Behind the Scenes of We Are William’s “Oceanic” Music Video
Take a look behind the scenes at the making of the award-winning music video “Oceanic” we shot for We Are William.
We Are William’s music video for “Oceanic” is one of our favorite projects we’ve worked on this year. Noble Bison’s owner/director, Jeff, is good friends with the band and was psyched when they asked us to produce it. (If you’re a fellow Denver metalhead, you may know both of their bands performed for the Death in My Metal, Not in My Streets event.)
Jeff and WAW’s lead singer Sebastian worked together to come up with the visuals and narrative meant to portray the different sides of addiction. From there, our team got to work to bring the vision to life. From the location and props to the technical elements that brought us the stunning final cut, we know couldn’t have made this music video without the professional crew and talent who worked on this project.
That’s why we thought it would be neat to highlight it all by taking a look behind the scenes of “Oceanic” to see how it all came together. Thanks again to everyone who had a hand in this project! Enjoy :)
The Band
The Location
Set, Props, & Costume Design
Camera & Film Gear
The Director
The Talent
The Production Crew
The Band
The members of We are William are amazing performers and brought such great energy on set that day (I totally binge-listened to “Oceanic” after this project). If you’re not familiar with them or their roots, see their band’s description below:
“Formed in 2017, We Are William is a progressive metal band out of Northern Colorado. Originally finding its foothold within death metal and thrash influences, the band has since adopted a more eclectic approach to songwriting. Their current influences range from meditative and progressive bands like The Contortionist, Leprous, and Tesseract, to more aggressive and manic acts such as The Faceless and System of a Down. The band’s current approach aims to combine these conflicting themes to form a fresh, cohesive, and innovative take on progressive metal.” -We Are William, SPOTIFY
Image: We Are William on set for “Oceanic”
The Location
Denver Rock Drill
The director had a couple of visions for the location of this music video, but after some consideration, it was determined that we’d shoot “Oceanic” in a warehouse space. Through our search, we came across Denver Rock Drill, and after walking through this massive old building, we decided it was the perfect location. It felt grimy, dark, and mysterious — in the best way possible.
Set, Props, & Costume Design
Quinn, our amazing Production Designer for this shoot, took the lead in set design, costume, make-up, and she was the mad scientist who formulated that creepy black goo that’s flowing from everyone’s mouths. (You’ll have to ask her for the recipe, but I will say it was very sweet.) In the photos below, you can see her ensuring the details of every scene were just right.
The smoking box light prop that you see the talent holding was specially made for this video by a friend of Jeff’s. It was honestly a genius prop that added movement and dimension to certain scenes while also guiding the narrative of the video.
Video: Noble Bison Productions crew setting up the backdrop
Camera & Film Gear
For this shoot, we used the Red Dragon with Alas Orion Silvers. The crew built a circular track for the dolly to create the spinning motion seen in the music video. Overhead was a massive softbox that lit the project. You can see some of the other lighting techniques that were involved in the images below, like filters, lights shining in from adjacent rooms, and more. We also had the added bonus of light filtering in through the warehouse windows and boards.
The Director
Jeffrey Riley
When Jeff is the director on set, you can be sure the day will be upbeat, organized, and professional. But especially since the details were specifically brainstormed between him and Sebastian, he knew exactly what he wanted in each scene, and everything went off without a hitch.
Jeff is the type of director who is interactive with the talent and crew. He is always open to input and ideas from his team. “Oceanic” was more of a creative project, so there was room for a bit of improvisation. And throughout the day, he and the crew worked with various props and scenes with a sense of spontaneity that was really fascinating to watch. See him in action below:
Video: Jeff directing victoria
Video: Jeff directing the finger gun action that made it into the final cut
The Talent
This was the first time Noble Bison worked with Victoria, Sean, and Alice. They totally rocked it and gave us a range of emotion and action that we needed to build the music video’s narrative.
Victoria Hatch
Sean Ragan
Alice Costa
Video: Sean getting creepy for the camera
The Production Crew
Producer: Tim Hull
DP: Troy Ten Eyck
Gaffer: Fredo Jones
Dolly Grip: Paulie Meehan / Aiden Meehan
Key Grip: Eric Fulcher
1st AC: Andrew Yang
Prod. Designer: Quinn Yawger
This production was in the hands of some of the greatest production professionals working in the Denver region. It was without a doubt their expertise, hard work, and creativity that helped make this project so outstanding.
Thanks, guys!
To close,
We were so stoked with the final cut that we submitted it to various film contests. So far, the music video has been chosen as a finalist for APEX film awards and Winner at the Paris Play Festival! The Europe Independent Movie Festival also selected “Oceanic” to be shown at the festival. We are currently awaiting more results — *fingers crossed*
A great big thanks again to We Are William for letting us work with you on this!
Denver has so many dedicated artists and musicians! Give us a shout if you or your band would like to work with us!
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7 OF OUR DENVER MUSIC VIDEO PRODUCTION PROJECTs