Morgan Gullett – Tragedy Strikes

We had the opportunity to interview Morgan Gullett about her music video Tragedy Strikes. Tragedy Strikes is an official selection of the Utah Film Festival. Filmed primarily underwater, this music video creates a dramatic impact on the audience when it brings up the question we all ask when tragedy strikes… “why?”

What inspired you to make Tragedy Strikes?

I am a 17 year-old filmmaker and a junior in high school in Indiana.  I was 16 years-old when I started working on this music video (last year). I found Sydnie Stephens, the talented 19 year-old female singer/songwriter, who was attending BYU in Utah, on Instagram. I saw a clip of her singing a song she had written in her home and immediately contacted her asking if I could make a music video for her because the song was so moving.  We fundraised together, I hired our crew (most of whom I had worked with before), and  put out a national casting call for our talent.  Because the majority of the music video was filmed underwater, we needed someone who was experienced in underwater modeling and acting. We filmed the music video over a two day period in December 2021, in Long Beach, CA. 

What challenges did you overcome to make Tragedy Strikes a reality?

The first challenge is telling professional filmmakers you are 16 and want to hire them.. you get the initial and expected skeptical looks. I’m used to that, but when I showed them my body of work, we talked about the vision and I told them we were fundraising so, “yes! you will be paid” (and fed!), we dove right into a great working relationship together.  My producer, Teresa Jolie and I had worked together before and together,  we make an unstoppable team.  I’d only directed one other project before this and I’d certainly never directed anything underwater with so many visual effects, the polaroids that come to life under water, and drone footage. I knew what I wanted and my VFX editor Eliot Gurrin was fantastic at helping me bring this to life.  The night we filmed the underwater scenes it was 40 degrees (thankfully for our actress Milynn Moon who was in the water for close to 9 hours, the water temperature was 90 degrees) but it was a cold night which was made to feel longer than the 12 hours it took because the monitor we were using had technical problems relaying and keeping up with the 4k Black Magic camera that we were using underwater. This meant in between each and every scene, we’d have to look at the camera to see how to re-do the shot, change lighting, change the positioning etc.  It made it very difficult to see small details and we were unsure if we’d need to re-shoot any or every thing because viewing it at midnight on a small camera screen during playback is very different from when it’s been uploaded onto a large monitor.  That definitely made me nervous but thankfully, it worked out! Our DP’s Brett Stanley (underwater) and Larry Servin were fantastic. 

What did you learn about this music video creating process when you finished with this project?

I am young and have SO much to learn. Having strong people around me who are passionate and knowledgeable about their craft is not only really helpful, but it is motivating and fascinating to hear about the lessons they have learned, mistakes they’ve made and the successes they’ve had. In addition to learning more than I ever thought possible about underwater make-up, wigs and material, or polaroid photos and green versus black screens, I learned that there is always so much MORE to learn and that filmmaking is a team sport.  Whether you are the director, a PA, the talent, the editor or the HMUA, every single person is important and responsible for that collaboration. 

What are your favorite parts of the creative process when you create a music video?

I love coming up with the story. Sometimes the written and visual stories are completely different. Deciding to take things literally or to be more abstract, is so exciting to me. I love the creative aspect of filmmaking.  Being so involved as everything comes together, finding the perfect cast, locations, storyboards, learning from the lighting and sound people, just working as a team to bring everything to life with some incredible people who I learn so much from,  is what I love about filmmaking and exactly why I want to go into it, and go to film school after I graduate high school. While I would like to focus on film, music videos are really fun because the audio is done, it’s complete but the piece of art as a whole takes on a a new life as a 3 or 4 minute blank canvas that we get to play with. And that is really inspiring! 

What are you working on now and when do you expect to release it to the public?

I just directed, co-produced and worked as DP on a documentary-short about a young athlete currently in remission from t-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma. It’s now in post-production and will be released in February.  I am filming an experimental-short about women, beauty and insecurities later this month, and I am also working on a screenplay for a true story that I secured the IP on (copyright).  You will be able to see these projects as they are released on my website, on YouTube, and hopefully at future film festivals as well.

How can readers find out more about you and follow your journey as an artist?

I am currently a junior in high school so in addition to sports, school, family & friends, I am getting ready to apply to college / film school (2024).  I’d love people to check out my website which has info, lots of photos, and links. Check it out : www.morgangullett.com ,  and follow me on Instagram:  @morgangullett_official