01 | CONCEPT PHASE
ANXIETY TO ANZIETY
While „Adolescence“ being a full-blown hit on Netflix and offering many possibilities in terms of the theme - we initially struggled to position ourselves within the given topics. Because of the current importance and relevance of the theme and the overall approach being more serious, we didn't want to say or portray things, we weren't informed about or having no opinion about.
We decided to keep a simple storyline, that leaves interpretation for metaphors and focus more on technical aspects, we didn't consider the last time we produced a film.
At the same time the Song „ANZIETY“ from Logic crossed our way, which exactly spoke about the things we could say, so we decided for a short-movie, displayed as a music video.
02 | ITERATION PHASE
STORYLINE
After deciding on the part of the song, we divided our plot 3 main parts, that could tell the whole concept in a simple way:
I - Messias ( The presentation of the subject )
II - Judgement ( The torture/the judgement on the subject )
III - Rebirth ( The disposal/replacement of the subject )
The context of the parts were influenced by modern social media dynamics, were themes like glorification, over-presentation, hype and cancel-culture come into play.
MOODBOARD & INSPIRATION
RAW SHOT-LIST
ANIMATICS
03 | PLANNING PHASE
We knew from the beginning, that we wanted to incoorporate certain technical or artistical components, that would drive our project:
- Dynamic camera movement & usage of complex gear
- Acting & Choreography
- Compositions with depth
- Aesthetics & a set, that would speak for themselves
While we are more experienced with the artistical parts, the biggest challenge was the technical implementation of our ideas, with many of them being way more difficult to film, than expected.
ACTORS/ACTRESSES & OUTFITS
We divided our cast in 3 general roles: A protagonist, 3 Judges and a set of servants. The main component and theme of each outfit was „Classy Baggy-black with a sprinkle of street “. While the protagonist having a set outfit, the servants and judges were free to choose theirs, within the given parameters, which offered way more variety in the group dynamic.
SET-DESIGN
Everything was planned and produced in one room/hall, that we divided in two different sets:
- a bright, elegant evening-dinner setting
- a dark, intro-perspective setting
With the help of many people, we gathered everything from requisites, accesoires & tools to build the set from scratch.
While the room offered a lot of physical space for our ideas, it came with a lot of unexpected challenges, that often times made it very hard to create our desired outcome. We expected the room to be way darker without lights, the un-even floor made filming a steady image a whole torture and generally speaking - the room is fucking ugly.
At the same time it forced us to be creative with our set of circumstances and gear.
CHOREOGRAPHY
With the protagonist and the aesthetics being the key component, the purpose of dance was meant to be supportive and metaphorical. Choreography gives us the possibilities to bring dynamics into the image and becoming a manifestation of composition and music. The set of movements were chosen by the factors of not being too dominant in contrast to the main character, as well as looking good as a whole, while not being too complex in difficulty.
EQUIPMENT
Camera: RED Raptor ( For Filming ) , Sony Alpha ( For Testing )
Objectives: Milvus 21mm/35mm/50mm
Gimbal: Ronin DJI ( For Testing )
Tools: Crane, Tripod with rolls, rolling desk
Lights: Tube light, Studio light
04 | PRODUCTION PHASE
The production of the movie itself went over a span of two weeks, with 3 preparation days, 1 test-shoot day and 5 filming days.
The first days were spend with borrowing all of the needed equipment and preparing each set - the part of film which we learned to hate-love. For us, this is also usually the point, where we first realize, that we can or can't do certain shots, how we planned.
SHOOTING DAYS & BTS
We began filming chronologically backwards starting with the end part, because of the availability of the actors. Especially the choreo parts and frames with a lot of people were usually combined with dynamic camera movement or the crane, to capture all people.
IMPRESSIONS
PHOTOS BY THERESA TAUBE & TU MY DANG
POST-PRODUCTION
The post-production process happened in Davinci Resolve, starting with the cut & adding color grading. In this stage we realized, that the way we planned to cut the movie doesn't work, because the camera motion didn't always match the dynamic we filmed with iPhone before. Our initial plan was to portray the movie more as a short-film, rather than a music video, which changed at this point.
We changed the chronology of the clips and orientated ourselves on how the music was paced. Even though we're not 100% satisfied with the cut, we were happy, that most of the things turned out how we wanted them or even better. The things that didn't go as planned were still good to work with.
We tried various Color Grading styles, which each style changing the subject.
05 | LOGIC - ANZIETY
Current Cut Version
06 | STILLS
07 | CONCLUSION
All in all I can say, that this was probably the most intense and complex project I was a part of. It was the first time, that we ever went this far in terms of set design & costumes and building a story around it. After the project I realized, that I probably would use the first phase now, just to test with the camera, the location and the parameters, that the project brings with it, instead of overthinking a „deep“ concept. A lot of time and stress could've been saved, if more time for experimentation would've been planned. But this is just complain at a high level, because we're more than proud of what we could achieve in that time-span.
We want to thank all the people, who helped us during the project and supplied us with whatever we needed. And we want to specially thank our all actors, that delivered even more, than what we asked for.
ANZIETY 2025
