Video killed the radio star…
Or did it? Actually, I think it did. Christopher Cross had a great voice and great songs, but sadly, he had a face for radio. In this world of shallow beauty, it seems that we have to be something to look at to be popular. I can’t say that I blame society on this one. There are plenty of not-so-attractive artists out there that are doing very well, but if you are a ‘pop’ star, then I think you need to be attractive, and that of course is to appeal to the people who aren’t actually listening to you, but rather just watching. My girlfriend would argue that I do this with Christina Aguilera, but I really do listen to her sing. Because she can. She also just happens to have all that talent in a little, tight outfit that…umm… never mind. She’s from Pittsburgh! Yea, that’s it…that’s why I watch…
But in this modern age of promotional videos, we do try and make it appealing for every one, and there is a simple formula to that. Make the video easy to watch, and people are (hopefully) listening to the song. Even if they aren’t they really are. We are soooo clever in this here business, aren’t we? But seriously, a lot goes into the video production, from choosing the right director, to the meetings about the theme, to locations, and most importantly : lunch.
Saturday at 4PM was the ‘call time’ to start shooting for a video for Phil’s latest song : Let’s Get Together. The theme for the video was a house party. Not a stretch for us, that’s for sure. So Phil had a bunch of people over to his house, and we had a party. With cameras. The only requirement I got was to wear board shorts. Again, a tall order.
The morning of the shoot was bad. The sky was black, and the rain was hitting hard for about an hour. Then the sun came out and teased us, then the rain hit again. The executive decision was made to go ahead with the shoot, and it worked out perfectly. At 3 the sun came out, and stayed out for us for the rest of the day. We actually couldn’t have ordered a better day.
The shoot was really fun. Granted it is not all fun and games. You would be amazed how many times we had to shoot scenes – like a dozen for one line of the song – all day long. I would much rather have it right than thrown together, that’s for sure, so patience was key, and it paid off. We got some really, really good footage. And my shirt stayed on the whole time. Something about sun reflection off my white skin, or some technical mumbo-jumbo. Haters.
Here are some pictures from the shoot. As you can see from the first picture, our job has very rough patches. And then I look really creepy taking pictures of the boss with his shirt off. And yes, those are my kayaks in the pool. Why? Well, because that’s the kind of party it was. And the last picture in the pool is a really funny shot that I hope makes the final cut. We shall see. In the meantime, enjoy these little slices…
So there’s your sneak peek. I hope my parts don’t end up on the cutting room floor, but that’s Hollywood for you. I just hope you all like this as much as we do.
And the garden count for this week – umm, lettuce and one jalapeno. On a steeck. Actually gonna be in my jambalaya tomorrow night. I’m just sayin’. I don’t want to count any chickens, but it turns out my ‘mystery vine’ ended up being cantaloupe, which looks like it’s going to yield some good fruit. Again, no counting chickens. Or melons.
Thanks to everyone for checking in, and for keeping up with me on twitter. I was ‘tweeting’ a lot from the shoot, because, well, I couldn’t drink any more, and I was bored between shots.
When the video hits the airwaves, I am hoping to have a little behind- the-scenes video up for it as well, so keep a keen eye out for that.
Make it a wonderful week, and I’ll see you on the road!
