July was brutally hot, the cicadas got out of the ground way too early and I definitely took that as a sign to slow down on some stuff. I’ve still been putting a pause on client work, trying to find a balance that’s more sustainable. That allowed me to work on some projects on a slower pace with less urgency like the Diablo tape project which has been super gratifying.
Music video shooting for an upcoming voidxwitch single
Most of July for me and Hex was spent on planning and shooting a music video for one of their upcoming singles. Our plan was to make something that would combine the aesthetics of the Blair Witch project and werewolf movies from the 90’s and 2000’s. Things were a bit different this time around since we didn’t got funding for it and we had to figure out a way to do it on a really tight budget and with just the two of us. We settled on 2 locations in the small Ontario town from which Hex comes from, one in the woods and the second one at screaming heads, a wild sculpture garden of giant screaming heads erected in fields and in the woods by an old hippie in the area.
Like we did for the Kill the Pain music video, I did extensive storyboarding and put together a very crude animatic with them to the music to figure out all the key shots, the camera movements and the transitions beforehand. From there we did some lighting and shot tests for the more challenging ones to see if our plan was achievable and to limit the amount of stuff we would have to figure out on the spot. The main technical shot we had in mind was one where hex plays two characters in the same shot, lip-synching and dancing on both sides of a tree. Our test for that shot allowed me to realize that the best way to light that scene without making the compositing really hard was to try to get the two lights on the subjects but barely lighting the tree in the middle, which would be our line where to cut the footage.
Additionally to the planning of the shooting, I also made / sourced a couple of props and accessories for the video; an old rusty shovel, a breakable chain, symbols made of sticks à la blair witch and the key element: a best mask, a leather mask and harness with a snout and ears that would be the statement piece for one of the characters. When the song and music video is out I’ll be able to develop further on the making of all this and share pictures of the process with you here :)
CD version of Earthworks
After the release of my album, the launch party and it’s distribution on all platforms (i caved in, it’s now on spotify, apple music and all other streaming platforms) I wanted to take a break to celebrate the achievement. Since then I’ve been thinking about what the physical release of it could look like. My conclusion is that a CD with a booklet in a digipack would be the best option, it allows the cover art to be a good size, the booklet will contain extra illustrations to accompany each track and the CD itself will allow a really crisp reproduction of the music in all it’s detail.
I’m currently finishing the design files for the digipack and CD and working on the illustrations on the side. They’re probably gonna take me a while to complete but it will be totally worth it in the end i feel. Depending on how much interest there is, I might do a special edition that includes a print of one or a couple of the illustrations with the CD too, we’ll see!
I also had the great surprise of being contacted by the local CKUT radio station that wanted a copy of my album since they’ve been playing it on the air :)
Reading:
- A Year in the Life of a Shinto Shrine by John K. Nelson
Listening to:
- No help for the mighty ones by Subrosa
- Four Phantoms by Bell Witch
Watching:
- Ghostrider (2007)