BOBBY YAN

My new video just released.  Shot on the streets of Philly, I went with a Walking Dead style Zombie theme.  The stark cinematic darkness of the streets and abandoned houses provided a perfect backdrop for the look and feel of the video.  We could not have asked for more in terms of realism, aside from shooting on an actual Hollywood backlot set (in fact this was way better).

Special thanks to the crew at NYLAHD (esp. Brendane Cochrane - multitasking as producer & DP) for working so hard with me to bring this vision to life.  This was a challenging job indeed, as our multiple day shoot was shot in a independent film style.  Extra thanks to our whole production crew as well as all the extras who were patient enough to go through hours of makeup (courtesy of Crystal & Stephanie, our dope makeup team).

Check out the video here:

Definitely thanks to El Sawyer & Jon Kaufman for helping us procure all the locations and showing us some real Philly brotherly love.  Check out their documentary about inmates coming home from prison here:  http://www.pullofgravityfilm.com

Took awhile (three years to be exact), but here’s my new Director’s reel for 2013, well at least for the first half of this year…

It’s always a difficult choice to determine what work to put on a new reel, and what to leave out.  I aimed to focus on my newer spots, while giving light to the past work that helps define who I am.  If you notice, I used very little performance footage, instead focusing more on narrative or still moments and actions, angled towards the beauty of the shot, composition, art direction or lighting.  I define my music video work as previews of my narrative work to come later this year, carefully crafting beauty and imagery that has meaning within and beyond the frame.

Special thanks to all my close friends and circle who helped me with notes and thoughts on getting this done.

Shot: Vashawn Mitchell “Turning Around For Me”

Client: EMI Gospel

Production Co.: NYLAHD 

Producer: Brendan Cochrane

DP: David Claessen

AD: Marc Kelly

Production Designer: Joe Sciacca

Production Liaison: Lex Lewter

Stylist: Stacey Jordan

Makeup: Bisheaba Swain

Shot this video in Brooklyn last week.  Great team, crew and artist with positive creative energy to bring this one to life.  It’s amazing what you can do with a small set,  strong ideas and smart art direction (Thanks Joe!).  I went with an inspirational but commercial look for this one, using sports as a metaphor for conquering your own fears and reaching your goals.  We also portray a couple dealing with the effects of Hurricane Sandy that came out quite stunning.

Here’s the new video from Girl Squad.  This is the second video release from them that I shot.  These girls are amazing, and they are definitely going to be known worldwide very soon.  Shouts to Reg Reg and the fantastic team at Treasure Chest Entertainment, as well as Jamie Kennedy and the rest of the management team.

Special thanks to producer Brendan Cochrane at NYLAHD, as well as Hannah Smith, Elspeth Brown and Cody Judson.  We all had a great time working on this.  The video was lensed by up and coming DP, Ioana Vasile.  She was great to work with and has a bright future. You can check her work out here: http://www.ioanavasile.com/

Ioana and I decided to go with an Eighties style feel for the lighting, as well as some of the comedic action.  I think it plays off very well.

The video was shot in the home of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” reality star Kyle Richards.  If you look closely, we featured her kids and friends towards the end of the video.