Week 5: Once Films

Rewind to 1988… 

The music was loud. The lyrics were revolutionary. Talents like Bruce Springsteen, U2, Queen and Lionel Richie were at the top of the music charts. 

This week, we had the opportunity to get an inside look at what goes on at a production studio: Once Films. At Once, our client was Fine Print Small Press (FPSP), a tangible goods shop. We were tasked to great a pre-production plan for a 5-minute feature video on STL’s psychedelic folk-rock band, the Three Merry Widows. 

The Widows by their peak success in 1991. After being discovered by TVT records at the Blue Note in Columbia, Mo., the band moved to Boston, signed with the label and produced their first album, Which Dreamed It? The label put immense amounts of pressure on the group to write a second album, and creative differences between TVT and the Widows led to the band’s breakup. Now, over two decades later, the group finally reunited to release the sophomore album they wrote so long ago, I Was The Moon.

Three Merry Widows teamed up with FPSP to produce their vinyl record and the video our team got to plan. Because none of us have backgrounds in video production, this week proved challenging. However, we put our heads together, interviewed the band’s drummer Danny Hommes, leaned on the team at Once Films and rose to the challenge. A special thanks goes out to Chris Ryan and Jim Harper, who entrusted us with the pre-production video, which will serve as the inaugural video in a series highlighting the different products FPSP offers. 

The video we planned will be filmed by Once Films and FPSP in the near future!