YORKTON - Perhaps as an obvious example of how diverse film can be, a music video is among the finalists for the Ruth Shaw Best of Saskatchewan Award at this year’s Yorkton Film Festival.
“Our project "Perfect Soul" is a high-end music video for the twice-Grammy-nominated heavy metal band Spiritbox, who have frequently collaborated with Saskatchewan's own visionary director, Dylan Hryciuk of Versa Films (Saskatoon),” explained Jeremy Ratzlaff. “This video was particularly important for the band, who were planning to release it alongside their highly-anticipated album announcement. I was proud to be apart of the push to film the majority of the project in Saskatchewan, rather than in LA or Vancouver, and to take advantage of our extraordinary Saskatchewan crew.”
For those unfamiliar with the band, according to Wikipedia “Spiritbox is a Canadian heavy metal band, originally from Victoria, British Columbia, publicly established by guitarist Mike Stringer and vocalist Courtney LaPlante in October 2017. The band's full lineup comprises married couple LaPlante and Stringer alongside drummer Zev Rose, and bassist Josh Gilbert. The band's style incorporates electronic elements and draws from a variety of influences, crossing multiple metal sub-genres with its roots in metalcore and progressive metal.”
So were there challenges to creating a music video in Saskatchewan?
“The location itself was an abandoned hospital institution near Moose Jaw without power, water, or heating, and vandals had smashed every window,” said Ratzlaff. “We had to do our best to host a cast and crew of over sixty people on location for four days in November, and keep everyone as warm as possible.”
In the end it all came together though.
“The creative vision from writer/director Dylan Hryciuk and the production design from fellow Saskatoon-local Taegan O'Bertos really stand out, I feel,” said Ratzlaff. “Our production crew rallied behind the creative vision because it was immediately apparent that we were working on something special that would be appreciated by a very large audience. (And the video now has more than three million views on YouTube!)
As for the YFF nomination Ratzlaff said such recognition is always a positive.
“I’m happy and grateful to be a part of the Yorkton Film Festival again this year,” he said. “(It’s) easily one of my favourite events of the year, and as a sincere advocate for the Sask film community it's especially encouraging to be recognized in this category.”
For Ratzlaff it is a return of sorts too.
“I have had a couple of projects nominated for this award in the past; I believe the first was in 2020, when unfortunately there was no in-person festival to attend, but it was still an exciting thing,” he noted.
Certainly the nomination gives a project some added ‘cred’.
“Everyone that I've talked to across the Canadian film industry values YFF recognition,” said Ratzlaff. “Projects that are nominated for Golden Sheaf Awards are certainly given renewed attention from producers and filmmakers of all kinds hailing from Ontario, BC, etc. “ He added, “years before I ever personally attended YFF, as an emerging filmmaker living in Moose Jaw, my Sask peers would always refer to YFF as the pinnacle of Sask film celebration. I now also know that to be true from personal experience.”
The video can be viewed at youtube.com
