George Told A Dirty Lie part 4

Shooting The Video

Since this was a video about Soldiers dying who wouldn't be, if not for the dirty lies of George Bush, I decided that a Soldier’s cemetery was the appro po place for the shoot. I am sure that there will be many folks from red states who will think that this was disrespectful. I don’t care what they think. I am a vet. I served my time and I have earned the right to my opinion. So if you feel like sending me hate mail about this, piss off. It won’t have any effect on me at all. I’ll just laugh at you before I delete it.

The nearest SoldierCemetery is the Presidio. So off we go. I have two speakers and a CD player strapped to my waist. That way Kimmy can hear the music while she sings for the video. We arrive at the cemetery. There are tall trees around the cemetery which means that we are going to loose our light soon as the sun goes down, so we hafta hurry. I pick the spot.

Now this happens to be a very windy day so there is a lot of noise from the wind. I have a tripod, but the problem is that I have to be close to her so she can hear the music coming from my waist. So instead of getting a stable shot with the tripod and zooming out as she gets closer, I have to stay close to her and walk backwards. Not the professional shot I wanted, but what the hell. The light is going rapidly and I need the shot. That’s why the video is jumping around so much. Even using the tripod for shots where I don’t have to walk proves to be a chore. We are standing on a hill, so as she walks around me, I have to pick up the tripod to follow her. After a few takes, the light is gone and we take off.

Now I gotta get a musician and get the song created.

So, the search starts for the musician. I place ads in Craigslist in SF. I get lots of responses. One of them is from the manager of a well known Bay Area blues man. I am all excited. I’ve seen him play and no doubt the video will be a hit with him in it. His manager is just as excited as I am to have him do it. She says they both hate Bush and discuss all the time about what can be done to save our precious Soldiers that Bush seems to think are so disposable.
I email all of the other musicians, thank them for the response, and tell them we have our guy.
Problem is, this musician has never touched a computer and has no intention to start now. That means, instead of just using a home computer with audio software, he would have to go into a studio, and there is no budget for this project.
The quest for music goes on.
I email back all the musicians I rejected before, as well as posting more Craigslist ads.

I get tons of responses. Some want to get paid (even though the ad clearly states that payment is exposure) and some are very exited to be involved. Then I never hear from them again. A few send samples that just aint cuttin it.
Starting to get bald spots from pulling my hair out
More Craigslist ads, more of the same. I’m gonna hafta buy a toupee.

Then came Eric Normand (God Bless him). He sends a sample, I give some critique, he sends a new version. We go through this a couple times and then he sends his final version. He says if this one don’t work, that he has a project coming up and won’t have time to work on it for awhile. I hold my breath & knock on wood. I don’t care how desperate I am, I’m not going to use something that is not good enough. I have invested too much time and effort to let it end up less than perfect.

I hit ‘play’. Wow! PERFECT! Great song and he played to the video. Notice in the video, things like when she sings “You lied about Saddam, and made a Vietnam” he has a pregnant pause while the sound of chopping rock continues, then goes right back into the music. Friggin great! The more I hear it, the better I like it. (I’m so happy I could cry).

Time to up-load it to all the video sharing sites.

Story to be continued. Tune in next week.

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