8 January 2014
I’ve decided after discussion with my promotions people to hold back the release of “Blind to the Beautiful” as a single until April with the primary set up occurring in March. This ties in better with the UK tour, gives me a chance to put together both a singles package and the “Feast of Consequences” album on i-Tunes and other download sites to make it chart eligible and a lot more time to produce a video clip for the single for You Tube and other outlets.
The original deadline of mid January is therefore extended to mid February for those of you who want to get involved in sending in contributions and director David Barras and I will be filming our own footage throughout that time.
One of the deciding factors is an offer I’ve had to perform a short acoustic set ( 3 numbers including “Blind”, “Feast” and another) at the Sea Life Centre in Brighton on the 27th January. This is part of a scientific gathering and exhibition, the Biocare Marine Showcase Event. You can find out more about the event and what it’s all about www.brighton.ac.uk/biocaremarine They’re also on Facebook under Biocare Marine.
It has given us an excellent opportunity to shoot some weird and wonderful footage that can be added to the “Blind” video as well as give me a stand alone clip from the performance that can be used together with the main video. I’ll explain more once I have done the recce on the Sea Life site next week and discovered just exactly what we are allowed to do there.
The exhibition will be open to the public as an invite only affair with tickets restricted to 300 and those of you interested in coming will have to send in a request to Brighton University once they have the ticketing sorted out
It’s meant a rethink on the premise of the video and perhaps the new angle is less daunting as some of you found the previous request a bit daunting and complicated to work with. We’ve only had a few contributions sent in so far which is understandable given the holiday period and that it’s only been a couple of weeks since we first asked you to help out. The new ideas should be a lot easier to execute although we are still looking for the shots of “blindfolded walkers”.
With the current weather systems unleashed around the world at this moment in time we’d like you to try and capture them as the subject matter is perfect for the song. But we want you in the environment!
There are 2 basic set ups. “The Ugly” and “The Beautiful”
“The Ugly” we want shots of people in situations/ environments/ with objects/ backdrops in scenarios that are “ unpleasant” or simply “not beautiful”.
This could be an industrial wasteland/ standing next to roadkill/ a dead bird or fish in your hands/ a flooded street or fields/ a snowstorm/ icy landscape/ a barbed wire entanglement/ graffiti-ed derelict buildings/ an overgrown graveyard/ a car wreck/ a rubbish tip/ a disused canal/ dead bee hive….etc etc
In these shots the person should not be blindfolded and should be standing and not moving, staring at the camera with an expressionless face or be crying. The camera has to take in the surroundings but can also move into slow close ups.
“The Beautiful” is exactly the opposite. A blindfolded person in a place of wonder, a forest,/a deserted beach /with a baby in their arms/ a flower garden/ a cathedral stained glass window/museum or gallery sculpture/painting/ in a butterfly garden/ standing with a beautiful horse or animal/ under a waterfall.
The shot action/ framing should be the same as the “Ugly” scenario.
All the above are only suggestions and we leave it up to your imagination to come up with ideas. You can shoot as many scenes as you want in either “Ugly” or “Beautiful” settings.
We still need the blindfolded queue of people if you’re able to get that together.
The filming ideally should be on an HD, digital or decent camera but good quality i-Phone footage will work as long as you’ve a steady hand !
It should be in colour so we can play with saturations and treatments etc.in as high quality as you can provide so it can be manipulated and sit together within the clip which has a series of other elements to be added. It only requires a few minutes of footage so framing, exposure, movement and impact is fundamental
David Barras will be the coordinator of the footage and you will be able to send him your clips via WeTransfer.com using the e mail all@strangeboat.com
If you send something to us we can’t promise it will be used and anyone who does send footage has to sign off on their contribution/ copyright on a form that Dave and I will send you if it’s chosen.
At the end of the day there’s a great chance to make a poignant and timely video for this single and in particular , especially at this moment in time if anyone in North America can get some footage together it would be very meaningful.
A radio hit combined with a You Tube hit could make a huge difference and open up territories I’ve never managed to reach before or for a very long time.
I’d sincerely appreciate if you are moved or inspired enough to get involved with this project and to make it happen with me.
Thanks in anticipation and I genuinely look forward to seeing what you can come up with
all the best
Fish