Digital Good Time: "Baby Baby Baby"

Digital Good Time: "Baby Baby Baby"

Damn. People sure are making creative use of nudity and censor bars in music videos lately. Last year there was Keith Schofield's video for the Brighton Port Authority, then there was Brooklyn duo Matt and Kim's "Lesson Learned" video, and now comes French electropop duo Make The Girl Dance with "Baby Baby Baby". Does the amount of female nudity in this video have anything to do with why I'm writing about it in a feature where I typically only write about videos with some artistic brilliance? Heeeeeeeeellllll yeah Maybe, but you do have to appreciate the direction in this video. I mean, France may be a much less sexually conservative country than the states, but I'm pretty sure orchestrating three naked chicks walking down the street in one take without interruption is no small feat.

The main thing I wonder about this video, from a purely technical standpoint of course, is if they put trackers on the nipples. If you've ever tried to track movement in post-production to add a graphic element (in this case the censor bars), you'll know that tracking markers makes the job a cinch compared to the time-consuming duty of doing it all manually in post. The movement on those censor bars seems way too accurate to have been done manually if you ask me. Plus, having tracking censors would definitely have skirted (juuuust barely) any public indecency laws that may have hindered production. Hmm...anyway, just watch it; and if it wasn't obvious: NSFW!!!

Links:
Make The Girl Dance

Digital Good Time: "Warrior's Dance"

Digital Good Time: "Warrior's Dance"

Remember The Prodigy? Yeah, that techno-ish band that got really big in the late-1990's with songs like "Firestarter" and "Smack My Bitch Up"? They're still around, you know. Don't worry, I didn't know either until this new video, "Warrior's Dance", popped up about a month ago; and it's actually a pretty badass video. It was directed by the morbidly brilliant Corin Hardy, who's obsession with children's stories and old horror movies has blossomed into an impressive body of work thus far. He does a lot of stop-motion animation in the style of old special effects wizards like Ray Harryhausen, and his admiration for that era of movie-making really shows through in video's like "Warrior's Dance". Here, he brings to life a discarded pack of cigarettes who personify and commence wreaking havoc inside a bar with their recently freed cigarette box buddies. That is, before they burn themselves to death while dancing like there's no tomorrow. It helps to actually watch it for that description to make sense.





Links:
Corin Hardy

The Prodigy

Digital Good Time: "Punches"

Digital Good Time: "Punches"

You can never underestimate the power of good cinematography. "Punches", the debut video from Ireland's Valerie Francis, has it down pat. Sure, it's only really one stationary shot for the entire thing, but it's a damn beautiful, well lit shot, and it works. Directed by Eoghan Kidney, the ambiance of the video nails the atmosphere the song creates. The particles and objects flying through 3D space provide a nice compliment as well. Much of it seemed to be effect while other parts appear to have been filmed separately and then composited (good thing, too; I can only imagine she would've had a tough time getting some of that stuff out of her hair later). Overall nice video. Not outwardly stunning, but subtle and well done nonetheless.





Links:
Valerie Francis
Eoghan Kidney

Digital Good Time: Paul Romano

Digital Good Time: Paul Romano
(Digital Good Time is a series in which xoxobra focuses on the visual side of music)
Like many people, I became familiar with Philidelphia-based artist Paul Romano's work through Mastodon. Seeing his cover for their 2002 album Remission was a large part of the reason why I bought it. Once I saw Romano's work for their sophomore effort, Leviathan, I was wishing I could afford to fork over the $300-plus bucks for a large print of both album covers.

While Romano got his start with Mastodon, he hasn't stopped there. In just a few years of designing album covers, he went from spunky upstart looking for any work he could get (he actually landed the first Mastodon project by walking right up to Relapse Records unannounced) to one of the most in-demand visual artists in the music industry. Said Romano in an interview with Decibel Magazine: "I want to tailor a distinct visual sense to the band and add dimensionality to their music. Album art is more than just packaging, it's a little window to another world." That's certainly the case with his artwork.

(2002; album cover for Remission; click to view large size)

(2004; inside LP gatefold [left] for Leviathan; click to view large size)

(2005; full spread cover for Tone Poems for Sad Times; click to view large size)

(2003; front and back album covers for II; click to view large size)

(2003; front and back album covers for File Under Black; click to view large size)

(2003; back cover for The Life & Times of Laddio Bolocko;click to view large size)

Romano's latest work can be seen on the cover of Mastodon's new album, Crack the Skye, which was released last month. Pick it up, it's awesome.

Links:
Paul Romano

Digital Good Time: "Fur In My Cap"

Digital Good Time: "Fur In My Cap"
(Digital Good Time is a feature in which xoxobra focuses on the visual side of music)

If you've payed attention to the videos I post on this feature, you may notice my tendency to post videos that take a relatively simple concept and use it in a creative or funny way. The technique used in Rob Roy's "Fur In My Cap" should be nothing new to those familiar with Late Night with Conan O'Brien and his mock via satellite interviews with the likes of Martha Stewart and Arnold Schwarzenegger, which used still pictures of the celebs with the mouth masked out and layered it on top of live video to simulate talking. It was fucking hilarious, and seeing this video made me wonder why the effect hasn't been used more often.

Though precise technical proficiency isn't required to pull this off successfully, the director, Ethan Lader, did a pretty good job of matching the lighting and angle of the mouth with that of the still picture. My only complaint (besides the painfully average song) is that he didn't expand more on the other animated elements, such as the bicycle wheels at the beginning. A few more embellishments like that could've made a good video excellent. But still, he's a talented director and this one's worth checking out.




Links:
Ethan Lader
Rob Roy

Digital Good Time: "Divinations"

Digital Good Time: "Divinations"

Typically, metal isn't a genre known for it's groundbreaking and innovative music videos. In fact, it's usually the opposite: the videos are often massively cheesy affairs with out of the box special effects filters used with little or no restraint, complete with bad acting by a scantily-clad token hot goth chick(s). For "Divinations", the lead single for Mastodon's upcoming album Crack the Skye (directed by Robert Schober), they...um...well, they pretty much follow this formula to a T, BUT WITH ADDED YETI! So admittedly, I'm not posting this video for its artistic achievements, but as a Mastodon fan I am anticipating the new album. It'll be interesting to see their progression.



Nearer to the release of the album, I'll prepare a Digital Good Time feature on the man responsible for Crack the Skye's cover art, Paul Romero. Trust me when I say he's one of the best in the business.

Links:
Mastodon
Crack the Skye

Digital Good Time: "Bibliophone"

Digital Good Time: "Bibliophone"
(Digital Good Time is a series in which xoxobra focuses on the visual side of music)

There's something very charming about the simplicity of After Effects/Flash animation. Yeah, many a shitty video has been created by many an amateur to the programs, but with a little creativity you can more than compensate for tons of experience and know-how. "Bibliophone", by up-and-coming UK electronica artist Zoon van SnooK does this well. Produced by a start-up UK animation studio called Stanthers Ink (S_Ink), the video uses the beat of the song to cue all of the actions in the video. The inanimate objects falling from the sky start a skittering beat, the higher-pitched synth noises act as voice for the characters, the waves move to the lower-pitched synth, etc. I love the guy on the left, whose smiles and excited facial expressions make it seems like he's just happy to be there.

Cool first effort by these guys, and nice song by Zoon van SnooK. I'll be sure to look out for future efforts.





Links:
Zoon van SnooK
S_Ink

Digital Good Time: "Headache"

Digital Good Time: "Headache"

I consider myself fairly aware when it comes to politics and current events, but the conflict between Israel and Palestine makes my head hurt. Every attempt I've made to understand the nuances and complexities have only taken me in circles, so by default I remain neutral and hear both sides of the argument without leaning towards one side or the other.

I am however, down with putting the breaks on senseless violence. So is motion designer Mato Atom, which is why he's created this short video for Amnesty International and DAHRA (Designers Against Human Rights Abuse) that puts a charmingly funny spin on the situation. Featuring an instrumental track from Nine Inch Nails' Ghosts I-IV album, the video personifies two tanks as lovers, who turn a sexual advance into a poignant message.






Links:
Mato Atom
Amnesty International
DAHRA

Digital Good Time: "Night of the Living Dope"

Digital Good Time: "Night of the Living Dope"
(Digital Good Time is a feature in which xoxobra focuses on the visual side of music)

I like this song. It's really quick and energetic and enjoyable even though the lyrics are your typical party-rap fare that basically breaks down to "I like to have sex". Still, the video is perfectly fitted for the song: quick, energetic, and a little ridiculous. Directed by the up-and-coming Lance Drake, the video thrives on randomness: animated eyes composited onto Curtain's face, blatant smoke machine abuse, skittering dropped-frame playback, the crazy moving cutouts with the echo ghosting effect, the mirrored duplicates, etc. It seems the idea was to throw in as many tricks as possible within two minutes but somehow it still works. It's constantly moving, and the cuts often synch with the beat. It also helps that the film quality is great with excellent contrast and lighting. Check it:



Links:
Curt@!n$
Lance Drake

Digital Good Time: "Skeleton Boy"

Digital Good Time: "Skeleton Boy"

(Digital Good Time is a series in which xoxobra focuses on the visual side of music)

2009's first installment of Digital Good Time features the first cool music video to be released in the year, for a song called "Skeleton Boy" by UK disco-pop band Friendly Fires. Directed by Clemens Habicht of Nexus Productions, the video takes more literal use of the song title and dressed the band in black tights decorated with double stick tape in a skeletal pattern, which only shows through once a set of powerful offstage fans start blasting and bean bag filling starts flying and sticking to the band. I am not much of a fan of the song, but visually it's a pretty cool concept.



Links:
Clemens Habicht
Friendly Fires

Digital Good Time IX

Digital Good Time IX
(Digital Good Time is a series in which xoxobra focuses on the visual side of music)

Keith Schofield, who's making a name for himself this year with videos like his raunchy "Safe For Work Porn" ad for Diesel's 30th anniversary celebration, further explores the tasteless yet creative angle with his video for the song "Toe Jam" by the BPA. The 70's-porn inspired video opens with a bunch of hot, young singles gathering in a shag-carpeted living room for a sexy party, quickly shedding their clothes and then dancing around in the nude. Don't worry, you won't have to look over your shoulders while you watch this one, because the playful creative angle *ahem*...exposes itself soon after. With the brilliant use of the black censor bars, the party goers gather into simple formations to simulate letters, smiley faces, gunfire, and even a game of Pong. It's actually pretty funny. Light on visual effects, but heavy on clever visual tricks.



Links:
Keith Schofield
The BPA

Digital Good Time VIII

Digital Good Time VIII
(Digital Good Time is a series in which xoxobra focuses on the visual side of music)

Perhaps I'm being too presumptuous with the following statement, but I think I recently found the best illustrator currently working. His name is Aaron Horkey from Minnesota, and he's amazingly badass at what he does. I first stumbled upon one of his works in the fall of 2007, when I saw his concert poster for the Boris tour. But it wasn't until recently that I decided to look up up more of his work, and I couldn't help but be blown away by my discovery. Talk about attention to detail; his large and complex illustrations must take an eternity to create. According to this forum post dedicated to the creation of his gig poster for Pelican, "an eternity" isn't that far off.

Unfortunately, official information on this guy is hard to find. He's a member of a design team called Burlesque Design, where some of his work is featured, but he doesn't have his own personal portfolio available online. So the posters gathered here came from a variety of random yet reliable online sources. Still, the quality speaks for itself:





All of the works below are credited solely to Horkey except the Juxtapoz piece just above, on which he is credited for the illustration only (not the color or design).

Links:
Burlesque Design

Digital Good Time VII

Saw the Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, this weekend. It was okay. It wasn't quite as good as the excellent Casino Royale, but I wasn't expecting it to be, especially considering the fact that I think Casino Royale is the best action movie of the decade after The Dark Knight. But Quantum of Solace wasn't a bad way to spend part of my Saturday night.

As is the tradition with James Bond movies, the title sequence was a major part of the experience. You can't assign the responsibility of naked dancing woman silhouettes and bodies falling through 3D space to just anybody, and the opening for Bond part twenty-two was put into the more than able hands and minds of MK12, a motion graphics design juggernaut based humbly out of Kansas City, Missouri. Every time you see some incredibly cool graphics on TV or in a movie, there's a ridiculously high chance that these guys were responsible for it, and I'm not even exaggerating when I say that. Here's what they did for Quantum, with Jack White and Alicia Keys handling the soundtrack:



Well, you've probably noticed by now how crap the video quality is. For some reason, MGM has yet to put an official version of the opening sequence online, so we're stuck with this pirated version (which serves them right I would say...if they were actually losing money from it). But hopefully the impressive work that MK12 has done is obvious.

Links:
MK12
Quantum of Solace

Digital Good Time VI

Digital Good Time VI
(Digital Good Time is a series in which xoxobra focuses on the visual side of music)

A few years ago I came upon a book in the bookstore called The Art of Modern Rock, a collection of gig posters created throughout the 80's and 90's for a ton of bands by a ton of illustrators. Priced at $75, it never left the bookstore, but it did leave an impression on me. For a while after that, I entertained the idea of concert poster illustration, which, like music video directing, I saw as another way in which music and the arts mixed. Of the artists I researched during that time, Arik "Moonhawk" Roper quickly became my favorite gig poster artist.

His signature style of dark, surrealistic, fantasy watercolors never failed to impress, whether they graced album artwork, gig posters, or other music related prints. One of his most recent projects, for Ancestors excellent debut album Neptune With Fire (which I reviewed here), inspired me to pay tribute to the man by featuring some of my favorite pieces of his.

Illustration for Guitar World Magazine (2007)

Illustration for Revolver Magazine (2006)

T-shirt design (2006)

Illustration for Arthur Magazine (2006)

Another illustration for Arthur Magazine (2006)

Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull album cover (2008)

Links:
Arik Roper

Digital Good Time V: Gideon Baws (1975 - 2008)

Digital Good Time V: Gideon Baws (1975 - 2008)
(Digital Good Time is a series in which xoxobra focuses on the visual side of music)

Not to give this blog (or this feature in particular) a morose feel as of late, but I'd be doing a disservice if I failed to acknowledge the recent passing of Gideon Baws, one-forth of the video directing team Shynola. Baws passed away just last week in Los Angeles at the age of 33.

(photo credit: dL76)
I have a personal attachment to this news because Shynola was one of the first video directors that I got into. They helped me recognize music videos as a legitimate art form, and that expressing a love for both music and visual art can exist in the same media. I still remember the first time I saw the video for Radiohead's "Pyramid Song". I was lazily flipping channels and tuned into it right at the beginning, and about four minutes later my life had changed a little. I'm not exaggerating when I say that. Seeing that video when I did opened up a whole new world for me musically and played no small part in making me into the obsessive music fiend I am today. Otherwise, I'd probably still consider Linkin Park the pinnacle of modern rock.




The second time I found myself utterly floored by a Shynola video was during my first year of college in '02-'03. I was going through the motions at an art school in a major that I no longer had a passion for, when I saw the video for Queens Of The Stone Age's "Go With The Flow", which is to this day one of the finest music videos ever created, in my eyes. Not long after that I changed my major to Visual Effects & Motion Graphics and never looked back, with a goal in mind of one day trying to be even half as awesome as Shynola was.

Shynola of course went onto bigger and better things in recent years, but the impact of the above videos on my direction in life can be equaled by very few. I'll remember Gideon Baws for whatever part, large or small, he played in their creation as a part of Shynola. Condolences to his family and friends, from a fan.

Links:
Shynola
The Director's Bureau

Digital Good Time IV

Digital Good Time IV
(Digital Good Time is a series in which xoxobra focuses on the visual side of music)

There are tons of impressive music videos out there made by talented companies with a big budget to work with, utilizing expensive and complicated software, equipment, and techniques, as well as hundreds of man hours. There are also tons of impressive music videos made by small groups or individuals with nothing but a shoestring budget, loads of creativity, and the free time after your full-time job. "Crown of Age" by the Ettes, created by Andrew Thomas Huang, is one such video.

This video strikes me because it's something I can relate to doing. The production values are obviously low, utilizing nothing but old, unidentifiable film reel clips, crude line animations, and clip art placed on 3D-layers; all topped off with a dust and scratches filter. It's nothing that couldn't be pulled off in a program like After Effects. But the way Huang treats these project assets, the viewer doesn't have the time to think about silly things like production values, and instead only sees what is quite simply a cool music video. Check out Andrew Huang's website for more of his projects. He's building up an impressive body of work so far in his short career and has already made a name for himself. It'll be interesting to see what he comes up with in the future with more tools at his disposal.

Links:
Andrew Thomas Huang
The Ettes

Digital Good Time III: Nagi Noda (1973 - 2008)

Digital Good Time III: Nagi Noda (1973 - 2008)

(Digital Good Time is a series in which xoxobra focuses on the visual side of music)

This post pays tribute to the late Japanese artist Nagi Noda, who passed away last month due to complications from surgery after a traffic accident. She was 34.



Admittedly, I wasn't familiar with Noda until I learned of her death, but after spending some time at her website I discovered a truly unique visual artist with talent ranging from fashion to photography to visual effects. Whether it was music videos, short films, book and album covers, package design, clothing design or...hair hats (?), everything she touched was most definitely unique, to say the least. Here's a small sample of her work, and though there are tons of videos and images that I could've displayed, I've decided to focus primarily on the music related items.

(album cover for Japanese pop star Meg's 2008 single, "Precious")

(2007 video for Japanese singer Yuki's song, "Sentimental Journey")

Though the above video starts slowly, it's really worth your time to watch the entire thing. From the perspective of someone who has studied visual effects, this must have taken an eternity to complete (it utilizes a motion-controlled camera that separately filmed each duplicate). It's a true testament to how a semi-simple idea can be made extraordinary through careful planning and flawless execution.

I've only scratched the surface of Nagi Noda's life and creative output, so please take time to visit Nagi Noda's website, Uchu Country, or just Google her name and prepare to be amazed. Though I hardly knew she, I'm sure the art world will miss her.

Links:
Uchu Country

Digital Good Time II

Digital Good Time II
(Digital Good Time is a series in which xoxobra focuses on the visual arts of music)

If retro garage rock duo the Raveonettes and motion graphics studio Blind have one thing in common, it's the knack for releasing awesome music videos. So it's only natural that the two got together for this project for the Gap clothing store called Sound of Color. Here, the Raveonettes provide the music for "Black and White". How this video advertises clothing I have no idea, but visually it's quite sexy. Blind combined a mixture of different media to create the video, most interesting is the use of shadow puppetry shot behind a translucent vellum sheet. They complete the movements by nesting the characters in After Effects and animating them at the joints, then compositing them on top of each other. Here are some stills from the pre-production and production stages:

Style frame to establish the final look.

Owl sketch.

Shot of how the vellum screen was set up...

...and a couple of shots of the screen as the puppetry was filmed, both here...

...and here.

Check out Blind's website for more behind-the-scenes shots on this process, which includes all the scenes above plus storyboards and more. And here's the result of all of their hard work:



This is only one of 5 advertisements done by five different directors. The Blakes, Swizz Beats, Dntel, and Marié Digby were the other 4 artists involved in the project, all of whom worked with different colors.

Links:
The Raveonettes
Blind

Digital Good Time I

Digital Good Time I

(Digital Good Time is a series in which xoxobra focuses on the visual arts of music)

When I started to pursue my degree in Visual Effects & Motion Graphics, I did so with the dream that one day I would one day be making music videos. Though the unpredictable nature of life has pushed that dream back somewhat (hopefully temporarily?), I've maintained a great interest and appreciation for the visual side of music, so I wanted to start a recurring feature in which I post some of the more visually stunning music videos, shorts, and album artwork that I've seen recently.

First is a short called "Blissful", done by the motion graphics studio Left Channel. This is over two years old, but it still blows my mind. Using excerpts of Fantomas' 74-minute album/song Delirium Cordia, the black and white short makes excellent use of negative space in 3D to create a rather creepy environment. Also, I single-handedly credit this for getting me into Fantomas. Here's a YouTube link, but this really deserves to be enjoyed in all its clarion, non-pixelated-YouTube-FLV glory at the website:

Next is a music video. Can't say I'm much interested in Solange's sophomore album, but the video for her single, "I Decided", is awesome. Directed by Melina Matsoukas through Black Dog Films, the overall look resembles 60's-style pop art, complete with cut outs layered over highly Technicolor gradients and halftone circle patterns. Familiar pop culture references and images from the past 40 years a flash throughout, many of them related to icons of protest and revolution, such as Che Guevara, the Civil Rights marches, and the Tommy Smith/John Carlos black power salute at the 1968 Summer Olympics.

The visuals seem to have little or nothing to do with the song lyrics, and the entire thing comes off like a high budget rip ripoff of an M.I.A. video, but it really is well done. And, to give credit where credit's due, the song itself isn't bad. You can almost convince yourself that she actually had some creative control.

Links:
LeftChannel
Black Dog Films