The 50th Atlanta Film Festival presented an array of incredible projects that showcased how far Georgia filmmaking has come over the last years while also highlighting the past’s influence on the industry’s current state. However, one project stood above the rest as a cautionary tale of what can happen when you linger in the past for too long.
Through the use of an eerie, liminal warehouse, synths, and intentionally flawed graphics, Sebastian Peoples’ music video for Pedro Gayo’s song “Wake Up” gives insight into why the past is so appealing, but also why living in it can be detrimental.
Gayo, a Florida musician and alum of the Savannah College of Art and Design Atlanta, teamed up with Peoples and other student filmmakers to make a music video for his song, “Wake Up.” The music video was shot similarly to a film, differentiating it from the standard flashy visuals of modern music videos and allowing it to convey a meaningful message.
“I knew we definitely had something very unique, something no one else had done,” Gayo said about the music video’s inclusion in the festival. “What I want to accomplish is just a good form of escapism and good chords.”
Gayo sees Atlanta as a main source of inspiration for his music. Attending school in Atlanta gave Gayo the perspective he needed to write the song.
“Everyone knows Atlanta music, especially with hip-hop, but it’s so much grander than that,” Gayo said. “There are so many shows constantly going on that a lot of cities and towns don’t have.”
Though his song is what got him into the festival, music isn’t Gayo’s main occupation.
“Film is the main thing I do and get paid for,” he said. “I’m a [camera operator], steadicam, drone op.”
Gayo’s work in film is how he met Peoples and his other collaborators, like producer Estella Bentley. Bentley took on the project after hearing its unique story and mission.
“The story of this danger that can happen when you’re looking back on the past a little too much, or at least that’s how I perceive it,” Bentley said, “This unhealthy relationship you could have with a younger version of yourself, and wanting to go back to that time.”
Bentley has been producing since her freshman year at SCAD and claims to have “a little bit of a knack for it,” crediting that to her time doing show choir in high school. She was able to assemble a crew for the music video because of the various connections she’d made through college and living in Atlanta.
“Having that instant access to really lovely, talented, interesting people is a massive privilege,” she said.
One of those talented people is Peoples, who worked closely with Gayo to make the best product imaginable. Peoples said the idea for the video stemmed from his own experiences.
“I’m a very nostalgic person, and I like to look to the past a lot,” he said. “When you get depressed and when you don’t know where else to look to feel something, sometimes you can find yourself looking back into your memories.”
Peoples sees this sense of nostalgia as a potentially negative thing.
“If you get stuck there and you’re not worrying about what’s happening now and the present and how you can make things better, how you can make yourself better, then you’re just stuck,” he said.
The filmmaker took advantage of a 16mm camera to create a contrast with modern music videos. He wanted the video to look gritty rather than too clean, intentionally creating moments of imperfection. He even went so far as to leave dust specs in the camera sensors.
“I wanted [the crew] to make it feel like it was living, when every image was dirty and had a touch to it that looked like it was filmed,” he said.
Peoples was raised in Atlanta and became connected with the city’s music industry. Atlanta music is his main inspiration. The director has a lot of love in his heart for the city that inspires him to create, which comes through in “Wake Up”.
“I was growing up around music, and interesting artists, and people that had things to say about the world, whether it be relationships or politics, or anything else,” he said.
Peoples saw the music video’s inclusion in the Atlanta Film Festival as an opportunity to meet other filmmakers in Atlanta.
“I think filmmakers really do have an interesting look on society as a whole, and I think I can connect with them a lot easier because of that,” he said. “We all want connection with people.”
