About That "Girl You Used To Know" Music Video (for ROUGE 2004)
The first music video out the gate for "ROUGE" (2004) series, was the track "Girl You Used To Know" (Amir "Rain" Masoh credited as "Composer / Song Writer"), all shot on location in Singapore, in a unused warehouse located somewhere along Mohamed Sultan Road (exact address forgotten in time, alas).
Featured here today are what I am able to piece together, from videos to still images (primarily of the set/s), in a attempt to both archive the show itself, and of course for my own work done.
I was the Production Designer for the entirety of "ROUGE", as well the Art Director on all sets and shoots associated with the series. That said, here's a look at the behind-the-scenes video for the MV-shoot! And bless the internets for uploading this!
The MV itself consisted of two main "sets", one in an empty space with windows lined on one side, and another in a corner a room with heavily weathered walls. The spot chosen was on the second floor, while the ground level was used as waiting area, dressing and make-up area. There were no electricity in the space, nor lifts, so it was all manual steps up and down.
For the first space, I'd "covered" all the frosted window panes with pages from 2000 A.D. comics! The "green" tint was not manufactured (that I remembered), and was a natural glow through the sunlight from outside, through the black-n-white newsprint pages.
The main hallway space was pretty brightly lit (via sunlight through the windows), which were eventually blacked out. Tubed lights were rigged up along the ceiling, plus placement of the musical instruments and drum set. Metal fencing and "DANGER"-signs completed what I had wanted to be a "Wild Boys by Dunran Duran-kinda set, but knowing full well I was delusional in my runaway imagination ... What you do not see clearly here, is the wall of speakers behind the drum area! We had to rig and pulley-up the speakers too, which I felt was a waste of visuals.
The above still image was meant toshow you folks the "Wall of Sound Speakers", but if I startled you with my visage, I apologize ... #sorrynotsorry #OMGthebeadednecklace #sleevelesstopFTW
For the main band performance, the girls were dressed in quasi-rockstars, while the second space showcased a much more glamours side of the girls! I'd rented/loaded a fire-engine red sofa, with the aim to juxtapose against the decaying wall and create a mix of visual textures, with the clothes worn by the ladies absolutely crushing the vibe!
The MV-aesthetic lighting-rig sealed the over-exposed faces style of the late-90s (which has resurfaced in the current generations' socials and photo-graphic imagery too), and all around chef's kiss.
I truly wished I had much clearer and larger resolution images of these to showcase ... heck, ALL images to share!
All this was before the series premiered in 2004, nearly 2 decades ago too.
"Girl You Used To Know" was one of four tracks performed within the context of the TV Series, with this being created specifically as a stand alone MV, while the other three were performed and presented within the context of the series/episodes. Here's a look at them, until such time I have individual music and visuals to go along with these, cheers.
