LOS ANGELES — Lord Danger (www.lorddanger.com) recently produced Doja Cat's new music video for Get Into It (Yuh). Directed by Mike Diva, the video is set in space, where Doja and the crew of her starship streak through the galaxy, looking for her missing cat, which has been abducted by group of aliens.
“For the Get Into It (Yuh) video, we really wanted to create an opportunity for Mike to play in a more practical space, as most of his work has been green screen, with environmental comps,” explains Josh Shadid, founder and executive producer at Lord Danger. “Often, that has been a result of necessity over preference - with some exceptions, of course. On this project we had the time for Mike to work with amazing production designer Matt Sokoler, and really bring these dream sets to reality. In the case of the performance saucer set up, that meant starting from scratch on design multiple times until they were able to create something truly unique that Mike felt hadn’t been seen previously. The results were a two day stage shoot with a fabulous team. Doja was fantastic and a real class act. She never complained, and was genuinely thankful towards the entire team.”
The production team used a Sony Venice camera with Apollo lenses for the shoot, with Anthony Kimata serving as DP. The gear was rented from Red Letter.
“It wouldn't be a Mike Diva project without a whole bunch of post too,” Shadid adds. “Fortunately, we have our partner studio Modern Logic to keep us on track. Modlo creative director James McCarthy worked side by side with Mike to ensure that the dozens of VFX shots were executed to his and Doja's liking. We used a combination of (Maxon) Cinema4D and (SideFX) Houdini to create the set extensions and FX elements used inside the spaceships production sets, as well as externally in the different space environments. (Adobe) After Effects and (Foundry) Nuke were used to animate UI and composite live action footage. (Autodesk) Flame was used for some touch up and clean up.”
Editorial for the project was a team effort. Editor John Paul Horstmann, who frequently collaborates with Billie Eilish, came on board to help.
“However, because this project was a dance/comedy mash-up, Mike ultimately grabbed the wheel and drove us home,” Shadid notes. “His style and timing are so specific it often doesn't feel like a ‘Mike Diva project’ until he's put his hands into Premiere.”