PIXIES PODCAST promo perfection?

see below for more

VISUALIZER VIDEOS another alternative format

Evie brought this format to my attention, another to consider alongside the lyric video, unpacking video, live video, and additional narrative or concept videos (eg Pixies' 2 Bagboy bids, U2's 3 for One!)

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/watch-halestorms-official-visualizer-video-for-black-vultures/

Here's another format that could be great fun to adapt for evaluation Q's or earlier audience/genre conventions research: http://www.metalsucks.net/2018/07/02/reaction-video-alice-in-chains-so-far-under/

RETROMANIA New life on Mars for 1973 Bowie promo

Student videos often tap into the possibility of promo campaigns targeting a new, younger audience. Some of the re-formed Pixies videos, such as Bagboy, are a good example of this approach in practice by established artists.

Bowie is not the first to get either a new video (there have been several posthumous videos for Elvis, Biggie, Tupac and more, not to mention the hologram live appearances by Ronnie Dio, Michael Jackson and more) or a re-edit, but the news that a 1973 promo clip is being revisited by its director and editor could inspire more such work.

This could offer buying incentives to repackaged best of albums, and at minimum is a cheap means of gaining free media publicity through media coverage. Video plays are monetised, even if the payment levels are controversially low per online view, and video collections remain a useful means of monetising through DVD sales (eg, I've pre-ordered a new Depeche Mode DVD collecting their video work, a November release that should sell well in the gap between album releases and tours).

Watch the reworked video for David Bowie's Life on Mars.

MONETISING, PROMO CAMPAIGNS, BRANDING The Pixies

a branded campaign

As good an example as any, they're highly active across multiple platforms, and even managed to persuade me to lash out on a vinyl copy of their comeback single Bagboy and EP after spotting a promo tweet. Like many who ordered this I don't currently have a record player - the package also came with download codes for high bitrate (quality) MP3s.

Old-school email is a tool they use very effectively - always integrating their other platforms when doing so. These screenshots largely speak for themselves:

• using staggered video releases to push new releases and tours alike
• they've recorded videos for every album (2) and EP track since re-forming, a growing trend (not least as YouTube plays themselves generate revenue)
• the range of videos work to both please their existing, ageing fanbase (the band date back to the late 80s and were a key influence on Nirvana) and to target a new, younger audience too (for sheer inspiration, I highly recommend viewing a batch of these and/or Depeche Mode videos)
• they offer exclusives to various online ezines; an advantage of multiple videos is that they can offer this to a variety of sites over time
• they highlight Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (plus their website), currently the big 3 of social media (surely users will tire of Twitter eventually?!)
• look carefully at the followers/likes numbers, and you'll get a good example of which platforms are most/least significant for a primarily mature adult fanbase
• the emails are not excessive, but often enough to keep prompting fans into potential purchase of recordings, merchandise or tickets, or at worst to view their video/s or visit their online platforms
• the branding is clear: the P in a circle at the bottom of the email; the banner/masthead across their online platforms pushing the latest album, and a consistent image for their user icons
• recordings are offered in multiple formats, including vinyl and boxsets
• there is also a link for streaming
• this is tied into multiple streaming platforms

Skip to 1:43 for 2nd question in this interview in which they discuss social media...(part of my extensive Pixies playlist)

a few of the emails The Pixies (... the marketing agency they've hired!) have sent me.

Details of the latest, plus screenshots from their platforms, are below the read more line

INDUSTRY ISSUES SUMMARY Digital streams past physical

IN THIS POST: extensive lists of points you might cover to demonstrate your grasp of the music industry. There are lists on digital disruption; the changing audience/producer relationship; the morphing album format; changes with music video ... A LOT of points are covered.
Use this post with DISTRIBUTION overview (especially for Eval Q3) 

Some thoughts and a list of various issues/examples linked to the impact of digitisation (and convergence - the two should always be linked) on the music industry, the album format and the music video, with some points on marketing (which the video is of course part of) too. I've blogged on everything mentioned below. Don't quote me in coursework - find the source/s I've used or do your own search for other quotable media articles.

INDUSTRY It's the Vinyl Countdown

Here's why including a vinyl (limited) edition, as the Joy Division group did a few years back, alongside the digipak makes sense...

Sales of vinyl could hit 2m in 2015, and have now been given their own chart by the official top 40 company.

Expensive remastered vinyl packages continue to abound, especially from longer established acts. Adam Ant (huge in the early/mid 80s), for example, is currently taking one past album at a time and reissuing in vinyl as a set with plentiful unreleased material and plush packaging as part of the deal. How does £40 for a Dirk Wears White Sox package sound to you (£60 if signed)? [update, 2016: limited stock/offer, here's the main store link]

CONVENTIONS Links - points - playlist: videos I've blogged on

NB: Some highly controversial videos are listed, including 'explicit' versions; some descriptions also contain some strong language.

See this post for some quick links on useful videos to consider.

As I've discussed analysed a great many videos, the list below is partial. The initial order reflects the order from the video below, with the 1st 20 selected to highlight some of the very, very many themes when considering not just conventions of but also reception for music videos. Most can be found in a playlist too - a great way to expose yourself to a wider range of videos than you are likely to be familiar with!!!

More details after the list, but the 20 videos featured in the video (several times more in the playlist) are:

1. Morbid Angel - Existo Vulgore (2012) 
2. Sepultura - Ratamahatta (1996) 
3. PIXIES - Velouria (1990) 
4. Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares to You (1990) 
5. Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball (Terry Richardson, 2013)
6. Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball (ChatRoulette, 2013)
7. Baauer - Harlem Shake (2012) [this is a '10 best of' montage] 
8. Depeche Mode - It's No Good (Anton Corbijn, 1997)
9. Weezer - Buddy Holly (Spike Jonze, 1994)
10. Guns n'Roses - November Rain (1992)
11. Bjork - Crystalline (Anton Corbijn, 2013)
12. Sepultura - Refuse, Resist (1994)
13. Megadeth - Wake Up Dead (1986)
14. Pixies - Bagboy (Lamar + Nik, 2013) 
15. Daft Punk - Da Funk (Spike Jonze, 1995)
16. Rihanna - Pour It Up (Vincent Haycock, 2013) (EXPLICIT tag)
17. Fragma - You Are Alive (2001)
18. Guns n'Roses - Welcome to the Jungle (1987)
19. Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines (Diane Martel, 2013) [parody]
20. Lily Allen - Hard Out Here (Christopher Sweeney, 2013) 

Morbid Angel - Existo Vulgore (2012) [post]
You do need to know the conventions ... but there is much more scope to challenge them than with, say, film, as videos like this, and the following Sepultura example, demonstrate. Rammstein and Rage Against the Machine have also produced examples I've blogged on, bringing Snow White and the Beach Boys into the extreme metal genre.


Sepultura - Ratamahatta (1996) [animated] [post]
A great example of turning conventions and expectations on their heads, this is an animated video by the Brazilian hardcore thrashers! You should also take from this that inspiration can come from anywhere, including music genres (and other media, as with Morbid Angel) you may not be a fan of! [Wiki]

Here's a bonus, highly countertypical further example: old-school (these guys were well established pioneers when I was still at school!) death metallers Obituary, who for their latest single have turned to Flash-animation and a Scooby-Doo style cartoon ... be advised though: it is, nonetheless, gory. You can read about it and watch it here.

PIXIES - Velouria (1990) (one-take video) See Wiki and my posts on this.

DIEGETIC FX Smoke without fire

My enforced broadbandless blogging continues from Pepper's Cafe - 10 days of Wi-Fi only is 240 hours too much... - pertinent as it makes me think of spray...

I can't recommend the NoFilmSchool site enough. The site's name denotes its mission to equip anyone who uses it with the insights needed to produce effective cinematography. My mobile's browser has 15 tabs from this site I want to work through in more detail!

This latest post (I got it through its FB page, a typically slickly run operation) highlights an affordable smoke ... can!

As it happens I was discussing smoke effects with a student today, a topic that came up a year ago in some other country...

The spark on both occasions was The Pixies' Bagboy, an absolutely exquisite use of colour, including coloured smoke.

Of course before shooting with smoke you need to comprehensively consider health and safety (asthma could be an issue for one) and whether this will lead to any staining or odour - and how easy or not it will be to clear!!!

If I remember right this is the 40th anniversary (within a few days) of the fire at a Frank Zappa gig that inspired Smoke on the Water. Could this be the year you incorporate a smoke effect in your video?

Read the article below carefully - this is a complex area. The visual pay-off could be considerable though

.

http://nofilmschool.com/2015/12/fog-machine-aerosol-spray-can

VINYL the Cream rises, new Pixies'n'mix

Why do I keep posting on vinyl's resurrection? Several reasons:

1. You need to be aware of music industry developments
2. These should inform your marketing materials, and the formats you list (ie, not just digipak, but a 3-part list with download)
3. Digipaks are intended to mimic vinyl and so share some of their collectable, specialappeal (compared to standard jewel case releases)

I'll add images and links once sat at a computer, but this expensive boxset popped up on my FB whilst an even more expensive Pixies boxset was pushed in an email I'd signed up to when buying their comeback EP on vinyl (with multiple download options too).

IN THIS POST: Pics/links on Cream vinyl boxset; Pixies vinyl boxset; Tesco launching vinyl sales.

ARTIST CASE STUDY: THE PIXIES archetypal Indie

Accompanying the lyric 'half asleep with a loaded gun' (Silver Snail) - there are few more inventive, inspiring, and downright stunning videos out there than The Pixies' collection, especially their videos since 2013

there is an embedded YouTube playlist of ALL videos covered at the bottom of this post

Glamourpusses!

IN THIS POST: I embed and briefly discuss the music videos of The Pixies, an archetypal Indie or alternative rock band that date back to the late 80s and are still going strong, with a strikingly different set of videos since 2013. Their antagonism towards playing the promotional game, ironically, made them a key influence on a generation of video-makers. They initially refused to produce any videos then produced some challenging videos that consciously broke many of the most basic conventions of the format. No research into the conventions of music video as a format would be complete without some reference to this lot. The cinematography and use of colour (even the brilliant use of the generally cliched slo-mo tool) in their recent videos is simply STUNNING.

WHO ARE THEY?
The Pixies are a seminal alternative rock (Indie) band who remain a key influence today, both for their music and their highly distinctive music videos. In the UK they're signed to 4AD, part of the Beggars consortium (Indie labels often join forces in co-ops to cut marketing costs and to get better distribution deals, economies of scale etc) - see wiki and this Guardian article on its iconic status. Their music fused Latin influences with rock; a bossa nova, 50s rock sound with a hard edge and dark, literary lyrical themes.

DESCRIBE THEIR BRAND
Key to understanding the Pixies is their sense of coming from humble working class backgrounds in Boston; they did not need to see themselves as a glamorous band and this is reflected in their videos. In a word, authenticity is the hallmark of their branding - this is not a band who would indulge in the fakery most bands will accept in order to maximixe their media exposure and record sales. Their everyday clothing, in contrast to the extravagance of bands like KISS and Bon Jovi that dominated much of the 80s, would bring back a vaguely punk aesthetic to the rock world, with the likes of Kurt Cobain reflecting the Pixies' look. They were edgy too - some of their lyrical themes are very dark indeed, though often based in classic literature, and were prepared to play with basic song structure too.

THE WILL TO BE WEIRD: THE ULTRA SLO-MO SINGLE-TAKE VELOURIA

Yes, a shocker in some regards, but an uber risque effort, and commercial suicide in others. Or, simply: inspirational! Why don't you take on such an idea as an extra (not a main) production? There are several mainstream examples of such alternative, additional videos alongside the main production.

Their videos stand almost as anti-videos, an apparent refusal to play the promotional game:

As "Velouria" (their first single from Bossanova) was climbing up the UK Top 40, the band was offered a spot on Top of the Pops. However, a BBC rule stated only singles with videos could be performed on the show. To counter this a cheap video was made, with the band being filmed running down a quarry.^[105]In the video, twenty-three seconds of footage (the time needed for the band members to reach the camera) is slowed in order to last for the duration of the song.^[106] However, the effort in filming the video was in vain; the Pixies did not play "Velouria" on Top of The Pops while the single was in the charts.^[107] [Wiki]

Some female fronted acts

A notorious Top of the Pops 'performance' from 1988...

Simply coming from looking at ideas for a female performer, here's a few female acts you could look at. (Wiki on all-female bands amongst many lists you could consider)

I've dropped in some videos below; other iconic names to consider...

Eurythmics: singer Annie Lennox was notorious for her ginger skinhead, men's suit, boxing gloves...

Grace Jones: ripped off by Lady Gaga (and Madonna to some degree) and seemingly a forgotten 80s icon, known for her shocking fashions and muscular physique.

Madonna - so many looks, not least the Gaultier conical bra

Lady Gaga - especially the Bad Romance video...

Sinead O'Connor - horrified her record company with her tightly shaved skinhead (Skunk Anansie had less flak years later, but she was hard rock)

PJ Harvey - mixed feminine with masculine boots etc

Kate Bush - mixed classical dance with pop

Dusty Springfield - the extraordinary beehive, later taken on by Amy Winehouse

Neneh Cherry - challenged the pregnancy taboo by appearing on TotPops with her large bump

Siouxsie Sioux - there aren't many more iconic looks than this

Toyah - the facepaint as much as anything else 

Joan Jett; Suzi Quatro - both took on the very male bike leathers look

Bjork - a true visual artist and pioneer

Wendy O'Williams - a terrifying performer

Honeyblood (YT channel)

A 2-piece act with some smart videos maximizing the potential of limited locations, for example Bud:



ALL ABOUT EVE
Martha's Harbour, a 1988 hit, remains an iconic example of ethereal pop music, often featured on 'chill out' and 'ambient' soundtracks, with several remixes also floating around.

Fans have filled the void with their own videos - you could create the definitive version, and create a sizeable online following in doing so... The top hits for this still popular track are mostly fan-made stills montage videos

Despite the notorious Top of the Pops appearance, there's no official video for the track; the playlist below features 1 of many fan-made videos, a simple stills montage.

Their Vevo channel has just one video, and this is it...
DECEMBER


BELLY - SEAL MY FATE
We'd discussed the Super-16 look; that washed out, colour flare, damaged aesthetic - which has been clumsily overdone in many videos. You can see it here in this Belly video, one of several I've grabbed from a 4AD playlist (a particularly significant, alternative Indie label, part of the Beggars empire - as is Craig McNeill, who we'll hear from shortly at the ASFF...). Fairly conventional performance video overall, including some horsing around footage which gives a sense of privileged access - the specific trick with the drumsticks is rather nice:

Tarnation also use a Super-16 style in their very basic You'll Understand video.

LUSH - LADYKILLERS
Key technique here is using pans as a tool for dynamic editing, panning left and continuing or reversing the action in the following shot, sometimes using it almost as a wipe effect. The film titles-style playing with shapes is noteworthy. You could argue the flashing light effect is overdone, but it connects to the nightclub element of the lyric. The studio setup is a bit different too, and the shot variety, angles and sheer pace of editing all help to get across how brimming with attitude this band are.

REPRESENTATION Hetero-normativity, straight-washing: Sam Smith etc

Take 2, take 1 having been wiped by the Android app crashing...

Great article, written from a queer (American) perspective, challenging the cosy consensus that we've moved on from homophobia being culturally acceptable. The writer uses a term new to me (a neologism!), straight-washing (x-washing is an established concept though, green-washing, falsely adopting an environment-friendly image, being an example I'm more familiar with).

The Sam Smith example made me think back to the depths of BI time (Before Internet!), growing up in the 80s/90s. The first lesbian kiss in UK drama (the primetime soap Brookside) was a huge news story (Eastenders finally managed this in 2013), while Queer as Folk was shock and awe television - both, not coincidentally, Channel 4 shows. Boy George became a camp national treasure ... but only after declaring he'd rather have a cup of tea than coitus [link is to a page from Simon Napier-Bell's pop history bio] (my first ever Big Bang Theory intertextual reference there...).

You can see a Queer as Folk trailer here; NB: the series was rated 18, and the trailer features sexual references.You can find lots of analysis of the Brookside and other same-sex 'controversies' here (I was trying to find some contemporary newspaper coverage).

The Brookside kiss was headline news

Bronski Beat and the Communards had huge hits fuelled by Jimmy Somerville's extraordinary vocals, but did so with the bands' sexuality set aside in the glossy videos. 

This playlist starts with The Communards' Don't Leave Me This Way, and continues with Bronski Beat's Smalltown Boy...

Annie Lennox caused much red ink to be spilt in the British tabloids by refusing to (applying Judith Butler's concept*) perform her gender like a good little girl, her shaven head, boxing gloves, trouser suits and all appalling the moral guardians in the press. [* gender as performativity; something that doesn't exist in nature but we learn to perform]

Sweet Dreams was one of many huge hits, but vocalist Lennox's counter-hegemonic behaviour, her utter refusal to play the expected (of female artists - and has this changed 30 years later?) glamour game, led to some intense tabloid flak (yes, Chomsky alert!).

Despite Madonna's Justify My Love coming along just a few years later and seemingly breaking every sexual taboo going, the bottom line is that it, like the original video for Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Relax (set in a gay club), was (and remains) banned.

The acceptable face of Frankie's Relax on ToTP:

Is the Hayley Kiyoko video Joseph Firago discusses in his article evidence of advancement? As Firago argues: yes and no - see his analysis on this.

From the colour tone to the specific intro/outro shots of the female protagonist on her bike, I can't help but perceive a curious intertextual relationship with the video for the Pixies' comeback single, BagBoy, which I've blogged on in depth...

If nothing else, though, this article manages to make the otherwise ultra-bland Sam Smith somewhat interesting!

DPAK sabotaged covers (Chris Brown, Paris Hilton etc)

Just as you could (and should) think up a simple single-take vid (as seen with Pixies, U2 and many more), you could also produce a 2nd d'pak outer cover, using the sabotage approach taken over covers for Chris Brown, Paris Hilton etc albums. This brief article outlines the history:

Chris Brown's albums sabotaged with protest stickers

VidEG: Pixies "Bagboy" (2013)

Much retweeted: notice of tour, vid + free MP3 download

ACT: The Pixies

TRACK: Bagboy

YEAR: 2013

DIRECTOR: LAMAR+NIK

GENRE: Alt rock

MAIN AUDIENCE: 25-44 (recent/original fans), but clearly targeting new 15-24 + possibly younger teens/tweens; M-oriented vid?

LYRICS

Money is recouped by gathering email addresses

I've blogged on The Pixies before: see this post detailing the band's style, including their quirky take on vids (or 'anti-vids'), or this post detailing their classic single-take vid Velouria (more egs here and here; comparisons to Jesus and Mary Chain here)

THE VIDEO IS EMBEDDED AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST

LAMAR+NIK often feature non-CGI sculpture-as-title. Reminds me of films like Napoleon Dynamite

IN BRIEF: TYPICALLY ODDBALL, FILMIC PIXIES VID...

• The use of digital media to promote this is exemplary
• its timed to help promote a tour: the MP3 is available free
• with controversial content rendering it unsuitable for pre-watershed UK screening, its main life will be online
• the media language is odd for a music vid, more cinematic in its approach, especially editing
• the central character is a clear representation of a (younger) fan, tho' there may be veiled criticism in there too
• its hard to judge whether this will succeed in appealing to a young, new Pixies fanbase
• there are some touches of creative genius...

SOME BACKGROUND: EXEMPLARY DIGITAL AGE RELEASE FROM DINOSAURS

Users are encouraged to tweet/FB post

This is a great example of an act originating decades ago (so long ago in fact that your blog author was barely out of primary school) that have firmly grasped the challenge and opportunity presented by digitisation and social media. I stumbled across news of a new release on Facebook ... forgot about it ... decided to log in to a Twitter account I've not looked at since setting it up years ago ... and quickly came across a link again.

News of a tour is all over the blogosphere, twittersphere, FB, e-zines and magazines (depending on what feeds you subscribe to of course). The comeback of this band is newsworthy for many publications/outlets, but the killer hook that's guaranteed the print/screen inches, thumbs up, likes, retweets and whatnots is a new video, plus the opportunity to download the track for free.
That last detail helps show the shift from music sales to ticket/merchandise sales for many acts in the digital age, plus revenue more from streaming (often by sharing in the website's, eg YouTube, advertising revenue) than physical sales.

 "You are proselytizing alone listening to the voice with your ears" (sample lyric)

Screenshot taken 4 days after this was uploaded. Note the FREE DOWNLOAD link, + director's site URL

THE VID: BASIC SUMMARY

One Shot vids

I've blogged on this before:

• Streets anti-vid 
• Single-take videos 
• Greatest single take video ever?
• Pixies

But, in looking for the name of a Guns'n'Roses track I remembered had been done as a single shot vid ("Garden of Eden", with fisheye lens also used), I came across a wiki specifically on this topic, with a great many more examples.
I've repeatedly suggested this, but here's another try ... why not shoot a single-take vid as an extra? If bands such as U2 (for "One") can justify this, so can you! And there's no editing involved!

Single take videos

LINKED POSTS: http://musividz.blogspot.com/2010/11/artist1-pixies.html 

http://musividz.blogspot.com/2011/06/greatest-single-take-video-ever.html http://musividz.blogspot.com/2012/02/one-shot-vids.html Streets anti-vid 

I mentioned this today, and George asked about the example I gave. You can find it in this post: http://musividz.blogspot.com/2011/06/greatest-single-take-video-ever.html

As I mention in this, and the 'streets anti-vid' post, when you're in groups you should think of some fun 'alternate' video/s you can do for your track, real lo-fi fan-vid style. This idea has been used by bands as big as U2 (with the 3 vids for 'One'!)

I'll trust GeorgeG will mention this post in the next lesson...

RobS helpfully came up with another eg, Coldplay's Yellow (11.2m views at time of writing!)

Streets anti-vid

LINKED POSTS: http://musividz.blogspot.com/2010/11/artist1-pixies.html 

http://musividz.blogspot.com/2011/06/greatest-single-take-video-ever.html http://musividz.blogspot.com/2012/02/one-shot-vids.html

 

What I mean by anti-vid (NOT a technical term!) is a vid that rejects the noisy stylings of the vid format, full of fast-paced edits/SFX; Kyle picked this one, and found the following quote from Mike Skinner on it:

"During a great period of intense mixing we decided that it might be nice to shoot a video. This isn't the way the record industry works and so it was under the radar of the label and done totally for us by us on a shoe string. It was totally different from any other promo that I've made in that it was something real that we just filmed rather than trying to create something real looking using lots of people and lots of angles. I feel like it's more than a video in that sense. Aswell as looking quite odd without all the singing and quick cuts" (Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2c6g6eG1mQ)

You couldn't really do something like this as coursework - how would you evidence your technical skills? - BUT I am considering the idea of each group producing at least one alternative vid, an increasingly common approach seen even with major artists such as U2 (One), and somewhat inspired by the protest vid The Pixies produced in annoyance at having to have a vid out to get on Top of the Pops. (I've blogged on these...)

You may even wish to shoot some footage for an alternative vid during the summer if inspiration strikes!

Greatest single take video ever?

UPDATE FEB 15TH 2012: In searching for GnR's "Garden of Eden" as another eg, I stumbled upon this wiki of 'one shot music videos', which lists a great many more examples!!! See http://musividz.blogspot.com/2012/02/one-shot-vids.html

Pete Fraser flagged this one up on his blog; interesting viral-style vid ... yet budgeted at a cool $40k!!!!

The info is notable too, and I'll copy this in below; highlights the industrial nature of the vid - but also the commercial/ideological aspect (a counter to a negative comment about a US town that local businesses felt would be, well, bad for business).

It also suggests a possible major new name to put up there alongside the likes of Spike Jonze in director Rob Bliss, who's aim does seem to be create 'event' vids that achieve viral success but also mainstream news coverage (thus the World Record hook to this vid's backstory). And, of course, what he's done here is what most of you will do: create a new vid for a previously released track (you can work with a band on newer material if you can make the links). His main contact link is a Facebook page.

The idea of the single take is not new, but its so technically difficult to pull off, with cast, props (eg cars), sound [not such a factor for music vids!] and cameras having to be in such perfect synch, that it remains rare. In film, the openings of Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958) [watch it here] and Halloween (John Carpenter, 1979 [USA 1978]), two very different films, remain legendary for their accomplishment as single-takes, while the film Russian Ark (Aleksandr Sokurov, 2002) took this to a new level - a plush, high production-value movie entirely shot in one take:

More recently still, The Silent House (Gustavo Hernández, 2010), a Uruguyan production, took Carpenter's achievement a stage further in making the entire feature-length horror as a single-take.
As much as I admire this tremendously accomplished vid (ask any of last students and they'll tell how difficult it is to get accurate lip-synching, here achieved in one continuous take with a huge cast!), I still prefer the Pixies vid, created as a response to the machinations of the record industry (they were to be barred from appearing on Top of the Pops if their single didn't have a video); nothing like as technically brilliant as this, but a moment of raw inspiration rising from a flash of anger (and a superior tune to boot!)...

THE PIXIES VID

...and here it is in real time!

I've blogged on this before: you couldn't create such a vid and expect a good mark no matter how profound an artistic statement it is, as you simply won't rack up any marks for the many technical aspects assessed in the markscheme ... BUT I highly recommend creating just such a 2ndary vid to show your wider appreciation of the industry/audience (and to have a little fun too!)...

THE YOUTUBE BLURB

Uploaded by sefllc on 26 May 2011

The international sensation that Roger Ebert calls "The Greatest Music Video Ever Made."

http://facebook.com/GRLipDub | http://twitter.com/GRLipDub

Rob Bliss Events: http://facebook.com/robblissevents

Media Inquiries: robblissgr[at]aim.com
Business Inquiries: ask[at]sefvideo.com

"The Grand Rapids LipDub Video was filmed May 22nd, with 5,000 people, and involved a major shutdown of downtown Grand Rapids, which was filled with marching bands, parades, weddings, motorcades, bridges on fire, and helicopter take offs. It is the largest and longest LipDub video, to date.

This video was created as an official response to the Newsweek article calling Grand Rapids a "dying city." We disagreed strongly, and wanted to create a video that encompasses the passion and energy we all feel is growing exponentially, in this great city. We felt Don McLean's "American Pie," a song about death, was in the end, triumphant and filled to the brim with life and hope." - Rob Bliss, Director & Executive Producer

*Note: The "NEW WORLD RECORD" designation refers to size and scope, not duration.

This $40,000 production was entirely financed by the generosity of local sponsors that are listed below:

PLATINUM SPONSORS:
Amway Grand Plaza Hotel (http://amwaygrand.com/)
EasyRotor Helicopter (http://easyrotor.com/)