Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/714180
MUSIC VIDEOS www.postmagazine.com 19 POST AUGUST 2016 the video's visual eff ects. The band has a symbol for each song on "Memento Mori," so Cox used the symbol for the "Anonymous" track as the basis for the visual treatments that appear throughout as digital rain, DNA and coding. "I have six-core Mac," says Cox, which helped with the rendering eff ort. His previ- ous iMac, he says, would never have been able to handle the task. Adobe Premiere was used for the fi nal edit. Refl ecting on his fi rst VR music video experience, Cox says he learned a lot and can off er several pointers. First off , he says he'd use 4K GoPros going forward. "The camera choice is obvious — 4Ks are what you need." He also learned a valuable lesson re- garding camera placement, and specifi cal- ly, where the subject needs to be in relation to the camera rig. Cox recommends positioning the camera fi ve feet from the subject, or even further. "Placement of subject is crucial. If the subject comes too close, he's going to end up in those stitch- es. There were times I had [the singer] come right up to the camera and I couldn't use any of that footage." "Another thing you need to remem- ber is, every single thing is in your shot. Literally everything!" Cox points to some- thing as simple as a randomly placed water bottle, which caused him a day of post work to remove or blur out. "It stuck out like a sore thumb, but when I was there I didn't notice the bottle because it was behind his leg. That's something to really pay attention to because every little thing is going to get captured." Shortly after completing the Gemini Syndrome videos, Cox's Flarelight Films was getting ready to move into shared stu- dio space in Glendale, CA, where he would have access to a 55-foot greenscreen and a cyc wall, both of which would be avail- able for future music video work. SEPTEMBER MOURNING — SKIN AND BONES Scott Rudd is a creative director based in the UK who specializes in music-related work. His career took off approximately three years ago, when work on a music video for his own band caught the atten- tion of another artist, who commissioned him to create their music video. He remem- bers making just $25 for the full-lyric video, but it was a launch pad that led to a steady stream of music projects ever since. "Everything is music-based," says Rudd of his work. "I've done live action and ed- iting in the past, but usually it's all anima- tion work. I like to stay competitive in the market, and was in a band a long time ago. I know how hard it is, especially when you put all the money back into the band for instruments and recording. I like to keep it as low as possible, so I am competitive and aff ordable for lesser bands that are not on Nuclear Blast or Sumerian Records. Most recently, Rudd worked with Sumerian Records recording artists September Mourning, creating a music video for the band's "Skin and Bones" track. September Mourning's band members — September Mourning, Riven, Wraith and Shadou — each have their own comic-book persona. The band released their "Volume II" album on July 29 th along with Issue #2 of the comic book collab- oration with acclaimed artist ("X-Men," "Witchblade," "The Darkness") Marc Silvestri. Both forms of media intertwine to create a musical and visual story. Rudd had worked with the band's management team in the past and knew of their comic and style, so when he was contacted to create Skin and Bones, his answer was a confi dent "yes!" According to the director, he was pro- vided with two folders of digital imagery used in the band's comics. "They sent me all the images — fl at im- ages — and I had to go through them one by one and cut out all the diff erent parts, and make my own speech bubbles." Rudd used Adobe Photoshop to cut out imagery and to fi ll in backgrounds. He then used After Eff ects to add motion to the imagery and bring the comic-themed video to life. He ended up using all of the images from Issue #2, but still needed a bit more material to complete the project. "For the very end scene, that's from a diff erent comic of theirs," he notes. "Just to extend the scene out slightly because I used literally the whole thing. Up until she knocks on the door and opens the door, and goes into the room, after that it was from a diff erent comic." Rudd spent just two days working on the project. "I had about four or fi ve days to work on it, but when I was watching it back, it just felt right. I didn't need to change anything. It was two days of hard work." The fi nal music video runs 3:15 and was created in 1080p HD. "They gave me 100 percent freedom, creatively," Rudd recalls. "They said, 'Here's the comic strip. Do what you've got to do.'" Skin and Bones director Scott Rudd.