FINALLY IT’S HERE!!!!!
“Season of Change” (Obama Presidential Theme Song)
Artist- David Redic II
Director- Lewis Powell
Editor – Angelo Bell
Posts Tagged ‘music video’
All Quiet on the Western Front
Wednesday, July 16th, 2008
It was a fairly quiet day. I paid some bills, played with the kids and then finished edits on “Season of Change” the music video I’ve been editing.
Got some bad news that my mother-in-law is not doing well. Pneumonia and lesions and/or an abscess on her spinal cord has caused partial paralysis in her lower limbs. As I write this she’s going into emergency surgery. I think, on a supernatural level, I felt this — because I’ve felt very disconnected from the world today. Edgy. I thought at first the feeling may be related to no longer being bound to a 9-5 after 25 years of being bound to one or another. But I sense now that it was deeper than that.
If you’re reading this, please pray for my mother-in-law.
“Season of Change”
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
Monday:
I woke up not wanting to go to work today. In fact, I thought if I did go into work I would surely hand in my resignation. I’m not a young man anymore. I can keep burning the candle at both ends without everything going up in flames. It’s time to step out on faith and go 100% for my dreams. We’ll see.
As it turns out I didn’t have to go to work. My eldest daughter, Israel, was ill this weekend so I took her to the doctor. There I was, the only dood in the place (except for the doctor) ushering around an 8 and 7 year old girl and lugging a 25-lbs 8-month-old boy over my shoulder like a duffle bag.
Can you say, “fun?”
Later that evening I spent five hours editing the “Season of Change” music video for David Redic. I finally met the director of the music video, Lewis Powell. A very cool gent and very serious about his art. He had recently gotten back from a week-long trip to Cannes for the festival. We chatted it up about Cannes and the conections he’s made and I found out that he has a finished docu-comedy/drama called “How 2 Build a Rapper.” Apparently several distributors are interested in this documentary (a la “This is Spinal Tap“) about making a rapper in these modern times.
We hit it off and spent the next four hours shoulder-to-shoulder editing his video. We came up with some distinctive looks for the film. We turned an otherwise unassuming performance shot into a constrast masterpiece using effects in Final Cut Pro and my filters from Nattress. The cool part is that although I volunteered to edit the video for free (I believe in the song and the theme AND it’s for Barack Obama’s campaign) I am still basically an “employee” of sorts. It wasn’t my time to put on my director’s cap. It was my time to listen, offer my input and then basically do what I was asked. But both David and Lewis placed a lot of value on my opinion. If felt good.
We’re almost done with the video. Perhaps in another week or two. Also today I chatted it up with my composer regarding the final songs for Broken Hearts Club. We’re going to be shuffling around songs since I am cutting some scenes. I also got a call from John Fiore today, which was cool because I’d recently had to nix a scene I was going to use him in. But being a filmmaker himself he was very understanding of the process.
Still haven’t had a time to 1) send my footage to Atlanta or 2) start working on my new trailer. Hope to do that soon.
Hmmm…maybe I’ll resign from my job tomorrow
My first music video
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
It’s Wednesday? Oh, I must be cutting a music video!
It’s 12:19 and I just finished editing a rough cut of the music video footage compiled by a friend of my DP’s. It’s a four-minute song, inspirational with gospel overtones. Basically think “I Believe I Can Fly” with some Fred Hammond or Kirk Franklin thrown in for good measure. I didn’t shoot any of the 3 hours of footage but I heard the song and volunteered to edit the video for free. The dood, David Redic is a volunteer with Barack Obama’s campaign and he’s trying to get it into Obama’s hands.
I actually had fun. I’m not a big fan of syncing audio and video during the editing process, but when you’re cutting a music video what other process is there. My exprience synching audio on my film Broken Hearts Club helped a great deal. It was quick and painless.
This video was the first thing I’ve edited on my Macbook Pro using Final Cut Studio 2. As I said, I had lots of fun and it was a welcome diversion. Unfortunately I’m sure I won’t be able to post it. I doubt David will give me permission since they’re really trying to keep a lid on it until it’s completely done.
The song is called, Season of Change. The footage was four performance sequences that I mixed with photos of Barack. I cut it simply using a lots of dissolves, some overlays and a few jumpcuts. I threw in two Nattress filters. Other than that is was very very simple.
