The artform of the music promo has had a hideous financial squeeze over the last few years. Directors are expected to produce eye-catching intelligent works for next to nothing, and as we read about record labels coffers hemorrhaging money to internet piracy and staff members being slewed at a fearsome rate of knots, budgets are not going to inflate quickly any time soon.
But the humble music promo is a hardy creature and, since the media fureore proclaiming the death of the music industry, has battened down the hatches and actually got more creative.
This is exemplified in Radiohead's new astonishing Promo ‘House of Cards’ by Hollywood based director James Frost which had almost everyone in the office scratching their eyeballs at its technological beauty.
The promo is the first of its kind as the filmmakers chose not to use cameras (yes, no cameras). Instead Frost opted to use a mixture of cutting edge Laser and Scanner technology to capture the images for the piece. Premiered at Google.com the promo has been a true journey into the digital future of music video.
“So how did they make it?” I hear you bawl. Well let us put on our Reel lab coat and explain:
Two different types of technologies were used for the video, a Geometric Informatics system and two Lidar systems (that’s Light Detection and Ranging Systems to you newbies out there). A Geometric Infomatics system is a scanner that uses structured light to capture detailed 3D images at close proximity and results in the wonderful ‘dot matrix’ effect that sculpts Thom Yorke’s face out of the ether. The Lidars are similar laser systems that used to scan and capture the larger environments in the video.
But enough of the geek chat – here is the director's word:
James Frost first considered the technologies that were used in the making of this video nine months ago when talking with Aaron Koblin, a data visualizer. 'Aaron explained to me that UCLA and Harvard were researching real-time 3D scanning', says Frost. 'The fact images were being created with data fascinated me, I thought it would be great to utilise it in a creative way.'
Upon realising that one could scan something in real-time and in 3D using lasers, Frost wanted to find a way to use the technology to make a video. 'How can I use this and who might remotely be interested was the first thing that entered my mind'
'The only band I could think of that would even entertain the idea, because of the experimental values attached, was Radiohead. I sent a proposal to their managers, whom I've known for a long time, and a few months later I received an email saying Thom Yorke was intrigued and wanted to know more'
The video was ‘shot’ over two days across Palm Beach County in Florida. 'The whole video was a challenge since it's never been done before. We had to go in knowing this was a rather expensive experiment, but we also knew what was capable from the technologies as we’d done enough research to know we would get an image for sure, but exactly what kind of image was still up for debate'.
The Geometric system was used to capture Thom Yorke's performance, the female lead's performance, and several close-ups in the party scene. The Velodyne lidar system was used to capture the exterior scenes as well as the wide party shots. 'The most challenging part was scanning these images and then not seeing anything for two weeks while the data was processed', says Frost. 'I felt utterly helpless, yet excited at the same time, as I had no idea what the images would look like. It was a very tense couple of weeks'. Once the files were ready, James worked with Nicholas Wayman-Harris of Union Editorial to build the edit.
Frost worked for seven weeks with The Syndicate to develop the look, camera choreography and 3D environments to finish the video. Visual effects supervisor Ben Grossman helped to translate the director's vision for the vaporization shots and overall aesthetic of the piece. Compositing supervisor Alex Henning worked tirelessly to get the vaporization shots to blend with the data. CG technical director Rodrigo Teixera worked with Frost and editor Nicholas Wayman-Harris to compose all the shots in 3D. Adam Watkins was the CG supervisor and Magdalena Wolf was the visual effects producer who oversaw all the day-to-day running of shots broken down by scene and frame numbers.
Anyway, enough chatter, here is the video. We at The Reel think you will agree its truly amazing (and only a matter of time 'til an ad rips it off…)
But the humble music promo is a hardy creature and, since the media fureore proclaiming the death of the music industry, has battened down the hatches and actually got more creative.
This is exemplified in Radiohead's new astonishing Promo ‘House of Cards’ by Hollywood based director James Frost which had almost everyone in the office scratching their eyeballs at its technological beauty.
The promo is the first of its kind as the filmmakers chose not to use cameras (yes, no cameras). Instead Frost opted to use a mixture of cutting edge Laser and Scanner technology to capture the images for the piece. Premiered at Google.com the promo has been a true journey into the digital future of music video.
“So how did they make it?” I hear you bawl. Well let us put on our Reel lab coat and explain:
Two different types of technologies were used for the video, a Geometric Informatics system and two Lidar systems (that’s Light Detection and Ranging Systems to you newbies out there). A Geometric Infomatics system is a scanner that uses structured light to capture detailed 3D images at close proximity and results in the wonderful ‘dot matrix’ effect that sculpts Thom Yorke’s face out of the ether. The Lidars are similar laser systems that used to scan and capture the larger environments in the video.
But enough of the geek chat – here is the director's word:
James Frost first considered the technologies that were used in the making of this video nine months ago when talking with Aaron Koblin, a data visualizer. 'Aaron explained to me that UCLA and Harvard were researching real-time 3D scanning', says Frost. 'The fact images were being created with data fascinated me, I thought it would be great to utilise it in a creative way.'
Upon realising that one could scan something in real-time and in 3D using lasers, Frost wanted to find a way to use the technology to make a video. 'How can I use this and who might remotely be interested was the first thing that entered my mind'
'The only band I could think of that would even entertain the idea, because of the experimental values attached, was Radiohead. I sent a proposal to their managers, whom I've known for a long time, and a few months later I received an email saying Thom Yorke was intrigued and wanted to know more'
The video was ‘shot’ over two days across Palm Beach County in Florida. 'The whole video was a challenge since it's never been done before. We had to go in knowing this was a rather expensive experiment, but we also knew what was capable from the technologies as we’d done enough research to know we would get an image for sure, but exactly what kind of image was still up for debate'.
The Geometric system was used to capture Thom Yorke's performance, the female lead's performance, and several close-ups in the party scene. The Velodyne lidar system was used to capture the exterior scenes as well as the wide party shots. 'The most challenging part was scanning these images and then not seeing anything for two weeks while the data was processed', says Frost. 'I felt utterly helpless, yet excited at the same time, as I had no idea what the images would look like. It was a very tense couple of weeks'. Once the files were ready, James worked with Nicholas Wayman-Harris of Union Editorial to build the edit.
Frost worked for seven weeks with The Syndicate to develop the look, camera choreography and 3D environments to finish the video. Visual effects supervisor Ben Grossman helped to translate the director's vision for the vaporization shots and overall aesthetic of the piece. Compositing supervisor Alex Henning worked tirelessly to get the vaporization shots to blend with the data. CG technical director Rodrigo Teixera worked with Frost and editor Nicholas Wayman-Harris to compose all the shots in 3D. Adam Watkins was the CG supervisor and Magdalena Wolf was the visual effects producer who oversaw all the day-to-day running of shots broken down by scene and frame numbers.
Anyway, enough chatter, here is the video. We at The Reel think you will agree its truly amazing (and only a matter of time 'til an ad rips it off…)
