“This was only the second or third project we did after graduating and wanted to focus on shooting in a lot of natural environments, utilizing natural light as much as possible. I think there are only 12-15 shots in the entire video.
It’s very slow, so we wanted to make sure that each frame was as useful and captivating as possible. Malcolm and I looked at dozens of locations at sunrise and sunset leading up to the shoot, probably clocking in hundreds of location scouting hours. It was the middle of summer, so we’d pick a spot to grab some test shots at 4AM while the sun rose, then drive around until 7PM when the sun set looking for other potential locations and talking through the shotlist. We’d take shots every 10 minutes or so within an hour window of sunset/sunrise so we could dial in how harsh we wanted the light playing for particular beats. I think we put more time into pre-production on Save Me than most videos, and I’d like to think it shows.
When we showed up to actually shoot, it allowed us to setup and direct very confidently because we were intimately familiar with what the frame would look like. Minus the 1950’s picture truck exploding halfway through production, this was one of the smoothest productions we’ve ever done. That’s really all I have to say about that.”
-Symeon Platts, Director of Photography