April 2008
For their latest track, "In My Head," British rock/pop band Your Vegas turned to Company X for help in creating a highly visual and energetic video. Founder Barney Miller worked closely with lead singer Coyle Girelli on concepting the video, an homage to the simpler days of music videos that were driven by vibe, visual eye candy and performance. Your Vegas, recently signed to Universal Republic Records, is currently on tour as the opening act for The Bravery.
"Barney was amazing to work with," says Coyle Girelli. "He understood and shared our vision for the songs and created visually powerful, energetic and moving pieces of art. A brilliant mind and soul."
In a beautiful mix of stark graphic imagery and animated light elements, "In My Head" features the band as they perform the song from their recently released debut album, "A Town and Two Cities." The video premiered last week on Buzznet and MySpace, and will be featured on YouTube's Director page tomorrow, where an advance release has already collected more than 50,000 hits in less than a week.
To view "In My Head," please go to http://homepage.mac.com/barneybarn
For Barney Miller, an editor by trade who stepped into the roles of director, editor, animator and colorist on this job, the video was an all-encompassing project. Miller has known the band for over a year, which has recorded demos at sister company and music house Sugarbox, and co-wrote one of the tracks on their new album with Sugarbox Founder Andrew Hollander.
"This is a great song, and the band has a dynamic stage act and presence," explains Miller. "We really wanted the video to be driven by their energy and performance, much like the music videos of the 1980s. We shot in an industrial setting with an incredible DP, David Lanzenberg, and just filmed a great band performance first. The band had just finished the first leg of their tour, which gives the video a really tight, live concert feel."
"Making this video was such an exciting process," adds David Lanzenberg. "We shot the band on a small HD camera against a clean white background. Their dark wardrobe and our dramatic lighting really made them stand out. I always enjoy working with Barney. He's an editor at heart and knows what shots he needs to make the video come together - but he also allows room for experimentation. This creative spontaneity never stops. He was always pushing for more."
To capture the band interacting with the lighting effects, Miller shot portraits of them against a black background with a still camera, a technique he'd been experimenting with on his own. Using long exposures of 10 - 20 seconds on the still camera, Miller, Lanzenberg and crew were able to move around Your Vegas with lights, creating lively geometric shapes and a tunnel of light around the band members.
"There was no compositing done in the postproduction," says Miller. "All of the effects were done in-camera with still frames. It's more organic that way. We were really happy with the results."
Miller was able to use his animation background in school and on independent film projects to loop and animate the different frames in the Avid for a seamless flow. He also handled the color correction, giving the piece a stark graphic feel by removing most of the color.
"Only the color on their skin and guitars remained," concludes Miller. "The high contrast of the blacks, whites and grays against the animation and light seemed to fit perfectly. We had such a great collaboration with Your Vegas on this video. They were open to our ideas, and really allowed us to
take the reins creatively."
Project Title: "In Your Head" by Your Vegas
Label: Universal Republic Records
Production Company: Detox Films
Director: Barney Miller
DP: David Lanzenberg
Executive Producer: Rachelle Way
Producer: Gwynne Evans
Where Shot: Brooklyn Studios, New York
Editorial, Animation & Postproduction Company: Company X
Editor/Animator/Colorist: Barney Miller
Executive Producer: Rachelle Way
Producer: Gwynne Evans
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