3D is the 'now' technology - again! Yes it's a little hard to work out why it's suddenly back after disappearing the first time around in 1987. Or perhaps the mystery is why it ever went away to begin with, since people actually seem to dig it quite majorly. Whatever. My question is: could it work in a music video clip?
Yes, I know that most of us would find it a bit weird donning a pair of geeky, round, thick-rimmed, plasticky glasses to watch a musical performance. Hey, wait a sec, that's a good description of every third indie kid in Shoreditch!
So I guess style is not such a concern in the current climate of of geek chic, and personally I think that a lot of people would make the effort in order to see their favourite vids in a different light. Hot Chip's "I feel better", for example - now that would rock in 3D. Just picture that beam of destructive energy from the white monk's mouth powering towards you in three glorious dimensions. Or Bat for Lashes' "When you love someone" - having those wolf BMX riders leaping out of the screen towards you would be very fun. And we all know that the more up close and personal we can get with our favourite sexy lead singers, the better!
Then there's the issue of screen technology. Fear not. If you follow the tech sector you'll know that manufacturers are now bringing out 3D-capable screens for everything from flat screen TVs down to handheld devices. Oh and some of those at least claim not to require the aforementioned glasses - so, indie kids, if you really want to make a fashion statement, but one of these extra special screens, wear nothing on your face, and be different!
But the overriding reason to make 3D music videos is to shake this genre up a little. Frankly, music videos are often boring. Technically speaking, nothing much has happened to the genre for a few years now. It's a testament to the un-dynamic nature of the competition that a few videos that, when the White Stripes used that tunnelling effect in 'Seven Nation Army' so many bands jumped on the bandwagon and released videos with the exact same effect and people just seemed to keep lapping it up like it was something original. The same thing happened when Gnarles Barkley realised 'Crazy', with its dominant 70s-esque Rorscharch Inkblot mirroring effect. Dozens of videos that used this effect followed, which is made all the funnier by how very easy that effect is to create now with digital video programmes.
In other words, we need another technology that would allow people to branch out a little and achieve some distinctive new looks and have an impact on the audience.
Of course, for indie video producers, 3D is going to be a big challenge as well as an opportunity. Not all cameras are capable of it, so there's there's a cost barrier to getting started. And shooting in 3D complicates things - even to get the basics right requires a fair bit of knowledge about scene layout and camera angles. But with a bit of sweat, us indie producers could be way out in front of the major labels producing the 'same old same old' as always.
Yes, I know that most of us would find it a bit weird donning a pair of geeky, round, thick-rimmed, plasticky glasses to watch a musical performance. Hey, wait a sec, that's a good description of every third indie kid in Shoreditch!
So I guess style is not such a concern in the current climate of of geek chic, and personally I think that a lot of people would make the effort in order to see their favourite vids in a different light. Hot Chip's "I feel better", for example - now that would rock in 3D. Just picture that beam of destructive energy from the white monk's mouth powering towards you in three glorious dimensions. Or Bat for Lashes' "When you love someone" - having those wolf BMX riders leaping out of the screen towards you would be very fun. And we all know that the more up close and personal we can get with our favourite sexy lead singers, the better!
Then there's the issue of screen technology. Fear not. If you follow the tech sector you'll know that manufacturers are now bringing out 3D-capable screens for everything from flat screen TVs down to handheld devices. Oh and some of those at least claim not to require the aforementioned glasses - so, indie kids, if you really want to make a fashion statement, but one of these extra special screens, wear nothing on your face, and be different!
But the overriding reason to make 3D music videos is to shake this genre up a little. Frankly, music videos are often boring. Technically speaking, nothing much has happened to the genre for a few years now. It's a testament to the un-dynamic nature of the competition that a few videos that, when the White Stripes used that tunnelling effect in 'Seven Nation Army' so many bands jumped on the bandwagon and released videos with the exact same effect and people just seemed to keep lapping it up like it was something original. The same thing happened when Gnarles Barkley realised 'Crazy', with its dominant 70s-esque Rorscharch Inkblot mirroring effect. Dozens of videos that used this effect followed, which is made all the funnier by how very easy that effect is to create now with digital video programmes.
In other words, we need another technology that would allow people to branch out a little and achieve some distinctive new looks and have an impact on the audience.
Of course, for indie video producers, 3D is going to be a big challenge as well as an opportunity. Not all cameras are capable of it, so there's there's a cost barrier to getting started. And shooting in 3D complicates things - even to get the basics right requires a fair bit of knowledge about scene layout and camera angles. But with a bit of sweat, us indie producers could be way out in front of the major labels producing the 'same old same old' as always.
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