Behind “She Called It Melodrama” with Writer & Director Najwa Kaawach
By Andrew Mason | July 5, 2018 |
It’s been just over a year since Lorde, 21, released her second studio album, titled “Melodrama” in June of 2017. Along with receiving praise from fans all around the world, the piece quickly became critically acclaimed, even receiving a nomination for Album of the Year at the 2018 Grammy Awards.
But perhaps the album’s most impressive feature is its ability to inspire other artists.
Recent University of California Los Angeles graduate, Najwa Kaawach, 23, brought “Melodrama”’s deranged yet beautiful role call of emotions to life in her new short film “She Called It Melodrama”, which debuted last month.
Kaawach, who created the short film for her UCLA final thesis project, chose to make the tribute to “Melodrama” when she realized she wanted to try her hand at directing music videos.
“I remember thinking that [this album] belonged on a broadway stage,” she said. “It was so epic...and by August [of 2017] it hit me. I knew I wanted to direct music videos for someone like Lorde, and I had a million ideas.”
Inspired by the albums' youthful themes of partying, heartbreak, and the search for independence, Kaawach created the protagonist of Ella (also Lorde’s real first name), for her film.
The catch? Ella’s journey through her 21st birthday unfolds by way of song, as she communicates not through dialogue, but solely by the lyrics and melodies of Lorde’s "Melodrama".
“I decided the best thing to do was to cut the dialogue out and just focus on the story that the music was always going to tell on its own,” Kaawach said. “Lorde already created a story in her music, so I just had to make it my own and reinterpret it.”
One strategy the first time director used to make the film uniquely personal was to twist some of the songs’ paces and styles from their original form, turning them slightly softer and more melancholic.
“I think it's a beautiful way to marry the artist and the listener,” Kaawach explained. “Everyone experiences music in a different way, and as a director I wanted to make my own little mark as well and show Lorde how her music has inspired me and so many others.”
According to Kaawach, the filming of “She Called it Melodrama” took two days in November of 2017, with post production work continuing all the way through June. Coincidentally, the final day of filming took place on Lorde’s actual 21st birthday.
Initially hoping to shoot in an apartment found on Airbnb, Kaawach finally settled on a French-styled mansion in Los Angeles.
“It was too good to be true,” she admitted of the film site. “The colors of each room just played so well with the changes of emotions and the feelings of ‘Melodrama’.”
Kaawach believes that Lorde’s music typically encompasses dark and eerie themes (“there is always a feeling of an endless void”). As a result, while reshaping the sounds of “Melodrama”, she aimed to enhance the music’s naturally ominous characteristics.
“I love portraying strangeness in my art, so I always make sure to add a hint of it,” Kaawach said. “Darkness to me is always lingering and it shouldn’t be discouraged but embraced, because it makes the journey to the light so much more interesting.”
Kaawach decided she did not want her actors to simply lip sync to Lorde’s tracks, so she searched for an “Ella” who could both sing and capture the songs’ altered styles she had in mind.
She eventually found 23-year-old Gabi Stewart, a recent graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy: College and Conservatory of the Performing Arts. Stewart, a singer since she was three, had never sung on screen before, and admitted that she was challenged by the low notes in Lorde’s songs.
Nonetheless, using her previous on stage singing experiences, as well as by working closely with Kaawach, Stewart said she was able to showcase Ella in the intended fashion.
“We wanted to portray [Ella] as a girl who was both saddened and annoyed with the party scene and felt disconnected from the whole thing,” Stewart said. “Ella is more of a girl who just would rather have a girls night in with her closest friends.”
As of the first week of July, the 10-minute “She Called it Melodrama” has been viewed collectively by over 7,000 people on YouTube. However, it is unknown if Lorde herself has seen the short film yet.
“If [Lorde] does see it, I would really love for her to reach out to me,” Kaawach said. “I want to know if she thought I captured the album well and if she could see me directing music videos for her in the future."
To watch Kaawach's "She Called It Melodrama", click on the video below.