I edited this music video (in 3D) in southern California in October during 3 sleepless days to get it delivered to Sony Pictures in time. You can view it in true 3D right now if you go see it play in theaters before Arthur Christmas. Even if you’re not a Bieber fan, check out the excellent urban dancing from many members of The LXD!

The music video was filmed on two RED Epic 5k cameras and we used Cineform’s 3D codec to edit the muxed files in 3D using Final Cut Pro 7 and a Blackmagic output box, viewing the stereoscopic picture on a passive 3D 1080p monitor (we wore 3D glasses).

The video is directed by Charles Oliver, who directed many episodes of The LXD. The director of photography was Alice Brooks (also the DP of The LXD) and it was produced by Kyle Sonia (also of the LXD family).

Jill and I filmed this video for Alabaster right in the middle of production for Jekyll & Hyde. Besides risking creative burnout, I found that there were amazing advantages to drastically changing gears right in the middle of a two-week production:

• Working on “Overcome” helped clear my creative mental blocks that had been building up for “Jekyll & Hyde,” ultimately making the latter a stronger piece.
• Shaina (Alabaster’s lead singer) was in both productions (somehow) so we had plenty of time to get comfortable and communicative by the time filming started for “Overcome.” Had we jumped straight into her music video without having filmed “Jekyll & Hyde” a few days before, we wouldn’t have had anywhere near the artistic rapport that we had on this set.
• Hair & Make-up artists were shared between the two projects, facilitating communication on that front.
• Rented lights, lenses and other gear was shared between the two projects, adding production value to both.
• A certain type of creative momentum carried me through this production. I found that the harder I pushed myself the more I had inside of me. Something about going beyond the comfortable, more stagnant realm of careful planning and extensive production paperwork helped visuals flow to me.

Alabaster was a fantastic group of people to work with, and a refreshing example of hard work and humility in the music industry. Their work is excellent (also thanks to their talented producer, Joel Casey Jones) and I’m sure I’ll be hearing their music all over the city once their forthcoming album is released.

Some gorgeous production photos by my wife (Jill) are here.

If you prefer to watch on Vimeo, here’s the music video there:

Alabaster – Overcome (Official Music Video) from Garrett Wesley Gibbons on Vimeo.