Bleed The Dream

David Brodsky recalls that much of the original shoot took place on Staten Island, but the production did not get everything it needed there. Brodsky and Allison Woest then flew to the band's native Los Angeles and reshot most of the video. In the finished cut, the final scene is the principal surviving Staten Island material.

The Los Angeles performance was filmed in the band's cramped rehearsal room, which forced extremely tight framing. The limitation ended up fitting the song title and visual language of 'Closer' unusually well. The remaining narrative material was shot guerrilla-style around locations the band knew, with no permits, essentially no crew and minimal gear. Brodsky and Woest stayed on a couch for several nights during the trip.

Brodsky remembers the Los Angeles reshoot as part of the early period when he was transitioning into photographing his own directing work with the Panasonic HVX200. Reah Valente’s “Beautiful Disaster” came slightly earlier as his first entirely self-shot HVX200 video, with Kylesa’s “Hollow Severer” following as another early full self-DP band shoot. The surviving Staten Island material in “Closer” was the exception.

“We initially shot a lot of 'Closer' on Staten Island, but we didn't come away with everything we needed. Allie and I ended up flying to Los Angeles and reshooting most of the video ourselves. The last scene is basically what remains from Staten Island. The band's rehearsal room was incredibly cramped, so the performance coverage became all tight shots, which accidentally worked perfectly for a song called 'Closer.' The rest of the narrative was pure guerrilla filmmaking at places the band knew: no permits, almost no crew, almost no gear. We crashed on someone's couch for a few nights and had a great time. It was also part of that early stretch where I was taking over the cinematography myself with the HVX200. Reah’s 'Beautiful Disaster' technically came first, and Kylesa’s 'Hollow Severer' was another early full self-DP band shoot. The Staten Island material here was the exception.”

“Good times. I like the video, and the song.”