My Friend The Devil

"My Friend The Devil" was a 2016 My Rode Reel music video entry collaboration between Director Craig Bass and musical talent Chris Bongat of Sleeping With Spiders. The contest stipulated that the company's products must be used in the creation of the entry, so Craig and Chris hit upon the idea of taking one of Chris' existing songs and rerecording it live with one of Rode's microphones: the catch was that Chris would need to re-envision the song via homemade musical instruments. For a bit of added flair, Chris was tasked with playing a vampire who obtained the materials for his makeshift instruments from various victims that he seduced. I was brought in the design a handful of elements that would assist with creating the atmosphere of vampire Chris' world: calligraphy of his victim's names on jars containing their blood (morbid!), handwriting on an envelop that he was sending to his immortal beloved, and as well as a portrait of said beloved. Filming took place during one long, hot night in a derelict building; but with creative energy of the team--and a few buckets of sweat later--we were left with a final product that was selected as one of the runners-up for the competition's newly inaugurated music video category.