The 20th Norcal Noisefest proved to be the most challenging yet for me.
This year, they had inaugurated me as an organizer after many years of volunteering for the festival. I’m the only member of the planning committee that does not perform, but I hope to change that by 2017 (hard wink).
In addition to assignments regarding festival development and support, I had three videos to produce this year for promotional use.
Indiegogo funding video
The request for a funding video for our Indiegogo campaign came with a short deadline, so I had proposed to use last year’s video and shorten it, make it snappier.
We had gained a new organizer this year, so I had interviewed him on the scene’s impact while encouraging attendance.
A side note: I may have a future as a set dresser. Lob and Brandon’s interviews were filmed in the same room, just dressed and lit differently to reflect them as artists.
This year’s funding video would also reflect consistency with this year’s design: level meters mimicking the Sacramento skyline. I had found an awesome audio visualizer plugin by Pixel Film Studios made for FCPX, and used that to give life to the print design and for the interviewee’s lower thirds. I also swapped out the b-roll from my library on Noisefest footage to help freshen it up a bit.
Update: two of my video perks were purchased through the campaign. Will make another post on the finished perks!
NFXX performer profiles
About two weeks after the launch of the Indiegogo campaign, there was interest in creating more shareable content to be used for promotions during the campaign and leading up to the festival.
The thought was to interview three to four of this year’s performers to present the unique personalities and styles of a noise musician. I thought this was a wonderful idea to be included for press releases, social media posts, and of course showcase some great people [enter Medicine Cabinet, Mulva Myasis and SRC].
Each performer I had prepped with questions and requests to have their equipment/toys available for filming. Everyone had been given the same list of prompts, but also worked well with whatever follow-ups or oddballs I had for them as well.
I’m very pleased (and so were they) with the outcome of their profiles
NFXX 40s spot
Our allies at the Trash Film Orgy had offered us a 30-40s advertising spot for their showing of Army of Darkness for the 2016 Zombie Walk.
Part of me wanted to make a repeat of last year’s promo, which was well-received by the Trash Film crowd. Since it was a 40s spot and not 1 minute, I had to make every second count.
I continued including footage of performers that had a more visually engaging stage presence. Songs I used were from a more recent compilation that includes glitch, harsh noise, power noise, and drone – a variety to represent the styles in the genre. The most important details were included – loudness, chaos, number of acts, dates, tickets, and the website. I really wanted to push weekend pass sales, but if all else fails, they’ll remember the website for sure.
Once again, there’s the use of the audio visualizer plus the erratic overlay plugin also by Pixel Pro Studios (they had a sweet bundle discount – I couldn’t resist!).