Independent recording artist Chloe Wedge teamed up with filmmaker Faith Granger to create her latest music video, Fallin. The pair have collaborated in the past on Wedge’s
Throw Away the Key video, which required numerous visual effects. The Fallin video takes an entirely different approach, but like Throw Away The Key, was written and directed by Granger, who takes pride in being resourceful in putting the best imagery on-screen, despite any budget constraints.
Fallin is presented almost entirely in black & white. The narrative video show a young boy, who grew up playing a clown in a carnival, along with a young girl, who is aspiring to be a champion figure skater. In both cases, they have suffered physical and emotional abuse at the hands of their parents, who feel they aren’t living up to their expectations. Separately, the boy and girl contemplate suicide, but serendipity brings them together in a sign of hope.
The video runs 5:30 in length and is intercut with footage of Chloe Wedge singing the emotional track. According to Granger, when taking on a music video project, she will listen to the track a number of times, allowing its message to inspire her visual direction.
“I like to be given my space,” says Granger (pictured, below) of the script, production and post production process. “The artist writes the song and expresses themself through song. It’s her creation…My space is to fulfill the artistic vision.”
Fallin was shot over the course of 12 days throughout the summer and winter of 2023 for a budget of approximately $5,000.
“I work in an organic way and do everything myself,” Granger explains. “I did need help for the underwater shoot - directing actors and making sure they are safe while (on the surface) coordinating everything.”
Granger spent time scouting locations to create the circus atmosphere, taking bits and pieces from different shoots to create the environment. Finding the right bridge location was also a challenge, as it needed to be free from traffic when they were shooting in the early morning. Tests for the river’s underwater scenes were conducted in a small pool before the ultimate shoot in a larger pool was scheduled.
The video was shot using a Sony a7 III and edited by Granger in Vegas Pro running on a Dell laptop.
“I’ve been using it since very the beginning of my filmmaking journey,” says Granger of Vegas, pointing to the self-produced feature she created titled Deuce of Spades. “It’s a long song, and I added extra at beginning and end,” she says of Fallin. “There’s an intricacy of weaving together shots and quick edits. I had a whole lot of footage, including 32 track of Chloe singing. I stacked everything onto timeline and watched it, and kept the very best few seconds. Vegas is very easy to use and that’s what I love about it.”
Granger edited Fallin over the course of several weeks, preparing it for its summer release date. Follow Chloe Wedge on Instagram (@chloewedgemusic).