Poolside glitter punk band Hayley and the Crushers recently released their new
Cringeworthy
video, which serves as both a therapy breakthrough and middle finger to curated coolness. The track inspires listeners to live boldly, create art and take risks, regardless of outsiders thinking you may be cringey.
The band and lead singer Hayley Crusher Cain approached the project with the same do-it-yourself attitude that they've drawn from in the past, creating a video with the look of public access TV broadcasts, with each band member occupying a different channel.
The band called on a friend for the garage shoot, and a local library served as a conference room, where bass player Dr. Cain Esq. leads a tutorial on proper moshing techniques.
"We shot the video in two days," Hayley recalls. "We also shot at our lead guitarist’s house for Ryan and Stacy’s scenes. The shots of the ‘TV watcher’ were shot at the Cain house."
Director of photography Tyler DePerro was also hired for the shoot, having worked with the band in the past on their
Alleyways
video.
"Having someone on-hand to bounce ideas off of and capture us being wacky really was a luxury," Hayley shares.
More than half the video was shot on an Apple iPhone by the band. A green screen, purchased off Amazon, was used as a backdrop for some scenes, and green piece of paper allowed for compositing of the TV screen into living-room shots.
DePerro brought his Canon EOS R6 for part of the shoot, paired with Canon RF 24-105mm and 70-200mm lenses. Hayley ultimately cut the piece using Apple’s Final Cut Pro 10.
"I utilized some basic effects - camcorder, grainy TV - to make each channel in the public access TV idea feel distinct," she recalls. "The moral of the story is, you can get a lot more done than you think. Just remember you have resources and friends around you that want to help! We are super grateful for everyone who came together to make it all happen."