AGK video makers Q+A 5

AGK Video Makers Q and A -5

I hope you are all putting the finishing touches to your videos in time for the extended deadline Aug 29th.

Any questions please drop us an email: agk@yucknyum.com

Need some more inspiration?

Here is a Q and A from last years winner Rachel Maclean:

Can you briefly explain the video that you made last year?

Using Lady Gaga’s ‘Paparazzi’ as a sound track, I made a piece that explores the saccharine toy towns of childrens TV through the lens of a rapid cut MTV pop video. I am the only actor in this work, cloning and distorting my image to present a grotesquely glamorous space in which babies hatch from multi-coloured eggs, decapitated heads spill from the heavens and a spotty Lady Gaga writhes within the shell of a giant egg.

How did you decide upon your chosen track?

I often work with a specific celebrity as a starting point for my videos and was interested in Lady Gaga’s self-conscious presentation of fame in ‘Paparazzi’. The track has hundreds of responses and parodies linked to it on ‘Youtube, and in turn I was keen to explore in the way in which karaoke could comment on this culture of imitation.

I use cheesy pop like ‘Paparazzi’ that has the potential to be warped and turned on itself, pushing a hyper-saccharine aesthetic to the point that it morphs and begins to reveal it’s darker and more grotesque content.

How did you make it? What hardware /software did you use?

I designed a variety of costumes and face paint, then dressed up and filmed myself against a green-screen set up in my flat. I then used a mixture of ‘After Effects’ and ‘Final Cut Pro’ to key out the green and edit it together. The background elements were created on Photoshop using a variety of found images and then composited in with the live footage.

Did you use the actual song as a soundtrack or another version?

I using the original song for the first part of the video, then I used a version of the same track sung by a man for the final section.

What technique did you use to add text?

I used ‘LiveType’ which is part of the ‘Final Cut’ package to create text and then imported this into the final video.

Did you perform the song on the night? How did it go?

Alas I was too much of a wimp to perform on the night, but the girl who stepped up to the task did a really good job. I did feel guilty that I hadn’t made the text particularly easy to follow however.


Did you have any technical problem making your video? How did you overcome this?

I had a bit of trouble syncing audio on ‘After Effects’ as it is not a programme designed for that kind of work. To overcome this I synced on ‘Final Cut’ and then exported the footage to ‘After Effects’, which is a bit time consuming. I’ve recently found ‘Adobe Premier’ is easier if you want to work between editing and compositing in ‘AE’.

Did you enlist any help?

No I didn’t enlist any help I can think of, as I filmed and edited it by myself. Lady Gaga did help however, she may not be aware of her contribution, but she played her part nonetheless.

Are you entering again this year?

Maybe, I would really like to, but only if I can manage to get it finished in time. I’m working on quite a time consuming video at the moment, which has a good musical section, but I’ll have to see how it goes with the edit.

Any tips on how to make an AGK vid?

Costumes, everyone loves a costume!

LINK