Crafted in the Bay Of Plenty

Esraa Muse’s latest single “Angels in Disguise Demons on Display” & music video was created in the Bay Of Plenty, below is summary and process of the creation of the video.

Esraa Muse wrote, produced, recorded and mixed the song at No 1 Studio in Te Puke. Extra production was done by Wraith (Juan Fleischer) in LA, Mastering and extra mix tweaks were done by Greg Abate from Neon Audio (currently based out in Papamoa).

For the music video Esraa Muse wanted to only limit her self to engage in talent based around the Bay Of Plenty. Her recent feature film work that had some scenes shot in the Bay gave her the insight into what the local community could offer.

Planning

Esraa Muse came up with the idea for the video to awkwardly show the struggle a new artist goes through when “they first start out”. She wanted the video to show a disinterested audience, an imaginary struggle and an eventual resolve. Working with the director (Josiah Clumont), they worked on a rough storyboard walking through the scenes and indicating the types of shots they would like to get, after this they turned their attention to making the video a reality. A filming location needed to be found.

Theatre Location

16th Ave Theatre was selected due to it’s proximity, size and facilities. The core group of contacts at the theatre, Heather, Linda and Jack were easy to deal with and excited to facilitate our ideas and provide the backdrop for the video.

The theatre is the longest running theatre of it’s kind in New Zealand, it was great to be in a place with so much history, walking through the halls and looking at the old photographs of past productions was inspiring. There’s always a great feeling about theatre’s, it’s the magic of the arts that gives me goosebumps walking into these buildings. The space was perfect to work with, there was pre-existing rigging for theatre lights, a sound / lighting box to mount the spotlight. It was pitch black during the day which was perfect to compress down the shooting times.

Josiah Clumont (Director)

16th Ave Theatre Tauranga (16avetheatre.co.nz)

How do we film this?

Was a question that was on the directors mind, we wanted to step up technically from the previous video clip Blades, and needed to partner with someone who had more experience. The director reached out to Andy Taylor, a local DP / camera man / video specialist and shared the vision & storyboards. He was selected due to his familiarity with Sony camera’s and the directors desire to use the Sony FX6 due to it’s full frame & low light capabilities. Andy and the director scouted out the theater together working through camera angles, and lighting requirements. Andy ended up shooting majority of the theatre scenes, and his experience helped to laydown a solid technical foundation for the rest of the team to be creative.

The talent

Esraa Muse did not want to call the other talent “extras”, but actors. As she wanted to respect their contributions and also raise the expectation of their involvement. Esraa Muse wrote down and acted out a few parts for the actors to play. The director reached out to local acting groups on Facebook as well as Film BOP’s Facebook group to get a number of candidates with a small brief. To our surprise we received a large number of high quality applicants. Once the director worked through the applicant list he wrote backstories for each of the actors and gave them an indication on the wardrobe required. They turned up in theme and in character!

Thank you to our actors:

Gloria Barugel
Luka Tomic
Aren Strauss
Maree Bieleski-Cook
Jonty Climo
Calleigh Winiata
Sinead White
Aaron Torkil

Antagonist

Harry Oram brought a wealth of experience to the video clip. After acting in the UK, US and Hong Kong, Harry has based him self back in the Bay and leading Apex Academy. He’s the antagonist in the film and was highly accommodating as Esraa Muse & the director needed to add new scenes into the film to grow the story further.

It’s a wrap

The film was finished at No 1 Studios, editing was carried out by the director and Esraa Muse.

We would like to thank everyone involved in the creation of Esraa’s latest track “Angels in disguise demons on display”. The wealth of talent available in the Bay Of Plenty is encouraging and looking forward to the continued grow & support creative endeavors coming out of this beautiful part of the world.

“Angels in Disguise Demons on Display” will be available on all streaming platforms and Youtube on the 17th of September 2021. A preview can be viewed below.

Esraa Muse can be followed on Instagram, Facebook and Spotify.

INTRODUCING ESRAA MUSE

Esraa Muse is a one-of-a-kind music artist, hailing from New Zealand. Her mysterious, deep and inquisitive streak, shine through her and the sounds she creates.

Her music is described as an eclectic mix of emo, rock, cinematic, heartfelt, edgy, with even a touch of anime. Each of her songs are a pursuit of her vision. Humbly self-produced from concept to centre stage – from recording, production, mixing, mastering, through to music release and gig planning.

Esraa is truly rocking her own lane and some have described her music as:

“That one heavy band who sometimes puts out a softer album”

&

“A pretty rockstar that belongs in an elvish garden”

Latest music tracks:

“Angel in Disguise, Demon on Display”

&

“Circus Queen”

(For which a 6 second video of the songs middle eight amassed over a million views in a day)

“I don’t want to be put in a box. I’m a chameleon and a morphing soul who wants to explore, lift others souls up, and change the world around me”

– Esraa Muse.