Acclaimed French Director of Photography Delivers 'Beautiful' Cinematography in Finch's 'Anywhere But Here' Rock Music Video

    LOS ANGELES, CA, September 11, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The forthcoming music video, "Anywhere But Here," from alternative rock band, Finch, will feature cinematography from renowned director of photography Johanna Coelho. A native of France and an American Film Institute (AFI) protege, Coelho is known for her cinematography in film, television, music videos, documentaries and narrative films, including the award-winning short film, "Scaremonger."

"Anywhere But Here" is a single on Finch's third studio album, "Back to Oblivion," that is releasing Sept. 30 from independent music label Razor & Tie, which has North American distribution with Sony and RED. The band will also go on tour beginning Sept. 30 at the Casbah in San Diego.

Originally from Temecula, Calif., Finch released two prior studio albums - "What It Is to Burn" (2002, Drive-Thru/MCA) and "Say Hello to Sunshine" (2005, Drive-Thru/Geffen) - along with three EPs and two live albums. Their single, "What It Is to Burn" reached No. 15 on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart in 2003 and No. 35 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart.

Directed by Dylan Marko Bell, the "Anywhere But Here" music video is expected to release when "Back to Oblivion" releases. The video is an artistic, cinematic story that explores the experience and disorientation of a sleep train taking passengers to oblivion. Filmed last month in Santa Clara and downtown Los Angeles, it follows one woman's journey to a tank, a train, a dream and to oblivion.

"It's a sort of sci-fi dream," Coelho said. "It's about a woman who jumps from dream to dream without having any control on them. She tries to escape big dark figures that circle her. It's strange and beautiful at the same time. I think it was a very interesting visual story for me to tell."

Coelho's previous cinematography in "Scaremonger" helped the family drama win Best Narrative Short Film at the 2014 California International Shorts Festival and Best LGBT Short Film at the IFS Film Festival. "Scaremonger" was an official selection at the Fulbright Film Festival in the U.S., the Cinema City Festival (Serbia), the Costa Rica International Film Festival and the Montreal World Film Festival.

In "Anywhere But Here," Coelho overcame production and lighting challenges with critical scenes that were shot in a warehouse.

"We didn't have enough lighting equipment to light the big spaces so I had to play with the sunlight," she said. "I planned to shoot at a certain time of day to let the sun enter from high windows. I filled up the space with fog and beautiful beams of light appeared on set. The timing was perfect."

Bell, who has worked on many music videos including for bands such as Youngblood Hawke, Soft Swells and Vanaprasta, said, "Johanna is an extremely hardworking and collaborative cinematographer. Her creativity in pre-production was amplified by her execution in production. She is the first female cinematographer I have had the honor to work with and it was a joy. Her work definitely proves she is meant to be a prominent cinematographer in film history."

Coelho's selected director of photography credits include Karen Dee Carpenter's "You Try Living Here" starring Chic Daniel ("Swordfish"), Mark Stampfli's "A Good Life" with Raj Jawa (P.A.), "There is No Place that Does Not See You" directed by Jenifer Yeuroukis, "#OnlyinLA" directed by Rowena Pedrena and the award-winning Sasa Numic's "Scaremonger" and "Who Killed Mickey Mouse" with Alyssa Petersen ("Red State") and Maya Massar ("The Cabin in the Woods").

Coelho has worked critically as a volunteer for The Art Of Elysium non-profit organization that provides performing arts workshops and activities to hospitalized youth in Los Angeles.

Coelho has collaborated with many internationally renown film and television personnel including Guillaume Depardieu, Carmen Chaplin, Linh Dan Pham, Jacques Nolot and Bernard Le Coq. She studied filmmaking at the University La Sorbonne Nouvelle and cinematography at the Technical School Jacques Prevert in Paris. Coelho later received a MFA from AFI, which has many distinguished film and television alumni including directors Darren Aronofsky ("Black Swan"), David Lynch ("Mulholland Drive") and Terrence Malick ("The Thin Red Line"), as well as directors of photography Janusz Kaminski ("Saving Private Ryan"), Wally Pfister ("The Dark Knight"), Robert Richardson ("Django Unchained") and more.

For more information, visit www.johannacoelho.com, www.imdb.com/name/nm3857186/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 and www.backtooblivion.com.

Johanna Coelho is a director of photography for film, television, music videos, documentaries and narrative films.

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