Alex de Campi

These Are The Last Words...

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:25:17 PDT

My last few weeks in London were extremely tough, to the point of nervous breakdown. Quite literally every project I was working on (and at the high point, it was about five at once) went wrong in some way, and I personally lost a fairly hefty amount of money on two videos going over budget. I don't really want to talk about it, because it would involve me saying things that might hurt other people's feelings.

Adding to my worries, I still haven't been paid yet by the fashion week job (two weeks of working until midnight every night) and they've gone all silent. Great, because I really need to be out another grand-plus on a gig.

I also had to fire an editor off a super-urgent project (and thus the editing of said project became part of my already crippling workload) due to some reasons which once again fall into the "hurtful to others to discuss" category. The tragicomic cherry on the cake was the MD of said editor's production company stopping by, taking a look at some of my work (including the Amanda Palmer video, no I don't have a release date for it yet), saying they're about to do a big relaunch, and suggesting they might want to rep me. My response? "Hell no." The issues surrounding the editor suggested much larger issues within the company, and my gut instinct was just, "steer clear".

I got back to America Wednesday (having shot "Guilty Pleasure" on Monday and spent Tuesday returning crap from the shoot to companies across London). Since touching down, I've pretty much been editing nonstop on the super-urgent project. It's all done. The artist likes it. But the VFX which were supposed to be done and with me by Friday are not, in fact, with me. So I'm over an already stretched deadline. Can't a girl ever catch a break?

It's been a month to try even Job. I don't go over deadline. I don't go over budget. I deliver good stuff. But God, I'm tired of nickel-and-diming it. Speaking of which, here's a video I did for £100 last December and which is only now getting a release: (clicky on picture to go to vid)

Soon to come by me are "Last Words" by The Real Tuesday Weld, "Guilty Pleasure" by Manda Rin and of course "Leeds United" by Amanda Palmer. The Manda Rin shoot went really well, especially given the horror of its preproduction. It was an... ambitious video for its budget, shall we say. But it looks like it's turning out the way I intended - sexy and girly and wrong and very funny, with bonus art attack. Once it's finished and out in the world, I'll post my original pitch for it up on Radar for the curious.

Lastly, I've decided to give up blogging. For a lot of reasons, encompassing it being hard to write about the downside of the industry without angering/hurting people (and thus I find myself unable to convey an accurate picture of what goes on in my directing life), it being about time I finished my damn Wrecking Ball screenplay, and it being not necessarily a thing I agree with to know too much about the artist behind the work. So from now on, unless you know me in real life, you will have to be content with knowing me only through the work (which will be posted on LJ, Facebook, Youtube and Vimeo). At some point next week, my website will be replaced with a simple photo front page and some links to my videos. It's been some good years, but it's always worth leaving a party while you're still having fun. Ciao, and happy trails.

My Frocky Horror Picture Show

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 05:54:01 PDT

I'm in Hell, and if you are interested in what Hell looks like, let me tell you: it's lots of air-kissing, and minimalist-yet-soft dresses in various neutral colours all somehow incorporating chiffon. As I got no fee for my last few music videos, I took a gig filming London Fashion Week so I could afford a plane ticket home. The pace has been unrelenting, not helped by the edit suite I'm using having a copy of Final Cut powered by rubber bands and grumpy hamsters.

But every time I get exhausted and down by the sheer amount of runway shows, designer interviews and daily diaries I have to cut, I come across a young designer's show which is so wonderful it just lifts my heart. Hi, Rozalb de Mura and Mark Fast! May great things happen to you! Hi, Reem - I want all your clothes, and you're such a nice person! Hi, JSmith Esq! Your hats are beyond awesome, and all your models SMILED! And thank you all for not showing your work on identikit anorexics from Bialystok. God am I tired of unhappy-looking Eastern European models stomping down the runway with constipation face. (It's also amazing how many designers didn't have a single black, Asian, or Far Eastern face in their runway shows. Bad designers! No biscuit.) Go here for more.

Tonight we do the final grade on Amanda Palmer's "Leeds United" video. It seems word's already gotten out on it as very positive, and I've been contacted by a couple big production companies and video commissioners, which is really flattering. We'll see what happens when they actually see the video.

Also, last week, in between prepping for Fashion Week, finishing my Cinema Extreme application, and finishing the "Leeds" edit, I wrote on an indie/dance pop video for label ThisisfakeDIY, via the Radar commissioning system. A couple days ago I was told I won the commission! So I'll be staying in London another two weeks or so to shoot that. As usual, I can't say who it's for yet (some of you on Radar already know, but SHUSH!). It's another low-budget spectacular, but such a fun song and the label are letting me do something really mad.

So, as usual, I'm looking for collaborators. I need about 15 actors/performers/attn-h0rs for a one-day shoot. The video is about happy people doing things they love, in several subcultures or niche interests (it portrays them very kindly). I am especially interested in people involved in anime/manga/furry cosplay, sub/dom pairs, and anyone who can do Bollywood-style dancing. I know this seems like a really random list and it is in a way, but just trust me. I'm also looking for a curvy black female dancer, and does anyone know a male bicycle courier (the more tattooed and dreadlocked the better) who can do tricks on his bike?

I will put pretty much anyone in front of a camera so am happy to hear from experienced actors/performers as well as complete camera virgins. Both types of person present different and equally exciting challenges to me as a director. As noted above, budget is very small, but everyone will get paid a small amount and generally fed and loved. Shoot is only one day, in a London studio, and will take place in about 2 weeks' time.

Violence! Violence! Violence! And the Magnificent Seven

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:33:04 PDT

Riddle me this, o internets. Why does everybody get their knickers in a twist about the violence in this music video (which I love), and totally ignore the steaming pile of morally bankrupt shite that is this video? Back in t'day, John Hughes would have made a movie about how that redhead nerdy chick totally gets revenge on Little Miss Cool for being such a psycho bully. (Oh wait, I think he already did).

While on the subject of violence in videos, I found this amazing and terribly moving. Use it as a palate cleanser after that last one.

Meanwhile, controversy time! Don't enter your music video into film festivals, it is a waste of time and money. If you are mainly active in music videos in the US and UK, there are a maximum of seven festivals you should enter, and the good news is that two of them are free. These festivals stand a strong chance of getting you work: they're the only ones the reps, production companies and commissioners go to. Any other festivals, well, entering is like a man pissing down the leg of a blue serge suit: it might make you feel all warm inside, but nobody else is going to notice.

The 7 Festivals You Should Not Miss:

MVPA Awards, USA, entries open circa March, awards show July. Cost: $50/entry or $25 for MVPA members.
LA Filmfest, USA, entries open January, festival June. Cost: $35.
SXSW, USA, entries open November, festival March. Cost: $25 (before Nov 12).
Rushes Soho Shorts, UK, entries March, festival July. FREE.
Edinburgh Film Fest (Mirrorball), entries open November and end April, festival June, Mirrorball submissions are FREE.
UK MVAs, UK (debut year, so this one's still under a watching brief), entries close August, awards show October. £50+additional sneaky £25 upload fee.
Sundance. Yes, no music video category. Yes, all the music video people go there anyway. Submissions end September, festival January, cost $35 (shorts, early deadline).

As a first alternate, those interested in working in commercials, and with deep pockets, may want to try for the music video section of the D&AD Awards (UK, submissions end November, awards May, cost £100).

Tell me of more important festivals for music videos. I am interested in festivals in Latin America, mainland Europe, and Asia/Australia. I do not want to hear about every festival, only the most reknowned one per region - the one the video commissioners go to. None of the rest matter. Once we work out a master list of the actually useful ones (as opposed to the blue-serge-suit numbers) I'll do up a nice little cut and keep guide in Illustrator for all of you.

New Flipron video for "Book of Lies"

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:27:10 PDT

Story & direction by me. Animation by Asterisk Pix in New York City.

And Then The Chunk Of Plaster Fell Where My Head Had Just Been

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:24:41 PDT

The shoot for Amanda Palmer's "Leeds United" went better than I could have dreamed yesterday, considering that I had such nerves the night before that I wanted to kill myself. I don't know why I was getting myself in such a state, it was only a mixed narrative and performance video with 120+ extras, 8 dancers, choreo, 6 backing musicians, a giant sign made of lights and a very independent-minded (but gracious and intelligent) singer. And 16 hours to shoot it in. What could possibly go wrong?

The answer is, for once, nothing did - mostly thanks to my producer and my crew, who redefined the word "legends", and to Amanda, who delivered an absolutely electric performance (20 times in a row) while remaining the Queen of Good Sports and ambling around chatting to our huge and enthusiastic group of extras. The Coronet is also a great location to shoot in - their production and tech staff are really on the ball, and if it weren't for Keith Of The Lighting Desk, our job would have been about a million times more difficult. Crikey, this is droning on like an Oscars acceptance speech, isn't it? How dull. Here, controversy: there were some last-minute changes worked out a day before the shoot. They stressed me out, for I are Kubrickian control freak, but they made the video better. I will write more interestingly about the video later, but meanwhile, have a few of photographer Michael Brydon's production stills:

This doesn't even hint at the insane ornateness of the video, but it is incredibly rock and roll, no? Amanda was not fond of that sign (she worried it would look too egotistical, if folks didn't understand the video is a parody of the whole diva/female singer going solo thing - especially when lifted out of context, like here) but I was adamant about having it. So, the sign: all about my ego, actually. It (the sign, not the ego) was made by Pink Floyd-founded London experimental theatre collective The People Show. More:

We borrowed this jacket on Saturday from London designer Aimee McWilliams - we were working out Amanda's wardrobe up until about 10pm the night before the shoot. "Elvis mic" courtesy of cabaret enchantress Tricity Vogue.

A very few of the amazingly dressed crowd of volunteers who turned up to be in the video. Any experienced director or DoP generally feels terror in their hearts at the prospect of a video whose visual success is strongly determinant on a lot of friends and fans of the band showing up to be in the video - it's usually an utter failure, as the number of first videos shot in a club where there are 8 bored people pretending to be "a crowd" will attest. Plus, the Coronet (our shoot venue) is MASSIVE. But luckily Amanda has a very creative, involved, and well dressed fanbase - some of whom had driven down from Manchester that morning to be in the video, which means they had gotten up at 3.30am to brave the M1. Thanks, girl in pink, and your awesomely understanding mom!

Today was spent mostly sleeping and having a long hot bath, rejigging a music video pitch for someone else (no rest for the wicked) and a brief wander down the South Lambeth Road to see Stephen about re-cutting our as yet unfinished video for "I Loved London" and using it instead for his big pop single off that same album, "Last Words".

Then, just now, as I was lying in bed munching some toast & jam and reading an old MOJO story about the girls from Roxy Music album covers, a chunk of plaster the size of a manhole cover detached itself from the ceiling and fell onto where my head had been just nanoseconds before. It was so heavy it broke the toast plate. For some reason I find this hilarious.

Shot From Both Sides

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 12:49:27 PDT

First off, this is probably the most important piece on the music industry you'll read this year. It's scary, in that it suggests that the only way I may ever get to spend $100,000 on a pop video is if I put a mobile phone in it.

Meanwhile, my friend Stephen's new album is getting great reviews. Stephen puts out an album about every three years; shares a music publisher with the Doors and a bunch of acts way more famous than him, resulting in his work often being used in film, tv and commercial soundtracks; and also has an increasingly successful career composing for film. His song "Last Words" is in the upcoming Juno-esque teen flick, Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist. You probably never heard of him, but he's doing better than Rihanna. As is Amanda Palmer, who thanks to relentless touring (and generally being quite an awesome songwriter) has built up a massive and loyal following... helped by inexpensive but wonderful image-reinforcing music videos by her friend Michael Pope.

And the number of re-shoots going on in the music video business in recent past? Massive, as some commissioners prove penny-wise and pound-foolish and certain new recording stars haven't been made to read Steve Albini's wise words yet. £80k Sophie Muller video ditched for £15k white-box extravaganza (that can't have cost more than £5k. Nice profit!). Reason? Whats-Her-Name wasn't happy with Muller's closeups. Santogold's follow-up to Nima's excellent debut-single video: many directors wrote on it (including one of my director crushes, Ruben Fleischer); a friend of Santogold's was commissioned. The resulting, allegedly substandard video was ditched and then Kim Gehrig caught the hospital pass and had about 3 days to make this one. More, that I can't be bothered to list. Expect this flailing to continue, along with production companies walking away from projects after budget cuts.

Sounds like I'm talking myself out of a career here, doesn't it? In a sense I am. I think the future is going to belong to solid videos that top out at $50,000, one per album, unless it's sponsored. Considering the most I've ever gotten for a video is about 1/4 of that, I'm not too bothered. But expect many other directors to pick up their toys and stomp homewards as it gets near impossible to make a living.

Pretentious, Grasping Middle-Class Housewives Will Destroy Our Civilisation

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:35:43 PDT

I'm sitting here on the verge of tears and I'm not sure why. For a friend's book I've been reminiscing about my favourite place in London, and it brought me to think of a time when I had a nice flat and a salary and things that a lot of people take for granted. We're also moving next week, from our North London council flat to a rented room south of the river already nicknamed "the hovel in Oval", and moving always depresses me. I suppose that's why I love airports and train stations - they don't lie to you that they're actually a home, that here is a place you can finally rest, and spread out all your things. They tell you straight: it won't last; you're just passing through.

As part of moving, we've been giving away a lot of our used but still useful stuff via Freecycle, but this hasn't gone nearly as well as back in December when I last moved: people not showing up, obvious profiteers looking to re-sell things on ebay, and a really dim girl who thought she could get a 3-piece leather sofa suite in the back of a Ford Ka... it culminated in a grasping Hampstead wife sending her cowed little grey husband to pick up the sofa from aforementioned suite - she was too lazy to come view it herself beforehand - and then upon discovering said FREE SOFA wasn't as nice as she had imagined in her mind, sending us a pissy little email about its poor quality and how her husband wouldn't be coming round to collect the matching armchairs. Sigh. Only in Hampstead. We did have a lovely Irish lady come round to re-home our VCR and tapes, but then she was from Wood Green.

On the music video front, it's been another week of struggle. I meant to get my storyboards done about 10 days ago but then spent rather a long time moping about our $5,000 budget cut and then telling various long-time friends & collaborators we wouldn't have any money to pay them. I've taken over a few roles where I just couldn't ask people to work for nowt, again - so storyboards got postponed further as I chased round the internet looking for obscure bits of costume and props.

Adding to the fun, we still don't have the money in from the label yet and I've had to max out my debit card (I'm no longer allowed to have credit cards) buying said costumes and props for the shoot. How I'm going to eat over the next few days, I just don't know. (Anyone currently thinking, "oh, boo hoo, she's going to get a fat director's fee at the end of this - no. I'm not getting a cent. I never have. I've done 12 music videos by now, never earned any money from them. This depresses me enormously.) Sometimes I wonder if I have the psychic energy for this job... I must find some posthaste as the artist flies in tomorrow and soon it becomes a whirlwind of pre-gig makeup checks, rehearsals, production meetings and fittings.

I have finally gotten the storyboards done, though. Storyboards and a shooting schedule are a really important part of my process, but they're always a nightmare. I hate doing storyboards, because it takes me a massive effort to draw very well; but I desperately need them, so I really work through themes, shot pacing and rhythm, and of course so I don't forget shots on the day when my brain falls over from everyone wanting attention at once.

I'm working with a new DP for this video, the amazing Joe Dyer, who has yet to be forced to interpret my little scrawls. I can't wait to see his face... also when we tell him the only dolly we can afford is a crappy little focus dolly - for a video where pretty much every shot is on track.

I Step Out For One Moment And The Whole Place Goes To Pot...

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:55:43 PDT

Well, it's been an exciting 10 days. Exciting in the secondary meaning of "Lord, less of that, please?". It started off with a catastrophic flight to London that involved staying for 10 hours longer than intended in Newark Airport: thank you, Continental Airlines, I shall not be flying with you again. I touch down and immerse myself into the dual chaos of putting together the big live action music video shoot and dealing with Charlie and my upcoming homelessness. Then to find out we were being given less money than we thought for said shoot. So after telling all my crew that, "don't worry, you'll get a half decent day rate/budget on this one, finally" I then have to be like, "well, actually, no you won't." Fun times!

Also, my mother emails to say her eldest half sister (a generally amazing and go-getting pioneer female aviatrix) has passed away after an auto accident two weeks ago where she was badly injured, and her second eldest half-sister (my beloved aunt Jackie) has just gone into hospital. And I am 4,000 miles away from being able to comfort her.

Compound that with a rather disgruntled email from a label boss who I count as a friend - I am toiling away on an video for a band on his label who are also close friends, basically doing a £10k animated clip on a tenth of that budget. It was threatening to be late, and a few strong words were e-sent in my direction. You know, one of those "step away from the computer and just don't respond" kind of emails. Sigh. Sometimes one feels like one walks on water for small labels to get something done, and then they're all, "can you nip across the lake and fetch me a sandwich?".

I really do enjoy low-budget work; it allows me to experiment on riskier ideas. If I feel the band and the label have their sh*t together, and I have a concept I want to explore, I'll happily write on a super-cheap vid. Just... you know, give me plenty of time to make the video, give me my independence, and treat me nicely (this sounds snobby, but I am doing you a favour by nearly killing myself for your measly £300-1,000 video, and if you want it overnight you can give me a real amount of money). Then we'll get along just fine.

(On this subject, how interested are all of you in a band/label oriented guide to how to cost, commission and release a music video? Because I see the same schoolboy errors made all the time by small labels, and a little education could make everyone in this process a lot f*cking happier, that's for sure - and give you a better video that is seen by more people.)

All in all, I'm managing to rise above, but man.

Meanwhile, around my other work, I toil away painting 12 frames (1 second) of "Mess It Up" per day. It'll be out sometime after Christmas at this rate.

Consider This Your Monday Update...

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 13:50:23 PDT

...even if it's still Sunday in most parts of the world. Just, I'm on a plane all day tomorrow. It's been a general traum-o-rama here preparing to go to the UK for production on the big indie shoot. Not because of the big indie shoot, mind you; that's going worryingly smoothly. Because of "Mess It Up". First there was a moment where it looked like the video might be shelved entirely, as the band wasn't sure about some aspects of the live action footage I based it on. Then, luckily, they watched it a few more times and decided they were OK with it.

Then came The Great Paint Drama. Much as I am enjoying making a video which is at no point a computer screen-based activity, I have had it up to my chin with paint manufacturers and art supply stores. The idea with the video was to bring to mind a mix of graffiti art and the sort of sign painting you see in countries where it's sunny most of the time and the electricity isn't too reliable, so it's better to hire someone to paint things like movie posters or barbershop hairstyle examples rather than simply printing them.

So I wanted super-bright pigments. I also want some impasto, some texture to the brushstrokes so it will cause a tension in the images. I go buy some Liquitex Basics. Turns out Liquitex Basics are an odd mix of about 2 grains of pigment, some sand and some goo, and they're pretty much all transparent. My red backgrounds are see-through and my purple shadows read as black. I take these paints back to the local art supply store. I order the expensive Liquitex Heavy Body paints online, as they're half the price they are at the local shop. Online place runs out of stock without telling me, ships me only half the red paint I need. Plus, new, supposedly better purple paint still reads as translucent over those blacks.

Turns out that most dark pigmented acrylic paints are transparent, except for black, which isn't. Most light pigments are opaque. As I'm doing this a super-cheap way (printing out frames of live action on 11x17 white card stock at Staples, then painting over them) I need opaque.

Cue search for opaque dark pigment in the purple/blue range. The only one I can find is Navy, from the Liquitex soft body range. Great! It's not really the shade I want, more of a blue (which will add a certain political overtone to the video when combined with the red backgrounds and white highlights) but it's OK. I check with Liquitex. THEY'VE DISCONTINUED THE GODD*MN COLOUR. I try as best I can to avoid negative thoughts, but I am peeved to an unhealthy degree at the Liquitex corporation and its confusing and not opaque products. So let's pray there's enough old stock of Soft Body Navy at retailers in the US and UK that I can finish the video.

(Oh, and no way am I mixing my own shades. Try keeping that exact over 2,500 frames...)

Anyway, it looks a little like this: (nb - quick snap with digital camera, appalling mix of lighting temperatures and reflections...)

Three frames down, 2500 to go.

If That's What You Call Opaque, I Fear For The Translucent

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:39:50 PDT

New video! Well, newly released, but shot in January. Commissioned by the music publisher Northstar to market one of their songwriting teams. It was a lot of fun to do just a straight pop video, no irony, no violence, no Circuschrome saturation... although, filming in an airport, oy.

Other new news: it's official, they really are letting anyone become a British citizen these days. Even me. My citizenship ceremony is somewhere in Camden in about two weeks.

And because the universe does not stop turning no matter how you entreat it, my boyfriend is being kicked out of his council flat on 26 August. Yes, five days before my big video shoot, he and I will be homeless. You don't get a smile but for a slap coming too.

More later. Absurdly busy ahead of UK trip. High on Liquitex fumes from painting frames of "Mess It Up".

La Belle Dame Sans Parentheses

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:17:49 PDT

In the middle of the final render for �??Mess It Up�?? so, time for a blog. New York was a blast. Hung out with old friends, went to Stephen�??s gig, met a number of great animators, checked in on the progress of the Flipron �??Book of Lies�?? promo at Asterisk, and met several video commissioners, all of whom seemed to not care �?? nay, even prefer �?? that I had no rep or production company. They seemed to think my true-indie status represented better value for money for them, in this rather depressed economy. My one sort-of meeting with a rep went hilariously wrong, with the woman taking me out to lunch on Friday and oohing and aahing over my reel. I send a follow up email/thank-you on Saturday, as you do, and lo and behold sometime between a 2pm lunch with me and the end of the day, she left the company. So why did she meet me and not say anything about her status, unless her company totally fired her on a Friday afternoon, which - by the way - is capital-e Evil? And so far the colleague listed in her email as contact after her departure has failed to do me the favour of a response. This is not a bunch of cowboys, mind you �?? this is a very well respected animation rep, and I�??d been hanging out with some of their directors a couple nights before. Sigh. Whatever. Rawhide!

CONTINUES, via: Radar site, RSS, Facebook, Livejournal. What complicated electronic lives we lead.

So It's All Up Up Up, Except The Parts That Are Falling Down

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:30:51 PDT

My second blog, up at Radar:

We'll dispense with the good news first. It seems that the Big Indie US August Video is ON, considering that the singer just sent out news to all her fans about it via her band's email newsletter. But I'm waiting until I have a signed contract in hand before I let Videostatic and Promonews shout it out as booked.

That was the good thing waiting for me when I came back from a misty Maine island tonight, on a washing/repacking mission before a business trip to NY tomorrow* (seeing reps! Comedy shall ensue, likely). Now for the bad thing that happened before I left...(CONTINUES. Or RSS.)

*I am not actually in NY tomorrow. I was in NY last week. Stay tuned for thrills! spills! and the sorry tale of the least worthwhile meeting in my entire life.

I'm Now Blogging the No-Dough Music Video Experience At Radar

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:31:35 PDT

Caroline at Radar asked me to blog about my so-called career at her site. Because she is nice and I believe in what she's trying to do, I said yes. First blog is excerpted below. Ongoing RSS is here. Direct link is here, but I strongly suggest you use the RSS feed as ARGH POOR WEBSITE DESIGN RAGE. Have written a second post which I'll put up in a day or two. Post the first:

Hi, my name's Alex. I've been a music video director for about two years, ever since Ryan Parker and I created a spec video for the band Flipron. "Raindrops Keep Falling on the Dead" proceeded to get screened at SXSW and a dozen other festivals, and get the band their first airplay on MTV and every other UK music channel. 12 or more videos (and the purchase of a Super16 camera) later, I'm still working mainly for a small group of very cool British bands and solo artists, all of whom I know personally. I'm told there are these things called reps and production companies and they're interested in up and coming directors, but between you and me I don't actually believe they exist. Every video I've ever made came from the artist contacting me directly, or me contacting the artist. Every budget I've ever had is string, pennies and pocket lint. My directing career has been funded entirely by Mastercard (I support myself in the real world by eBaying my late father's collection of vintage car books). My crew? They're paid in gin and burgers. I am tired and I am inches from filmmaking-induced bankruptcy and that, Virginia, is why I don't want to make a crappy £500 video for your generic indie band to fling up on MySpace. (CONTINUED...)

What A Difference A Grade Makes

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:44:12 PDT

I've decided not to blog the progress of The Big Video, as it would mostly involve me swearing about people not being available and/or not wanting to give me £8,000 worth of stuff for £250. I will, however, try to write a bit more about the process of video creation so you can understand why I look so hassled all the time. So, today's process lesson: grading.

Even with the best DP (Director of Photography, him or her that runs the camera department) in the world, your raw footage will not be as pretty as you want it to be. This is for a lot of reasons, including saving money via cheap telecines (transfer of film to tape and then hard drive) or generally being the type of director who isn't interested in "the natural look".

So you do something called a grade. This is basically colour correction. It can be done by very specialised, talented and wonderful people called graders on hyper-expensive equipment, or (o hai budget filmmakers!) you do it yourself on Final Cut. The graders? Worth every penny. But sometimes you don't have the pennies. Anyhow, an example from "I Loved London":

The original footage, shot on Arri SR3 Super16 on an overcast day around 4pm, straw and jade filters, (from memory) 12mm Arri ultraprime lens, Fuji 500 daylight stock, shot at 6fps then unattended telecine at Todd's. Motion blur filter added.

Same frame, as graded by an apprentice grader. Note improved saturation/contrast, and general pull back from the straw and jade to something a bit more magenta.

Now I take over. In this frame, I matted in the angel considerably brighter than the surrounding area and feathered the matte so it blended in. Result: angel way more noticeable, but you wouldn't know why. Makes it look like we had a 10k in the window of Lillywhites.

And last, I pop on a gradient filter (from the Joe's Filters) to give us a nice right-at-twilight, end of magic hour look.

Up to my neck in animated videos at the moment and loving it, I've gotten a little burned out on film-film as the last two shoots were such beasts. Upcoming animated videos for Flipron (their new Rat Scabies/Damned produced album is amazing) and others; stay tuned. Note I'll also be in London next week if anyone wants to meet up.

Third Boxcar Midnight Train, Destination Bangor, Maine

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:08:35 PDT

I've had videos accepted into a couple of film festivals recently, which has made me feel no end of good. "Apart of Me" (aka The Singing Maggot Video) has been screened at Ladyfest Edinburgh and will be screened at Rushes Soho Shorts, one of the most prestigious UK festivals for music videos. I've also just heard that the Synch Festival in Greece will be screening all four videos I sent them, so sort of a mini Alex de Campi retrospective. That really is unbelievably cool.

I only enter festivals sporadically; I entered almost none in 2007 (so "Dogboy" got short shrift, sadly, despite being one of my favourite videos) as I was so broke I couldn't afford the £20-£30 entry fees that come with most non-European festivals. (European festivals - ah, socialism and support for the arts! - are usually free to enter. American and English festivals usually cost quite a lot to enter, and are thus essentially subsidised by the entries of unsuccessful filmmakers. Of which I am often one.)

Oh and my Jilted video for the Puppini Sisters is currently being promoted on the front page of Youtube by lovely Universal Records.

I'm still in post on "I Loved London" for The Real Tuesday Weld, which is frustrating - the video is such a stylistic break from my other work (it's very Wim Wenders, versus my generally far more mannerist style), I want the world to see it. But this is what happens when you do epically ambitious things on no money - you must be reliant on favours, and favours cannot be rushed. 2008 has been a weird year for me so far - I have three videos that haven't been released yet: the aforementioned "London", a Duloks video and a video for a pop duo called Martin Towers. They are all due out soon, but ah, I am an artist, I want attention and validation now. I shall just have to make more videos, eh? On that note, some interesting collaborations being discussed.

I still very much need a web designer to redesign my website, for money. Must have a strong design sense and be down with the words "quirky" and "minimalist". Please suggest names!

Also, attention comics writers: my very talented friend Toni Radev, an artist with a lovely style very reminiscent of French comedy series such as Lucky Luke, is looking for writers to collaborate with on short or longer pieces. If you'd like to get in touch with him, drop me a line.

The Air Is Heavy With The Scent of Lilacs

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Sat, 31 May 2008 09:56:48 PDT

If I ever get tattoos, I shall have the Rider-Waite card for The Magician full size on the inside of one forearm... and the card for The Fool on the other.

Things are going well. After much nail-biting suspense spread out over several months, I've landed a big music video for a well-known US indie star; it shoots in August in London. I've also written on about four more potential music videos and am waiting to hear back, so the summer could end up being quite busy. And I've been offered a feature script by an LA production company to direct. Early days yet, but it's a very good project. I shall continue doing my bit and see what happens.

How interested/curious are you guys on the process of creating music videos? I am thinking (if given permission by the singer/label) to blog the process of making the big August indie video.

Lastly, if you are based in or near London, I would point out that White Mischief, the little indoor festival started by Tobias Slater and myself last year is not so little anymore - and its next occurence is next Saturday night 7th June. If I do say so myself (although for geographic reasons I am no longer involved) it is one of the best run and most fun nights you can find in London; the closest you will ever get to one of those magic fantasy parties you see in films where there is something new and amazing in every corner. Well worth going to; and as it only happens every six months not to be missed when it comes around.

St Joseph's Baby Aspirin; Bartles & Jaymes...

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Tue, 20 May 2008 08:29:57 PDT

I really did check into a cheap hotel on La Cienaga. Last week was Los Angeles, where I was a three-time loser and at the same time I was seeing Disney about a film. Three-time loser because last Wednesday I learned I had struck out at Babelgum (where I had two films in the top 10), after the previous week's disaster at Aniboom. The boyfriend's words of comfort: "Forget it. No band ever made it big by winning a Battle of the Bands contest". And I was at Disney, pitching a feature. And the only reason I found my way back from Burbank was I remembered Laurel Canyon from a Joni Mitchell song, and knew it would eventually get me to Sunset. I find my way around cities by the ghost trails of rock and roll songs.

Tomorrow I'm off to an island off the coast of Maine, without electricity or phone, for the rest of the week. The wild roses will be out, and the beach peas.

I am, as you can guess by the Los Angeles trip, finally getting serious about moving beyond music videos to short films and then a feature. I want to shoot two short films back to back this autumn; I have the script to one (a silent), but am still looking for the other. If you know any screenwriters with interesting, slightly surrealist 10-15 minute scripts, do point them in my direction.

I am also very much looking for some help redesigning my website into a simple wordpress blog plus a front page with my videos on it. The world has moved far beyond my simple coding skills and it is about time my web presence moved with it. Can any of you help?

Radiobled, Or: The Fix Is In

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:21:02 PDT

So Martin's and my animatic didn't make the semifinals of the Aniboom / Radiohead contest. What did make it? Lots of finished videos, and a 60-second recut a guy did of footage from another, finished and commercially-distributed animation of his, in direct contravention of the contest's "must be new work" rule, among other rules.

Do excuse me, I'm having one of those teary "will my career ever go anywhere" moments.

EDIT: It appears that another semifinalist, "16 tracks" is ALSO a recut of a pre-existing project. It's a shame, as I really liked this one... although I did wonder how they managed to shoot a project on film, do a DI, then do very advanced and lovely motion graphics in the extremely limited time the contest alloted for creating a storyboard. (Similarly, the Faust Arp video I link above, there were many, many comments under it during the voting period to the effect that people suspected it was a re-cut.)

Bands: Fancy An Experimental Scratch/Destroyed Print Music Video?

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:55:42 PDT

I found this treasure trove of old 35mm film print reels on eBay. Now, I have a 35mm still neg/slide scanner that should work with movie film (but only 35! not 16!). I rather fancy taking one or more of those reels, splicing them together, painting over them, scratching designs/crude animations in them, burning them et cetera... then scanning and loading them into Final Cut to put some band footage over/under - basically, making quite an experimental and abstract-expressionist music video.

(But still with some band footage in there. Just... distorted, probably. Or I'd get a friend to create drawn/animations of the band to lay over top.)

Any bands out there fancy this as a music video? If so, email/contact me. It would be quite experimental and somewhat 60s/psychedelic. Also, somewhat disturbing.

Note: Not free! Could be quite cheap (sub £1,000) if you just pay materials (the film prints) and fees for animation or band photography, AND you're willing to wait a couple months for me to finish it - AND I think you're a band worth doing something for. But if you need the video quick for a single release date, I'll have to charge you for my time. Like they say, you can have it cheap and good, or you can have it quick and good, but you can't have all three.

For The Avoidance Of Doubt

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:56:11 PDT

Got a rather disturbing note from a fellow entrant in the Aniboom Radiohead contest the other day, basically saying "you look like a professional music video director, this contest is for amateurs, go away".

Um. Yes. Let me clarify a few things.

I have made a lot of music videos for friends' bands, because I believe it's better to keep working and learning, than to sit idle. The budgets of everything I have made so far have been between 0 and $5,000. Most closer to zero. I have never made a single cent off my music videos - or directing work in general. In most cases, quite the opposite - I have sunk hundreds, in some cases thousands, of my own money into those music videos to bring them up to a standard I could be proud of. I am neither represented by an agent nor associated with a production company. In fact, right now if I were on fire, I doubt I could even get a music video commissioner to piss on me.

There. Now you know.

In other news, I'm back in America trying to find time to start the edit for "I Loved London", in between helping my mother organise the memorial service for my father, doing a friend's showreel, and the painful but necessary electioneering for the Aniboom and Babelgum contests/festivals. Aniboom, we find out on Friday if we made the semifinals; Babelgum - which has extended its voting until 7 May - a few days after voting closes, I guess.

Speaking of this Friday, if you're in or near Marfa, Texas towards evening-time, Ryan & my short "Raindrops Keep Falling on the Dead" is being shown before Night of the Hunter on the big outdoor screen at the Marfa Film Festival.

We Are Doing Well, Mostly! Festival & Shoot News

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 07:29:55 PDT

Wrapped the shoot for The Real Tuesday Weld's "I Loved London" on Friday. Nearly killed me but we got some great stuff - I will upload a still or two in a few days.

Meanwhile, we were Number 1 in our category for this past week at the Babelgum festival with "Jilted" - thank you so much to all who voted; and if you haven't voted yet please do (or if you have a second email address, you can vote twice) as we still need your help to get into the final 10! Voting closes end of this week. (Remember, you can win a trip to Cannes or a rather blingtastic watch if you vote/comment.)

I also still very much need your help and support for the Aniboom/Radiohead music video contest - we really need to get over 500 views and ratings in order to have a hope of getting to the next stage. We're currently at about 420... although I'm told (via friends) that some of the guys from Shynola voted for us which is uber-cool because Shynola are One Of The Reasons I Started Making Videos In The First Place.

Lastly: "Raindrops" (my and Ryan Parker's animation for Flipron) is being screened at the Marfa Film Festival next week. Very exciting, as Marfa is not only the setting for such movies as Giant, There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men, it's also a hotbed of contemporary art.

I'm back to America on Thursday, more then.

And Now, Radiohead

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:26:14 PDT

I swear to God this is the last time I will ask you to do this for the rest of 2008. Yes, it's voting time again, but no, you don't have to download anything.

Those with long attention spans will remember that about 10 days ago I was looking for an animator to collaborate with for Aniboom's Radiohead music video contest. Thanks to the glory of Livejournal I hooked up with the wonderful Martin White who agreed to go without sleep for a week to bash together an animatic for Stage 1 of the Aniboom contest. Here it is:

NOTE! Only a rough animatic - essentially a moving storyboard. It's going to be well more crazy-sophisticated before we're finished. (The end will be much more Takashi Murakami/Chiho Aoshima, for a start). But I'm so proud of what Martin's been able to achieve in such a short time.

If you watch it above and enjoy it, PLEASE clicky through to our video's page on Animatic and rate it (5, um, whatever those are. Booms.). Your quiet approbation won't help us get into the final 10 and receive funding for the next step in the design - only voting will. If not for me, do it for Martin, polymath musician, director, animator, writer and generally the Mervyn Peake of Purley. (Check out his lovely animated short The Goat, The Boy And The Sun for what he's capable of.)

Oh yeah, and the B-side/Naive version of the Puppini Sisters "Millionaire" video is up now. Ballgowns, scouring the reduced rack at Argos, not being able to get any money out of the ATM.

Help "Jilted" Win A Big Online Film Festival!

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:25:45 PDT

It appears with 9 days left in the voting, my video for "Jilted" is sitting in 3rd place in the "Looking for Genius" category of Babelgum, a big online film festival. Can you vote yourself AND hit up all your friends to vote for this?

See below, you have to go through kind of a tortuous process downloading & installing the programme - holy shit I really could use Euros20k to finance my short film (plus retroactively paying my cast & crew more for the Jilted shoot). There are so few people voting in the festival (because it does require installing a new type of video player) that if we make a concerted effort we really CAN push this thing in to number 1 and bag the prize.

Note that unless you RATE the video, it doesn't count towards helping me win. And also note that anyone who COMMENTS on the video gets entered into a draw to go to Cannes film festival and go to lots of premieres. (Yes, smartypants, we know some of you go to Cannes all the time and kind of dread it but remember how much fun it is if you're not spending the days begging for film finance)

Thank you - I'm sorry to ask you all to take the time to do this but the award is so huge, and we really do have a shot. Below are details & links (as written by Babelgum, not me.)
***************
Help me win the Babelgum Online Film Festival!

My film, "Jilted - The Puppini Sisters (dir. Alex de Campi)", is competing in the Looking for Genius category and needs more votes to make the shortlist. So please give me a helping hand by voting for it yourself �?? it's pretty simple:

· Download Babelgum here: http://www.babelgum.com/download
· Enter the Films & Festivals Community (it's the first one on the top left corner when you start Babelgum) and search for my film: Jilted - The Puppini Sisters (dir. Alex de Campi)
· Use the Rate tool to give it your vote �?? 5 stars please!

If I win, I'll be heading to Cannes to pick up my award of 20,000 Euros from Spike Lee, on May 20th. I'd love you to come with me and sip champagne while rubbing shoulders with the stars�?�and maybe you can. Because Babelgum is offering a prize for the person who writes the most original review of the winning films, using the Comment tool or Message Board. Write a glowing review about my entry and if I win, you win!

Thanks for your support

...Heard Round The World

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 05:55:38 PDT

Brief self-pimpery: the two videos I did for the Puppini Sisters ("Millionaire" and "Jilted") have just been featured on Shotsringout's Video Round-Up. Shots is probably the most influential music video blog in America; it's up there with Antville as must-read music video sites. But unlike Antville (where anything can be posted by anyone), Shots is curated. It's very rare for a director or a band to feature twice in the same week's roundup so it's quite an honour. Oh, and the "Natural Rhapsody" video by Jonathan Wilson they also feature - it's ace; watch it.

Also, back in October the BBC came to do a making-of documentary/masterclass during the filming of "Apart of Me", my first video for The Real Tuesday Weld. They've just released it on BBC Blast as one of their filmmaking masterclasses. I can't watch it, because I'll die of embarrassment (there's a good reason I stay behind the camera) but it's here if you fancy a laugh.

Looking for an Animator - for Radiohead contest

noreply@blogger.com (Alex de Campi) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:07:40 PDT

I rather fancy entering this contest for a $10k commission for an animated Radiohead music video. Any animators out there want to collaborate? Split of any winnings would be 90% animator (eg you) and 10% director (eg me). NB: they want an animatic in, like, 10 days.