Behind the Scenes of the 'Backstabber' Music Video

Wait… What’s the “Backstabber” music video? Glad you asked!

Dragon Inn 3 is a sister band to the Springfield favorite, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, and they released their debut album, Double Line, this August. It's a really wonderful homage to the '80s and early '90s both in sound and style. For their album's release, a handful of Springfield artists and filmmakers made music videos for certain songs to create a visual album which premiered at the Moxie.

Locke and Stache, the production company my husband Austin owns with two of our friends, Chris and Josh, decided to tackle the song "Backstabber", and I got to do the production design! Recently, the video was released on NPR's World Cafe, which was such a fun "pinch me" moment to see a project we worked so hard on earn a spot on a site we really admire.

Here's the video. The blog post that follows is a little bit of a "behind the scenes" insight for you, reader-friend, into how this got made... and a little bit of a page for my own digital memory book.

If you’re like me, you get distracted while watching TV and movies. So, so distracted. I think this happens to a lot of people who have some interest in cameras or lighting… gearheads, or whatever you want to call them. I’m occasionally plagued by these questions, too (was that “outdoor” scene really shot outdoors?), but most of my inner-movie-monologue revolves around production design.

My degree is in English — reading, understanding and dissecting literature — and one huge part of story is setting. In the real world, you can learn a lot about a person based off where they hang out and even how they dress themselves. For these reasons, it was so fun to take the incredible script Josh wrote and do a deep dive into setting.

Photos by Bradley Balsters

Parts of it were challenging. I was around in Springfield during the summer of 1992 (the setting for the music video), but, like... in a stroller. I wanted to really explore what our hometown would have looked like in those years; a lot of what comes to mind when we think '90s is more 1995-1999. For Detective Shepard, Chuck, Hank, Mr. Business, etc. in our video, the late '80s were certainly an influence in their appearance. I also wanted to depict these settings as accurately as we possibly could 30 years later. Some of my favorite little details we were able to throw in were the McSalty's pizza boxes, fictional newspaper clippings in the "crazy wall" scene and all the familiar Springfield faces and locations we could squeeze into three minutes. I studied crime scene photos from the "3 Missing Women" scene to do our best to accurately depict who these women were in the few seconds this concept plays out on screen. It's a small way to show respect to their human dignity, but I believe it's meaningful.

Let's talk about sets: Two of the sets were built in the Locke and Stache office, and those guys are so innovative I'm convinced they can pull off anything. The "mom's basement/crazy wall" scene was built in 4 hours, and this photo of Kaylinn and me gives a glimpse into what we were working with in that room. We took down the set the very next day to prep for the "Mr. Business" scene, which left the office covered in champagne and confetti. Whoops! 😂

Photos by Josh Pfaff

Let's talk about donating a lot of time and energy to a "just for fun" project with a group of people: Do it. If you have the opportunity, do it. If you don't see an opportunity, consider heading one up. For this music video, we shot five days in a row, sometimes until 3 a.m. or even later because many of the scenes were set at night. During the day, we hunted for any last-minute props and worked ahead on the next scenes. It was exhausting but worthwhile, and getting to know crew and other creatives on a more personal level is insanely rewarding. I've gotten to do prop styling on editorial shoots (both for photo and video), and exploring this new avenue of styling with more of a narrative to consider was really fun for me.

Let's talk about how talented EVERYBODY I KNOW is: I'm always impressed when I look around at our "little" city and how many big ideas live here. Every single person who was on this set made it better, but special shoutout to Kaylinn Clotfelter and her killer instincts on set. My job would have been a lot more challenging without the help of her and Isaiah Satterfield. Keep an eye out for those two and photographer Bradley Balsters; they're in a fun stage of life and able to be involved in a bunch of creative projects right now.

Annnnd, that's a wrap! Thanks for sticking with me if you've made it this far. 🤗

Photo by Bradley Balsters

Photography by Bradley Balsters, graphic design by Logan Triplett

p.s. If you want to hear more than just my take on the behind the scenes of this production (which I'm sure you do!), head over to Locke and Stache's BTS video released today.

and p.p.s. If you want to read more about Dragon Inn 3 (you should!), check out this News-Leader article. Big thanks to Phil and the band for making some great music and giving us the opportunity to work on this project.

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How I, an Extrovert, Work From Home

When I first took the leap into full-time freelancing, I envisioned a dreamy setup where I’d casually roll out of bed onto my yoga mat at 6:00 a.m., make some avocado toast, and be ready to hit the inbox by 7:15. What this self-employment fantasy of mine failed to neglect was, ahem, one small thing: my personality.

The problem with my thinking wasn’t necessarily the early rising (I don’t crave waking up before the birds, but I can if I need to), but rather the solitude of it all. I love me some solitude, but I’d rather have that quiet, meditative time at the end of my day instead of the beginning. Enter: the definition of “extrovert”.

There’s lots online about introversion vs. extraversion, but I hear people misusing the terms a lot, too. For instance, being an extrovert doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t value alone time, and being an introvert doesn’t always mean you’re shy. It’s more about how you gain energy and what motivates you. So, a simplified guide is extraversion = gains energy around others, and introversion = recharges alone. Here are some links to helpful pages explaining the two: Wikipedia, Changing Minds, Meyers Briggs.

I loved working from home for about… two days, and then I realized it was a little lonely. Since I gain energy from being around other people, I was feeling drained in a way where I’d given everything I had to the project I was tackling, but never felt the “nailed it!” factor I was accustomed to aiming for in work. I would finish my workdays feeling like I’d just run a marathon, and possibly (probably) had forgotten to eat lunch. Over the last year, I’ve tried a few different approaches to switching up my work-from-home routine, and here are some successes I’ve found.

Keeping the House Clean
To me, a cluttered workspace or desk is a huge distraction. And when you’re working from home, sometimes the dishes are in view of your “office”! My desk at home literally faces a wall, which isn’t the most glamorous view, but it helps me to focus in on what’s in front of me when I’m working there. It’s just my computer and that brick wall, really, so I’m less likely to get distracted by my housecleaning chores.

Run an Errand/Phone a Friend
Often, if I have an errand to run that fits in with my work day, I like to do it first thing in the morning. This motivates me to get up and out of the house, seeing other people gives me energy, and I can come home and get to work on my project with more vigor. If it’s not an “errand day”, but I know my energy is low, sometimes I’ll call my mom or another friend just to say hi. It’s like the morning chit-chat you have with coworkers, kind of! For a while, I Skyped with my friend Hallie who also owns her own business, and that was a good motivation to get out of bed and get dressed, too.

Set a Timer
I don’t always use this trick, but I pull it out of my arsenal when I find I’m hitting a wall with my productivity. I’ll set a timer and say to myself, “I’m going to work on this project for 40 minutes”. The timer isn’t always set to 40 minutes, sometimes I vary it depending on the project at hand or how much time I’m trying to save. A set amount of time that I’ve committed to being free from distractions — no Pinterest, no phone, etc. will always help me get going on a goal, and 9 times out of 10 I finish it faster than I would have without the timer. It kind of feels like I’m participating in a race on a game show. How fast can this freelancer edit her photos without compromising quality?? Stay tuned to next week’s episode, airing at 9/8 Central! The same magic somehow works when I light a candle. I can't explain it!

Listen to Podcasts
Pretty sure “listen to podcasts” is a tangible step in every element of bettering your life. It feels that way sometimes! There’s such a variety of great content being produced on this platform; I’m putting it out there — we are officially in the golden age of podcasting. Anyway, I can’t always listen to podcasts while I’m working because a lot of my job is writing, but sometimes I turn ‘em on while I’m doing photography projects, and I always smile when I do.

Don’t Actually Work from Home
So, this may sound like cheating, but most of my success “working from home” is really just working from a coffee shop. I’ll go to quiet places where there are people around — coffee shops, sometimes my parents’ house… I’ve even been known to work from a restaurant or two. I find that I gain energy by being in the same room as other people, and knowing others are working in the same capacity helps me to stay on task. The key to being an extrovert is that I don’t have to talk to every single person in the coffee shop. Sometimes just seeing others, maybe eavesdropping in on their conversations 😉, and knowing I’m not alone in the world does the trick.

It’s been a journey, but now that I’ve been at this freelance thing for over a year, I feel like I’m getting more into the swing of things! Cheers to waking up (semi) early and chasing your dreams, however that looks for you.

P.S. If you’re new here and are thinking, so what exactly do you do for a living?, here’s a link to my portfolio site.

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Taking Baby Steps Toward Bigger Goals

The road to achieving our goals isn't always as direct as it seems. Ain't that the truth! My hometown has a lot of hidden gems (see proof here), and one of those is The Bravery Board. A few of my friends started The Bravery Board to promote mental health to creatives and others who desire growth, and maaaaan, do they do a good job with it!

I've been to most of The Bravery Board's events, which they host quarterly in my hometown of Springfield, MO. Each time I leave the sessions feeling awake and inspired — likely thanks to the fuel of Eurasia Coffee, where The Bravery Board meets. The gals who run The Bravery Board have wonderfully curated speakers and topics; sometimes based off of felt needs, other times they bring ideas to the table and ask you to consider them in a fresh way.

Recently, I had the opportunity to talk with my friend, Michelle, for The Bravery Board's most recent podcast. It was an engaging conversation on the topic of taking baby steps toward bigger goals — which I highly recommend everybody do! If you're in need of some encouragement to "do the thing", here's some of my most candid advice on the topic.

I certainly can't say I've achieved all of my goals at this point, but I'm thankful for the windy road I'm on as I'm making my way through somewhat of a "DIY" career. You can take a listen to my conversation with Michelle either on SoundCloud or iTunes. xo!

P.S. Here's details to this outfit: Similar Top, Wide Legged Jeans (on sale for $9 😱)!, Shoes (I got these in Hawaii last year, and now I will never not wear them), Similar Sunnies

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I'm on a Podcast!

If you're reading this, Mom, I did it! Somebody asked me to be on a podcast!

If you're reading this and you're not my mom, my friends Shailey and Katie have a fantastic podcast called... (drumroll, please) Shailey and Katie! They're two business-owning, work-from-home moms who are laughing their way through parenthood, and they asked me to talk about my journey to self-employment (because I know nothing about parenthood 😂).

Click here if you want to hear me dish the deets on making the leap toward a full-time freelance career! While you're at it, just block off some time to listen to their other episodes because they're all so good.

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