Head Like a Kite: “Director’s Cut”

Introducing “Director’s Cut” my latest music video and the latest track from the electronic duo Head Like a Kite (this time featuring MC Tilson).

If you’re a photo/video lover, a music aficionado, a do-gooder or any combo therein please pass this along. We created this pro-bono and it’s my hope it’ll inspire you and your friends to pull out $7 for 30 exclusive tracks from Seattle’s hottest bands as a part of our GiveSeattle.org project. Included in this uber-affordable compilation are exclusive tracks from Fleet Foxes, Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), and many more. And a reminder that 100% of sales–every cent of that 7 bucks–goes directly to Art Corps and Seattle area food banks.

If you’re a photo/video nut like me and you want to know more about how we made this little video inside a video, complete with behind the scenes photos, hit the ‘continue reading link’ below.

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1. Concept/Treatment. Ever felt like you’re staring in the movie that is your own life? The drama, the celebration, those stranger than fiction moments. Life can be a mysterious state where you’re sometimes not sure if you’re awake or dreaming. The lyrics to this song are a stream of consciousness about precisely this. I wanted some visuals to match. Some elements to match reality, some that don’t make sense, and some that toggled Tilson (the guest MC and “star” of the vid) both IN and OUT of that state.

2. Mood. Head Like A Kite are all about a party. They’re all sorts of crazy talented, but they don’t take themselves too seriously. It’s refreshing. And it was important to them the the video reflected that. Hence the “cartoon-y” feel to the video.

3. Constraints. Given a. that we’re making this video as a part of our holiday project to raise awareness for our fundraiser; and b)that we’ve set some “loose” parameters on ourselves and other vid makers for the project that we want them to be simple enough to be shot in one take or thereabouts.

4. Mechanisms. The mechanisms we used to create all three of above are pretty simple: First, we filmed a path in an around our studio WITHOUT the lead character except for the very beginning and the very end (so he could pop in and out of his life), but WITH the band popping up in various places, timed with the chorus.

“I close my eyes so I can watch the dreams suspend night. All of this time the movie reels spin in my mind”

That was shot in 3 takes.

Second, we sewed those 3 takes together into one movie. We made it black and white and we projected it a screen, at life-size proportions.

Third, we put MC Tilson in front of that screen and filmed him “inside” the projected video while he delivered the lyrics and moved throughout the lifesized world we created according to a series of choreographed moves that had him moving in and out of doorways, up stairs and around corners. We made it just real enough to make it believable but seem to the trained eye that somethings just not quite right (ala the awake/dream state.

Hope you dig. Here’s some photos to show you our setup.

Please visit www.giveseattle.org and download our #1 selling album in Seattle right now for just $7. Help those less fortunate and get some great new tunes.

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