As the pandemic and winter storms drag on, the band still isn’t able to rehearse. We decided to wait until we all can be vaccinated, so we will be safe from the novel Coronavirus (boooo!). I mean, it’s not like we can play shows anyway. In the meantime, I have been making a punk rock music video for each song on our “Can’t Please Everyone” LP. Even if we can’t assemble as a band to shoot, I can still produce lyric videos and other concepts. On the heels of the “Full Body Freakout” video, I decided to interpret our song “Gatekeeper” next.
Punk rock music video story
Whenever I have downtime from dad / husband / work duties, I sneak off and chip away at my personal projects. For “Gatekeeper”, I knew I wanted to tell a story with a strong female protagonist. Up until now, we did not have any videos featuring public domain film clips and no footage of the band. During my spare time, I researched female superheroes in comics and old TV shows and movies. I found a website featuring public domain Golden Age comics, which I used for a lot of the background images and transitions. For the main story, I finally settled on using clips from a public domain Chinese Kung Fu movie, “Sister Street Fighter”, co-starring Sonny Chiba.
I chopped up clips from the movie, then sprinkled them throughout the video. Kung Fu master Koryu scraps with gangsters as she seeks to rescue her brother from a ruthless drug kingpin. This was the perfect backdrop to go along with the song’s message speaking out against sexist dudes in the local music and nerd culture scenes. The song’s lyrics flash across the scenes in various forms. I blended them in as comic book title styles, message board posts, and movie subtitles.
Add “Gatekeeper” to Your Streaming Playlists!
Did you like that punk rock music video? Add the song to your playlists on Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming services!