Many young people dream of making their own music video clip. But a group of emerging music makers from Perth have had the opportunity to make this dream a reality during the Strange Times project.

Using music tracks that they wrote and recorded at Swan City Youth Service under the mentorship of Rush Wepiha, the young emerging artists attended workshops during May and June to learn how to create and edit a music video.

The results are impressive, taking the viewer into the lives of the young makers. Layered montages range from dark and gritty to sunny and gentle, complementing songs that are densely packed with poetry and beats.

Reflecting on one of the videos, young artist Jentzen Mastingly observed to its maker Ben Pawlow (aka Max Choppa), “It felt like a day in the life of you, rolling around Midland.” Ben agreed, “It’s a vibe I’m showing, like Fresh Prince of Midland. Welcome to Midland.”

The Strange Times program began with a month of workshops with Sydney-based filmmaker Johnny Yayo. From the first workshop these sessions were practical, with young artists capturing footage using the cameras on their own smart phones with gorilla grip tripods. They learned skills such as storyboarding their ideas for their music video, different camera techniques and shots, creative direction and performance in front of the camera.

The young makers also had the exciting opportunity to record their performance with Johnny as their cinematographer. The footage they shot themselves was then used for their B-roll, a second story that is woven between the performance shots to create thematic layers within the clip.

“It’s been inspiring,” says one young artist. “We’re just having, like, the time of our lives, trying to portray something.

“When you’re having fun you get more creative ideas as well.”

With their footage recorded, the group moved onto the next phase of the project – editing. Assisted by local photographer/filmmaker Halim Mellick, participants learnt to use a free version of DaVinci Resolve, professional video editing software, to create a rough cut by cutting and pasting the performance and B roll footage into a montage, and syncing recorded songs to lip-synced video footage.

Now the young artists are working with videographer Peter Cheng, who will teach them skills such as colour grading and fine-tuning, to create the final cut of their music video. They will also be attending workshops about releasing and promoting music with Tani Walker, director of WA music business FN Focus, and design and branding workshops with local graphic artist and business owner/entrepreneur Adam Sugiarto and CAN Marketing Manager Rebecca Lyon Augustus. Finally, the young artists will each have professional portrait shoots with Halim.

Stay tuned to see the finished music videos, coming later this year!

Strange Times is presented in partnership with Swan City Youth Service and supported by the Creativity and Wellbeing for Young People Pilot Program, a joint initiative by the WA Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport, and Healthway.

Pictured top: (L–R) Strange Times young artists Mana Akadis, Jackson Brown and Kalia Atawhai // credit Halim Mellick