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"Crudites" was a week long music video project for Hard Logic. Hard Logic is a contemporary smooth jazz band based in Rochester, NY. The inspiration for the style came from Film Noir and city imagery from the 1940s. The current video is for an intro to their website. I am currently in the post production phase of a full music video for the band, which will be finished within the next month.

I directed a multiple camera green screen shoot in High Definition for the shots of the band and for some background effect shots. I also shot watercolor and inkdroplet footage to enhance the visual style of the piece. The piece was animated, styled and keyed in After Effects. I also incorporated some artwork that was done in Photoshop and Illustrator as well as some live action shots I had taken in previous shoots (Birds, The Moon).

Each member of the band played their part of the song in front of the green screen. The final audio was streamed on the room sound system so that they could match with the exact beats. Two green screens were used: a 11x12 screen for the background and a 12x24 screen for the ground plane.

We had to get by with what was around us to achieve certain effect shots. For the ink droplet in water shots, I found a small water tank and raised it above me with some chairs and tables in the room. We took a board we found and had some woodshop students cut holes the exact width of the camera lens and the width of the tank so we could shoot up or down without needing a support system.

We also used some green screen shots to achieve certain effects. For flowing fabric background, we used a magenta sheet (easiest color to key) with strong highlights that we bought from the fabric store. We then used a gargantuan fan that had been in our lab for years to blow the fabric around. One person at a time would stand on a chair and move the fabric around as it was blown by the fan.

I was able to cut the time of the shoot significantly down by having multiple camera operators all rolling at the same time. For each band member's part, one camera would shoot a close-up view, one a medium shot and one a long shot. This also helped the footage be exactly in sync when cuts were needed.

Above is one of the shots of black ink that was dropped into the water tank. These shots were used as background elements and transitions in the final video.

I created 3 sets of styleframes for this project. The first set was closely linked to film noir style and had heavy blacks and high contrast images. After animation tests, I found that this style could'nt be carried through the whole piece successfully. The second set of frames added stylized color to the picture and incorporated blended layers of water droplets. After surveying some outside viewers, I found that these were too dark for the style of music. The solution was the third set of frames, which incorporates grungy textures as light patches in the scene along with stylized color and heavy contrast.

I animated the project entirely in After Effects using 3D layers and cameras. The grungy patched textures were created from photographs and feathered off. The band was keyed using Keylight. Each band member was matched to the final music and placed in their own comp so that matching the timing wouldn't be an issue.