On Saturday 26th of May, Auckland hard rock outfit, Dreams of the Dead, are filming another music video to add to their collection – for their song ‘Thought Plague’.
While remaining of the DIY ethos, they have engaged people “with with proper cameras” to shoot this clip but, to keep budgets down and libations flowing, the band are filming in their personal practice space in St. Johns, where two members live permanently – and they are asking the friends and fans to come be in the clip – that includes you if you are so inclined!
According to Dreams’ guitarist Nikolai, the basic idea for the video will involve playing the song back in a variety of speeds, then reverted back to normal speed in post-production to make movements of the audience and characters seem extra fast or slow, or at more subtle speed changes, look similar to a hand-reeled motion camera of the 1920′s.
“We are bringing in a chaotic element of fans, in fancy-dress, fire-breathing, doing skateboard and BMX stunts, a Jackass element, and people destroying old band equipment we have been holding onto for just such an occasion.” says Nikolai. “Filming a party atmosphere, while the band tries their best to play along with the playback music, is going to make the background activity look incredibly strange.”
Bassist, director and producer for the event, Rob ‘Captain’ Kidd, says that the idea came to him watching a box set of David Bowie music videos. “The variety of approaches Bowie has taken to filming a basic music video is astounding. Not only has he changed his appearance every album, like Madonna and Lady Gaga, but he has tried every type of way of filming; with mixed results obviously. Comparing Bowie’s ‘The Heart’s Filthy Lesson’ (1995) with ‘I’m Afraid of Americans’ (1997) or ‘Ashes to Ashes’ (1980) is like looking at different artists from different countries. The one thing that everyone is aware of in Dreams of the Dead, is just how repetitive rock n’ roll or metal can be; both in videos and in sound. We are constantly trying to change how we sound, trying different ways to be ‘heavy’ without falling into a bloody heavy metal cliché. That can be cool if you have your tounge firmly in mouth, but it’s hard to tell when your hair is infront of your face and your headbanging.”
The band are inviting any people interested in being in a music video to come to their practice space, 90 Elizabeth Knox Place, in St. Johns, off Morrin Road on Saturday the 26th of May at 2pm.
The admission is free, and all ages, and all the band asks is that people can dance along to one rock song for a couple of hours … at a variety of different speeds.
