Signs of Life: Rough Cut

Howdy, Solid State.

For the past couple of months, videographer Elizabeth Rossano (of "Alice Eats" renown) and I have been working on developing a music video series for Seven Days, tentatively titled "Signs of Life." The idea is, well, kind of a ripoff of the Take Away Shows — which I adore and have touted on numerous occassions on this here blog. What's that saying about the sincerest form of flattery?

Anyway, the gist is that rather than doing straight-up concert videos, we wanted to capture local musicians performing in unusual locations around Vermont, or in scenarios that simply speak, in some small way, to life as an artist in our oddball little state. We have a couple of sessions in the books and hope to start rolling these out on roughly a monthly basis, at least to start.  

Here is a rough cut of a session we did with Farm at their rehearsal/studio space, the Cave of Legends, underneath Ben Maddox's shop, the Flying Disc, in Enosburgh. Keep in mind that this is by no means the finished product. But before we officially launch the series, we were hoping to elicit some constructive feedback from you, dear readers. Did we blow your freakin' mind? Is there something in this video you feel just doesn't work? Anything you'd like to see more of? Less of? Whatever your thoughts, we'd love to hear 'em.

Without further ado, here's Farm.

  

Comments

[Steve]

NICE! I was wondering when this was going to come out. The sound is great. Don't change a thing there. For the visuals, you probably already know some lighting would have helped. Another thought would be to let the band submit video clips that you could mix in, or photos you could Ken Burnsify.

[Ryan O]

this is great Dan. I've long-loved those Take Away shows as well, especially that St. Vincent one...

[Elizabeth]

Thank you everybody for your feedback. It's great to get some reactions, but I DO HOPE that everyone realizes what they're seeing here is really more of an ASSEMBLAGE than a rough cut. This is truly a sneak peak, and I hope you will stay tuned for the real deal.

Also it's "Bite Club TV" with Alice Levitt. Alice Eats is her weekly restaurant review.

[Dan Bolles]

I knew that. I was, um, just testing you. You passed …

[Patricia Braine]

The sound is great. I like the hand-held, artistic approach/concept - stylistically interesting - yet, at times a bit distracting. Timing is important when shoot a live band & it isn't easy with one camera. Couldn't see the singer well enough or often enough. And, yes, maybe, if you were able to light a couple of candles, it would have been easier to see all the band members. However, given that The Cave is The Cave... it works! Continue (:-) The more we document local talent the more get covered and that works for me... Well done. BTW: you picked an awesome band & song!