MAPLEWOOD— This summer, local Columbia High School (CHS) band Ouroboros participated in creating a music video on a downtown Maplewood rooftop. It teamed up with middle-school filmmakers at South Mountain Film Academy (SMFA) and SMFA founder/director Chris Cassidy. Drawing visual and thematic inspiration from The Beatles iconic 1969 London rooftop performance, the student crew directed, shot and edited the band performing their track, “The New Wave.”
Cassidy is an award-winning cinematographer with 25 years of documentary experience. He had a week-long music camp for the students to come together to make the video. He said he wanted to dive into the history of music videos.
“I was at the right age growing up. MTV had an impression on me,” Cassidy said.
He thought that recreating The Beatles rooftop scene would be “the coolest looking thing.” He said he couldn’t believe he got permission. “It all worked out smoothly,” he said. “The kids were so excited, knowing we had permission.”
Cassidy asked Ouroboros if they had an original song. “They play a lot of covers live,” he said. “I was always thinking the video should be for an original song. That worked out beautifully. They chose the song.”
Since the making of the video, the CHS students have graduated. “This was a cherry on top of their summer,” said Cassidy. “They were amazing to work with.”
Cassidy also used footage from those passing in the street who recorded scenes. “The street view is really important,” said Cassidy. “There were definitely different formulas and mediums.”
He also wanted to treat the project as if the students were a production company being hired to shoot a video for a band. He said, “Knowing everyone’s roles going in, by midweek, we knew we were going to have our big shoot day. I brought the pizzas afterward. They had a blast.”
Cassidy finished the editing at home, putting the final touches on the project. The students gave their input, having their final say.
“The spirit of it really shined,” said Cassidy. “It was a giant success. Next year, we’re going to figure out how to top that.”
The video can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zObCFT1rX9c.
Photos by Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta
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