Crafting Zolita’s “I F*cking Love You,” Lit by Aputure
The Filmmakers Behind the Viral Music Video Speak on the Closing Chapter to their Cinematic Musical Trilogy
Fans and admirers of the dazzling singer-songwriter, Zolita, gracefully embraced the release of the artist’s new single, “I F*cking Love You,” this past April. Acting as the third entry to her trilogy of budding romance tales, the creators don’t disappoint with this closing chapter. The musician and her collaborators bring together a dashing spectacle of love and vibrance.
The cinematic music video, presented in the form of a five-minute-long short film, depicts the artist as the main character who has recently broken up with her significant other, and is now shrouded in the public limelight. Soon after, Zolita stumbles across a familiar photographer covering the production of her new release and they go for drinks. Eventually, they fall for each other and empower one another in a moment reminiscent of the rom-com movie tropes of the early 2000’s that we all know and love.
Aputure sat down with Zolita and the filmmakers behind “I F*cking Love You” to discuss their origins in the medium, the inspiration for the visuals of the video, lighting choices and overall advice they’d like to give to aspiring creators.
A Familiar Lens
The music industry was taken by surprise after bearing witness to the release of Zolita’s first entry to her trilogy of music videos, “Somebody I F*cked Once.” Since then, the single has accumulated over forty million views on YouTube and over thirteen million plays on Spotify. The first chapter of the musician’s love story chronicles the budding romance between popular cheerleader, Zolita (herself), and rebellious punk-rocker, Gia (Tatchi Rigsby) in high school.
“I think there’s such a huge power in telling queer stories through a heteronormative structure […] Just packaging it in a framework that more conservative people are familiar with, humanizes the queer experience.” — Zolita
This concept fueled the artist’s plans to create an over-arching narrative surrounding the dynamic of these two lovebirds, which is quite inspiring to see unfold over the course of these videos.
Zolita frequently collaborates with her Director of Photography, Savannah Bloch, who lensed all three entries in the trilogy. She’s able to incorporate a visual language across all chapters of the story that captures the zest and colorful environment necessary for Zolita’s vision. The color palette these two filmmakers include is diverse and vibrant, including tones of amber, cyan, and magenta.
By injecting these visuals into a storyline that most audiences are well-versed with, the creators can then present a relationship through a queer lens effortlessly. Two people that come from different worlds have a chance encounter and spark a romantic journey. It’s a story most are familiar with, making it accessible to various demographics.
“For queer people, it’s so healing to get to see a queer love story with a happy ending, and to see queer people maybe live out what they didn’t get to live out in high school, and have it end well, and it’s not traumatic.” — Zolita
Ultimately, the creators of “I F*cking Love You” develop a story that is relatable, yet unique in its perspective. In the end, this is a love story that’s inclusive for anyone and everyone, no matter your gender or views. This depicts a theme that “love” is universal in its outset, and each person on this planet deserves to experience it.
Influences
Savannah Bloch orchestrates a visually splendid scenery that perfectly fits the themes and looks that Zolita was adamant to capture throughout the trilogy.
“I think that each one builds upon the one that came before it, with a lot of inspiration from 90’s or early 2000’s movies. Also, I wanted to just play out a lot of classic rom-com tropes and a look that people are familiar with.” — Savannah Bloch
Movies such as 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) and Bring It On (2000) have been able to gain a massive following due to their bright depiction of life and romance. Audiences immediately resonate with the strive for love and acceptance in a reality that appears crushing and unforgiving.
When the two lovers eventually reunite early on in the video, the filmmakers cast this surreal moment through the lighting and cinematography that excellently encapsulates this visual influence.
Colors of Zolita’s World
During their encounter, a close up on Gia is captured in slow motion, reenacting the trope in which time freezes when the two lovers are acquainted with for the first time. In the background of the frame, a hint of cyan fades into existence.
“We wanted to step out of reality and into each of their minds in the way that they see each other, and so we wanted a specific lighting cue, and in order to have that lighting cue happen on-camera while rolling, we had to have many units in play.” — Savannah Bloch
This surrealist approach portrays a unique visual display for a subjective point of view. Here, we can see that the two characters are feeling intense about each other. There’s an immediate spark that can be distinguished by the specific lighting cue.
By utilizing the new full-color point-source LS 600c Pro with the Spotlight Mount attached, both Savannah and Yorgo could easily project the specific color they wanted using the versatile RGBWW technology integrated within the unit. Simultaneously, they could cast a unique pattern using the diverse gobo designs that come included with the Spotlight Mount. These designs offer shapes for the light to cut through, which can project an interesting background for the frame.
Yorgo bounces off of Savannah’s statement, commenting on the adaptability of the fixture, and how easily they were able to incorporate that surreal color palate in the scene where Zolita and Gia reunite once again. They can alternate between a pink background and cyan background in a matter of seconds, just by adjusting the RGB to the correct color and moving the position of the light.
“It’s just so nice to have that bright of an RGB point-source unit, it just made things so much easier, and, for that scene in particular, it gave this really nice edge to both of them (Zolita and Gia).” — Yorgo Tzoytzoyrakos
Ultimately, it’s vital to remember that in many cases, the tools we are presented with are the ones we have to work with in order to capture the vision in mind. A lot of times, a film set or music video set can be stressful due to time restraints, minimal amount of crew and many more variables. So, by going in with an adept understanding of the tone of the piece, and what’s needed to capture it, your experiences on set might be easier on the mind.
“One thing that I think is often neglected is to pay attention to production design, wardrobe and makeup, because you don’t want your lighting to clash with that.” — Savannah Bloch
Savannah illustrates that in order for the vision to be displayed in its entirety, you have to give focus to the many variables that go behind making a great story and image. Art, props, costumes, lighting - it all matters in the grand scheme of things.
Lastly, Savannah opens up about the color accuracy when working with the Aputure ecosystem on “I F*cking Love You,” she states:
“It was easy to adjust to the stage lights too which were the only non-Aputure units in the video and I was surprised how easily those matched. It helped to have all Aputure units as well so that we could match from unit to unit.” — Savannah Bloch
It’s commonplace to consider the true accuracy of LED fixtures, as many suffer from a green or magenta-heavy tint that effects the overall color reproduction of the unit. However, as you can see in this case, the Aputure lights were able to hold up to their name as each fixture used on the music video was able to achieve an accurate portrayal of the color they were going for.
You can learn more about the LS 600c Pro here:
Starting Out in Film School
Zolita, Savannah and their Gaffer, Yorgo Tzoytzoyrakos, all graduates of film school. Each of them have amassed the knowledge necessary to understand the inner-workings of filmmaking. While there, all three creators were able to grasp onto a firm hold of what they’re specifically passionate about, while also educating themselves on every position that’s present on a set.
Having this knowledge in her back pocket, Zolita has confidently been able to write, direct and edit her own music videos, and that has stayed consistent throughout the trilogy.
“Film school is not necessary, but it does give you the space to fail and be more experimental and meet people who are like-minded or completely differently-minded.” — Yorgo Tzoytzoyrakos
Film school is a time to explore each medium and profession within the industry. By knowing this, the experience can be more beneficial and not rudimentary. It seems that these filmmakers took this advice seriously and have flourished to a point where they can provoke a style that is well-established and visually present in the recent music video.
Zolita speaks on the idea of, “knowing as much as you can about every role on set,” and that’s a topic that deserves some attention. While in that environment, film school can offer the chance to obtain a multi-faceted curriculum that ranges from sound mixing, editing, producing, directing, lighting and much more. By doing this, one can formulate a skill to communicate their vision clearly without lacking necessary detail for the specific departments on a set.
To put it short, film school presents a route for people to take if they’re interested in the medium. It’s not required, many have gone on to become successful without the need of an institution to carry them on at the beginning of their careers. But, one can not deny that film school can offer a space for creative freedom without the worry of meeting expectations.
Advice for Young Artists
Zolita, Savannah and Yorgo share their advice for young filmmakers looking to improve their craft and approach to the medium:
“If you’re a Director, learn how to be your own manager, how to do your own advertising, literally just learn how to do everything so then once you do have a team of people around you, you can communicate the best you can with them.” — Zolita
With the onslaught of technology and frequent evolution that filmmaking experiences, it’s pivotal that one has an understanding of each facet in the industry. We’re at a point where an individual has to adapt to the environment and situation at hand. Know how to develop, shoot and market your own content so that you don’t have to depend on a studio or label to do it for you.
Communication is important to practice. As a Director, you spend your day communicating to your collaborators what it is you want in the first place. If you aren’t able to accurately convey what you’re after, it could cause miscommunication and a failure to capture the vision.
“My advice is, it’s a marathon not a sprint, and the most important thing is treating people around you well. Because people can get really carried away and really short-sided with the project […] It can be super stressful. But, what’s most important is the people because they’re going to be alongside for a long time.” — Savannah Bloch
It’s vital that one does not undermine the value of each role on set. Every crew member there is working to tell the story in the best way possible. There are times where a Director might think that their decision is the best one for the job. But, by doing that, you are restricting yourself to a limited view of the project and not embracing the multiple opportunities that come along with collaboration.
“It’s good to see other people’s work in a positive and motivational way. But, to sort of look at it and compare yourself to how far other people your age are is a really dangerous game to play.” — Yorgo Tzoytzoyrakos
Filmmaking can be an ego-driven medium, and in some ways, it’s valuable to have confidence in your ability and craft. However, if you let that blindside you, it could come to a moment where you begin to compare your work to others as a means to affirm to your work is better in every way. That, as a concept, is dangerous territory.
We should be stout with our skills as artists and creatives, but we should also understand that no matter how far we go in our careers, there’s always something to learn. Each day, we need to consider how we can educate our intuitions to become better in the pursuance of telling stories. No matter the genre, subject, orientation or time period - we are all working to craft narratives that speak to audiences across the globe.
If you’d like to watch our interview with Director/star Zolita, DP Savannah Bloch and Gaffer Yorgo Tzoytzoyrakos, you can watch it here.
You can also view Zolita’s music video, “I F*cking Love You,” in all of its glory:
*Note: The Spotlight Mount modifier is not optimized for the Light Storm 600c Pro, and may produce artifacts when used without gobos. Use at your own discretion. Aputure will work on future enhancements to its ecosystem to produce a more optimized result.
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