I direct my first ever music video
Say hello to The Trippers! They came looking for an awesomely talented prodigal music video director… they were too expensive, so they asked me.
What a challenge. An actual band! Could I create the next ‘Thriller’ or ‘Telephone’ or would I produce some complete garbage because I have no idea how to do this sort of thing? Find out.
Who are the Trippers?
The Trippers – formerly the Psychadelic Deckchairs – are a London based band who are:
Luca Bianco – Vocals, guitar
Craig Leadbeater – Bass
Alice Notaristefano – Drums
Check out the Trippers myspace page to hear tracks and join Trippers facebook group for gig news. Still new on the scene, their retro sound is perhaps their selling point, influenced by Jimi Hendrix, The Doors and The Beach Boys.
As you can probably guess, Luca and Alice are not english despite their highly english names. No, they’re Italian! Both are from South eastern Italy from a town called Taranto:
Craig meanwhile is a fellow Coventry lad. Think Karl Pilkington meets Michael Cera. I went to school with Craig and have known him since… ages. Like… I can’t even think how long. Senior School?
How I met Craig – ANECDOTE/TANGENT WARNING
So I was sitting in GCSE History – I loved History, romans and all that, bloody great! – performing well as an A grade student when Mrs Dhillon decides she’d lost patience with this Oasis obsessed obnoxious trouble-maker and sits him next to me. The hope being, that my goodness may neutralise his blatant disregard for academic progression. What happened instead was me and Craig just talked loads, primarily about Pizza Hut. It was like a tremendous romance but without the gayness. We soon began a football team. Regular days out drinking. The all-you-can-eat Pizza Buffet became a reality not just a pipe dream. Then Mrs Dhillon started bollocking me and in truth I got a bit of a tude! Guess what grade I ended up getting? A bloody C! Craig got like an E or something, so I take the credit for him passing. Full credit.
My Experience (?)
As well as making loads of downright stupid films on youtube I directed this short movie at the BBC about a man possessed by deceased animals whom he has run over:
Potential problems making a Music Video…
A: I’ve never directed a music video before
B: My computer is utter junk and struggles like a shit every time I try to do something mildly taxing, like edit a video
C: No money, props, equipment… obviously
So… Luca, Alice and Craig came over. Guess what? It was only frickin raining!
What’s more, no one had any idea for the music video. What to do?
Well, I did what any decent Bob James Fletcher would do didn’t I? Got all creative! I seize opportunities. I’m a seizer. I put forward a silly idea to tell a story from my POV – being stalked by a busking band.
The Trippers – Do Your Things Tomorrow
My critique
You’re your own worst critic right? Well, I think the main issue is the jittery camera work which I tried to soften with a suspension effect – using Cyberlink PowerDirector. The result being the first 30 seconds look odd and drunken to me. I wish I had access to a Z1 or top quality camera to make it all more professional.. but ah nuts to it. Lastly, because my computer is crap, I wasn’t able – despite hours of tweaking – to put the first chunk of singing in sync. But then, maybe you didn’t notice that… until I pointed it out right? Other than that – I think it was a pretty fair effort and I like the song. I also like the brief cameo of my hand and feet.
They all looked great IMO and it was a jolly laugh but I think Luca was especially good, he’s got acting potential! He had some good ideas as we were filming it and seemed to have an awareness of mis-en-scene and all that which was useful. I’m not sure what that word means actually, I just wanted to sound fancy.
What do you think? Good video? Success? Leave your thoughts below!
Liked the video especially the Oasis obsessed abnoxious bass player can’t wait to see more X