Monday, 05 July 2010 21:09
PARAMORE are returning to New Zealand this October to thrill fans once more [more details HERE]... Coup De Main was lucky enough to hang out with their official image-capturer BRANDON CHESBRO back in March, when he accompanied the band on Paramore's first ever trip to our shores. "I'm on tour with Paramore and we are playing two shows here. I'm doing all the video work for them and the photography work. We're playing a show here and a show in Christchurch."
Chesbro is an avid 'Lord Of The Rings' fan: "It's one of my favourite things!! In fact, I should've shown you guys my bag. My bag has 'Lord Of The Rings' stuff written on it. I used to be obsessed!" I think it's like our best tourism video ever, I say. Nine hours of just... landscape! Chesbro heartily agrees: "I know! It's almost like watching a nature film... or like Discovery Channel... like History Channel." Or 'National Geographic'? "Exactly."
Last time Chesbro was in the neighbourhood he wanted to go on a 'Lord Of The Rings' set-locations tour, but was sadly told that "now it looks more like a construction site than does like the actual Shire", so opted to keep his daydreams intact. As for the rest of NZ, local pal Rowan Crowe (of The Jury And The Saints) tour guide-d the party to the ocean, but still owes them a mountain-top trip. We ask - how many sheep do you think you've seen so far? Chesbro laughs and says: "I think only about six or seven we saw on the hill side." ...and Hobbits? "Other than Zach?! None!" Final score: SHEEP 6.5 vs. HOBBITS 0.
Despite it being only his second interview ever - "Other than MTV, this is my only interview that I've ever done... so I'm kind of intimidated." - Chesbro is just as at ease talking about his full-time loves and best friends, as he is while capturing the world through the lenses of his assorted cameras. We welcome him to New Zealand and happy giggles ensue all-round...
COUP DE MAIN - VICKI / SHAHLIN / SACHA: You're a photographer. A videographer. A director. Is there anything I'm missing off the list?
BRANDON CHESBRO: No, not professionally.
CDM: Growing up, is this what you thought you'd be doing with your life?
BRANDON: I wanted to do so much stuff growing up, but it was always having something to do with movies, or film, or something like that. At first I wanted to be an animator for Disney, but then I saw 'Jurassic Park' - and then I wanted to do computer graphics stuff and make dinosaurs and all that.
SACHA: DINOSAURS.
BRANDON: Oh man, I'm obsessed!
SHAHLIN: We can be friends!
VICKI: You need to talk to my friend. My friend whom when he grew up, wanted to be a fire engine...
BRANDON: <laughs> Well, I'd always really wanted to do stuff in film, I just wasn't really sure WHERE I wanted to do it. And then I went to college and started falling in love with photography while I was there. I was in film school so I was getting all the knowledge on doing video, and film, and stuff like that, but I was also just taking pictures all the time. So yeah, that's kind of where I really fell in love with it.
CDM: Now that you've been lucky enough to travel around the world with some incredible artists, what's been your most memorable trip to date?
BRANDON: This is easy because it just happened! We [Paramore] were in Tokyo and all of us decided to go to this restaurant together. It was one of those little barbecue places - it has the barbecue in the middle of the table - like a Korean barbecue and you put the pieces of raw meat on there... So we're sitting there - me, Hayley, Zach, and some management team [people] were at one table - and Taylor, and Taylor's brother Justin is out on tour replacing Josh right now for this, so they're all over there on this other table, and I think Jeremy was with us? And all of a sudden - the table that Taylor was at - the thing starts catching on fire! In Tokyo, the restaurants are all stacked up, everything is stacked. So we're on the fifth or sixth floor and... no elevator! We took stairs up there. So this thing catches on fire and we're kinda freaking out, but we're all laughing, and so we kind of turn down the fire. Somehow the fire gets turned down and everyone is clapping. All the Japanese people are clapping at us like: "stupid American"! So it kind of dies down. Then all of a sudden, smoke starts billowing out of the heater - or out of the whatever it is, the barbecue? - and all of us are like: "yo, what's going on in here?" Well then the fire alarm goes off. And then the building starts shaking. And we're all still kind of laughing, and we're grabbing our coats, and getting out of the building. We set the building on fire... By about an hour later, there are twelve fire engines outside. There is smoke billowing out of the windows and all of us are just sitting there going: "No! No!". There's ambulances and we're thinking: "we're gonna kill somebody?!!" I will never forget that. That was the best tour memory I've ever had - of course I filmed the whole thing so we're gonna...
VICKI: It only counts when you film it.
BRANDON: Oh yeah! It was so good. So.
SHAHLIN: Was that when Hayley left her phone in the restaurant and the fire...
BRANDON: ...and I tried to go back in? I was like: "I'll go back in and try to get it". I walked up the stairs and it was literally a wall of smoke, so I was like: "forget it". Of course, Hayley did just jump into the ocean last night, with her phone in her pocket. So if I would've gone in and saved it, it would have been for no good because she ruins it all the time.
CDM: What are some things you can never leave home without?
BRANDON: Obviously my camera. My laptop. And that's about it. If I had everything else lost, as long as I have those two things... and my iPhone. Of course, my iPhone.
VICKI: That's such a plug.
BRANDON: <laughs> Maybe I can get a few free iPhones for that?!
VICKI: This is good, here's another plug: when I say "Canon 5D Mark II" you say...?
BRANDON: <breaks into a smile> Love!
CDM: What goes through your head before you take a photograph?
BRANDON: Really, when I do my photography, the main thing that I try to aim for is just like: the moment of that person. I really try to get their personality. I was actually talking to this girl last night who's kind of an aspiring photographer and she was just talking to me about - "what do you do?", "how do you frame your pictures?", and "what kind of cameras and lenses and all that stuff do you use because I want to buy all that stuff" - and I was just like: I do use that, and obviously now doing it for a long time I do frame and do all that stuff, but really, as long as I'm capturing who those people are in the pictures, that's kind of the goal. So that's the main thing I do before each shot, which is a lot of times.
VICKI: So the white balance comes later?
BRANDON: Yeah, yeah. So a lot of times I'll just be sitting there just waiting, I'll be looking through the lens and then when Hayley smiles or something, and I get it... or maybe she's not smiling, or maybe it's somebody else, or whatever... But that's the main thing that goes through my head, is capturing that moment.
CDM: Are there photographers that you look up to or have influenced you in some way?
BRANDON: One of my best friends. His name is Tec Petaja. I grew up with him. We lived in Hawaii together for four months doing a missions-trip-thing, and he wanted to be a massage therapist in Africa when he grew up. We went to India and Nepal together as part of this huge mission-trip-thing and he was taking pictures and showing them to me. I'm like: "dude! You've got to be a photographer! You're incredible." He ended up moving to Nashville and we've been best friends for a long time and he is incredible. He's an amazing photographer. So I always find myself going to his site, and [thinking]: "How did he do that? That's not fair! How does his picture turn out like that?". And then another guy I really like, his name is Jeremy Cowart and he's also a Nashville photographer, but he's really really good! He's really good at photoshop and layering...
CDM: You've been with Paramore for about two years now making documentaries like '40 Days Of RIOT!' and more recently, directing their music video for 'The Only Exception'. Who came up with the concept?
BRANDON: Hayley and I. A great thing about Franklin where we live is, we all live five minutes away from each other. I was in Europe and the band asked me to do 'The Only Exception' and so I started thinking about ideas. I had a couple of ideas, but I always wanted it to be a love story. That was the main thing I wanted, and so I went to coffee with Hayley, and at first I had this idea about - kinda almost like this Sigur Ros type - like these two little kids and they fall in love and then it shows them growing up together. Then she had this idea about the band in this carnival and stuff like that. I was like: "I don't know if I like that idea because it's not really a love story." She was like: "Well I do have this other idea, kind of about me going through all these stages of my life." She started telling me about it and I was like: "Oh we've got to do that!". So from then we just developed it, and then I woke up in the middle of the night one night and was like, we should all have it in one set and have it all together like it's one big long thing and... it just came together there.
VICKI: Were you quite stoked with yourself when you came up with that idea? 'Cuz I know I would be if I woke up and went "damn that's good!"
BRANDON: Yeah! I recorded it on my phone - of course I grabbed my phone. I was like - I've got an idea! Because every time I have an idea otherwise and I don't record it, I totally forget it. And so I was glad I recorded it. But we were going to have it originally like - my original idea was to have it on a big rotating stage, where it was going to go like that <demonstrates with his hands>.
VICKI: Like a giant lazy Susan?
BRANDON: Yes! The camera was going to be stationary and it was going to move around like that - <demonstrates again with his hands> - but that was going to be way too expensive, so we ended up going the route we did. But! I love how it turned out!!
VICKI: We think it's one of their best videos. We're not just saying that because you're here...
BRANDON: Really?? Well thank you!
SHAHLIN: It's my favourite Paramore video.
BRANDON: Thank you.
VICKI: It's so different...
BRANDON: Thank you.
VICKI: Five points for you!
BRANDON: Yaaay! <laughs>
CDM: How long did it take to make, from first getting the idea, to the finished product?
BRANDON: It really took about three weeks, from when I started drawing storyboards and meeting with Hayley and really talking about it, to shooting it and editing it, and the completion of it. Which is pretty short.
VICKI: In New Zealand, we don't get the budgets that you guys have. We get $5000 and that's like the big: "What?!! We got $5000!!!" And then everyone kind of pulls together and works for free and tries to get it done.
BRANDON: That's awesome! I love that though, 'cuz you have to be so creative the lower your budget, and that was one of the things we didn't have. I mean, we had a really big budget, but it wasn't like a Beyonce video! And so we did have to be creative. There was a lot of like - I wanted the sets to be really realistic - but it ended up working to our advantage, because I think that the more abstract the sets became, the more... you know, really the whole idea of the video is, it's supposed to be in Hayley's mind, and so, kind of the more abstract they got the more it seemed like it was really just her thoughts and stuff. So it ended up being way better than I even would have thought, if we would have had a three million dollar budget. It just ended up being so cool!
CDM: You've said that one of your favourite shots is the high angle shot of Hayley lying on a heap of Valentine's Day cards. Who made all the cards?
BRANDON: The fans! We were going to get - since it was Valentine's Day and all - we were going to go buy a million Valentine's Day cards and then, we were like: "this is going to be a nightmare for copy-writing".
VICKI: Hallmark would have made millions!
BRANDON: Yeah, they're going to make so much money! But they wouldn't, because there's no way we'd be able to use it... so Hayley was like: "well let's just have the fans send some in". And once they started coming in, I mean it only took a couple of days, and we had like over 500 of 'em, and they were all these incredibly made, detailed, designed - like these kids had really spent time on them - and it was so cool to see it. It's like, if anything else fell apart, if we had that, that was like... just to see all that together, was so cool.
CDM: What was the biggest challenge in the making of the video?
BRANDON: I think that the biggest challenge overall, was just kind of the fact that it was my first video and I'd never done anything like that before, and I was looking to - my favourite Paramore video is 'crushcrushcrush' - and so I was looking at this incredible, contrasted, out-in-the-desert, big budget, make-up and all this stuff, and I was like: "How am I going to get... how am I going to do a video better than that?!" 'Cuz Shane Drake - the director - directs a lot of their videos and he's really, really good. So I think the biggest challenge was really overcoming my insecurity about the whole thing, and just going for it. As you know, my vision, as much as I could see it. Physically, the biggest challenge was getting the band there because there was a huge storm and we were trying to figure out how we were going to do it, the scheduling and all that stuff. But I think it was so unique. From what everybody in L.A. was telling me - all my production team - they're like: "this is so unique. Nothing really comes together this easy". The sets got built really well, and I know everybody from the band so it was really easy to talk to them and communicate with them about it, and I know all the wardrobe people because they're all the wardrobe people for Hayley, so I got to talk with them really easily and it just came together so perfect.
VICKI: It was meant to be!
BRANDON: It was! <chuckles>
VICKI: Just a bit of 'YAY YOU' - do you want to know how many hits the video has had on YouTube since it was first uploaded a few weeks ago?
BRANDON: Oh gosh...
VICKI: This is at 10am this morning and this is just YouTube so not including your iTunes stuff or official website stuff... it was at 763,068!
BRANDON: Golly!
VICKI: ...and then some! Because every time you refresh, it [the number of counts] goes up.
BRANDON: That's amazing.
VICKI: And you will probably like this next part, 'cuz here are some comments...
BRANDON: Oh no!
VICKI: These are real..."From 'Ignorance', to 'Brick By Boring Brick', now, in this video, the concept becomes more of a genius. Nice video." / "This turned into my favourite Paramore video... not my favourite song but the video's just so different! I loooove it!"
BRANDON: <laughs>
VICKI: "What an amazing video. I think it captures the essence of the song." / "So happy my card made it!..." / "...They posted that they'll be using them - like 4 days before the deadline. People had to pay extra to get them in, totally worth it to me. I think I paid $6. I don't mind at all... I get to see my card in there!"
BRANDON: That's amazing! Yeah there have been a lot of... a lot of good - "oh I'm so glad my card got in there" - and then a lot of: "Wait, why is my card not in there? Where's my card?".
VICKI: There were definitely a lot of: "Hayley looks amazing! She looks hot! She look gorgeous..."
BRANDON: Yeah! And that, that was something that we really talked about too... like, we really wanted the date night scene and her shot to be something that you've never seen for Hayley before. I think Hayley got really inspired after being on tour with No Doubt for three months - you know being around Gwen Stefani really, really...
SHAHLIN: ...It'll do that to you.
BRANDON: Yeah and she really got into fashion. In fact, she just did a photo shoot for Elle magazine that's coming out soon, and I got to see the pictures yesterday and they're like UNBELIEVEABLE! They're gorgeous! She has this really long red flowing dress and it's blowing in the wind. I mean, it looks like Elle magazine. It's really cool!
VICKI: But she's such a babe anyway... it's not hard!
BRANDON: Yeah yeah. It's just usually you see her in a t-shirt and jeans, so when you're seeing her in the video, like in that other stuff - in the dress and even in the church and stuff like that - it's just really cool to see her in something different. That Grammy, and all those red carpet looks in a video, is pretty cool.
CDM: And it was her actual father in the video as well. That's really cool! How did that come about?
BRANDON: She just said: "I just really think it'll be cool for him to be in it". And the label were still like: "We still want to send you some ideas on other Dads" and stuff like that. We just both kind of kept coming back to her Dad. You know, if he can do it, he's the perfect candidate because otherwise... first of all, it's going to hit her on an emotional level that'll be real and second of all, it'll just be cooler altogether.
CDM: And was that a real photo [of Hayley's parents]?
BRANDON: That is a real photo. That's her parents. It's just like 'Brand New Eyes' - their record. It's music for the fans, and it's really cool and stuff like that, but it's very very emotional, like really coming from Hayley's heart and the band's heart as well. So the video's kinda the same way. Like yeah, it's cool - it's cool to watch and stuff but even for the band to watch it - it really is heartfelt.
CDM: This made a lot of people cry by the way....
BRANDON: Yeah I remember when we first watched it! After it was all edited and stuff and we were watching it, I'd get goosebumps and I'd go: <pretends to sulk> "It's really good!". <laughs> 'Cuz we really wanted to make it like a mini love story, and especially it coming out on Valentine's Day, it was cool!
CDM: Is Chad [CHAD GILBERT - New Found Glory guitarist and Hayley's boyfriend] super stoked with it?
BRANDON: He loved it! He came on set and 'cuz Aaron Schnobirch - the guy who is the date, or the boyfriend in the video - I was like: "This is her real boyfriend. He's twice as big as you and twice as wide and he can beat you up... so just, don't kiss Hayley or anything, during the video." <laughs> But yeah, he loves it.
CDM: Who would you most like to make a video for now?
BRANDON: I know this is a VERY big stretch... but Lady Gaga! Her videos are so amazing! It would just be so much fun to do a video for her. 'Paparazzi' and 'Bad Romance' are unbelievable videos - just the fashion, and the lighting - they're so cool. So I'd love to do one for her but I'd also love to do one for Mew, they're one of my favourite bands. They're from Denmark. They're incredible.
CDM: Now! You've been stockpiling footage from the 'Brand New Eyes' tour. What are you going to do with it? What can fans expect??
BRANDON: We still don't really know for sure! I mean, we're definitely going to use it... it's going to be probably a DVD. I don't know if it's going to be released with a CD or something like that? We recorded the show in Wembley that they shot in the UK last year, and that was on these big live cameras which I'm not crazy about. That 'look' where it looks like they shot it at an awards show? I don't like that look, so we might mix that with other stuff and maybe do a DVD? But until I hear something specific from management or the band, I really don't know what we're going to use it for. Everything right now is just web videos. We use it for all kinds of different stuff, use it for online... A lot of the times I'll just shoot Hayley saying like: "We're coming to your town". But as far as the live footage goes, it'll probably end up on the DVD somewhere?!
