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[Jimor]

A friend told me about a contest Royksopp is having to make music videos for each song on their Senior album. Deadline is January 17th for anybody interested. 3 finalists for each song, one chosen by Royksopp, one by genero.tv, and one by votes, then Royksopp picks the winner. Best of all the track winners gets $3000, the other 8 get $1000.

I think I'll give it a shot. I have a concept that will be easy to shoot with my limited gear and budget. Then I can unleash my editing prowess on it all.  

So far looking at the early entrants, this is my favorite.

And this one.

[Jimor]

Oh my. Now there are contests for Duran Duran (every song on the album), and OMD (1 song).

I already have a really solid concept for OMD, just need to see if I can gather a crew of classmates to pull it off in time. Duran Duran just started, so I haven't even listened yet.

Just the thought of being able to do a "real" 80s music video, however, is the kind of thing that I don't think I can pass up.

[Jimor]

Uploaded my first entry in the Royksopp contest for the first song on the album, "... And the Forest Began to Sing".

Being a short intro song (1:50) not a lot to do with it, and almost half the entries so far are for it, so no chance I'll win with this one. I was mostly using it as a test for timing, editing, and technical matters, but I'm still pleased with it.

Next up is editing an entry for song 2, "Tricky Two" which is fast paced and long at almost 8 minutes, so there are going to be a ridiculous number of edit cuts, and I have until Monday night to finish it. The good news is that the length means there are only 2 other entries for this song so far, and they're rather average, so I think I have a decent shot at being at least a finalist.

Back to work!

[Jimor]

And now my 2nd entry is live and the deadline has passed. "Tricky Two".

Spent 26 of the 32 hours leading up to the upload editing it. Of course, all I see are the flaws, and I know I'm not going to win, but considering there were only 5 entries for this song, and 2 of them "cheated" by editing down a 7:50 song to just over 3 minutes, I think I have a chance of at least being named one of the 3 finalists. 

What I'm pleased about is that I took my limited equipment, limited resources (other than my friend appearing in it, I did everything without help), limited time, and limited experience, and pushed them all to the limit (as I type that last word I realize how awkward that sentence is, but I'm gonna leave it like that). So having done this, and having watched both the good and bad videos along side it, I've learned a LOT about what it will take to reach another level.

That and I need somebody to buy me a really nice Mac with Final Cut Pro installed.

[Jimor]

There was one more last-minute entry, so 6 total for the song, 2 disqualified for length. So there was at least some doubt as to making the finals, but I did! 

Whatever else happens, at least I can say I was a finalist in an International Music Video Competition.

[Jimor]

Well, I was runner up. They gave feedback to all the finalists.

JamesAB’s piece was more musical and his editing of the automotive obsession juxtaposed to the grace and pace of the girl worked well and carried the simple idea through the length of the track, though maybe there could been a little more narrative and pay off from the girls journey to really capture the imagination.

I'm currently working on an entry for Duran Duran due Feb 8th, so I'll be bugging you all at least a couple more times.

[Jimor]

Well, they extended the Duran Duran competition by 2 weeks, which gave me time to polish my entry much more than my Royksopp entry... and they rejected it for not being to "official music video" standards. 

I knew it wasn't going to win considering the quality of the competition, but I think my entry had merit enough to perhaps be a finalist. The flaw I knew about was that I didn't really have a "story" for it, but I believe I'm not far off in thinking that the fact I didn't add a gratuitous video filter to make it look "artistic" was also a factor. See for yourself.

Anyway, I'm actually far happier with the final product in this case than I was for the others, so I present to you anyway:
Duran Duran - Being Followed.

Meanwhile, some honest shoutouts for these videos. There's some fantastic work from directors all over the world, and I know that next time I enter, I'll have to step up my game.