, and as luck would have it there was a guy willing to sell one for about $400 bucks. Time was of the essence so it took about 10 phone calls and texts to get that done.
Meanwhile spending a few hours on the internet, and hitting up the right people and utilizing the connections we were able to secure about 8 actors/extras , negotiate the payment and lock everyone in.
There was even $$$ left in the budget and I found an animal wrangler. Since getting a python was a bit too expensive, decided to go w/ a Cool Chameleon. And keep in mind all that done in less than 24 hours.
And here is the final music video. Drop us a line and let us know your thoughts.