"you want me to put what on the screen?????!!"

[filtered]

Hi guys,

heres a bit of a dilema and im sure other people have come accross it in the past. We've potentially got this gig coming up where, from what ive heard the last time they had visuals they had cams running into the lads/girls loos, and then putting it up on screen. Although i can see it being funny, im not really wanting to mix up my work with flicking on some gurner poping zits in the gents! Also the best in visuals (from what ive heard) has been putting up transformers (robots in disguise!) vids, etc... and just playing them. My dilema is this, if a promotor says 'Can we put this up - and hands you a carebears video (or such like) cause he thinks it will be funny - what do you do? go with it? comprimise what your doing creativly for a cheap laugh, or just say no?... Or digitally rip it up on the desk?!

Just wondering!

Tim

[brain]

live toilet cams?!!
if the promoter asks for this, just tell him you can't do it for legal reasons. of course its a violation of privacy etc. (well unless its an event party like some red/yellow gay night and everyone knows whats going on and takes part in the action!)

[filtered]

yeah, i figured it was, ive not been there my self, but its quite a well respected club / club night, i dont know how true it was mind, but it did get me a little worried!

[sleepytom]

it depends...

i genraly won't show anything that i'm given on the night (make some excuse about it being the wrong format) but if a promoter wants me to use a perticular bit of video then i'll try and get them to pay for a days production to turn it into the kind of clip that will work.

eg care bares would actually work if you had the time to key out the backgrounds and make them dance to hard techno - but i'd never just bung the carebares video on

normally the promoters will have quite intresting ideas and working with them can be a good way to devolop the style of the night - but you need to do it properly other wise there is no point
_______
off topic
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i'm really scared by the amount of 80's stuff being discussed here at the moment - neoteo wants everyone to wear neon clothes and your here talking about the care bares and transformers

[holly]

Hmmm. Yeah the toilet-cam. It's one of those things that sounds racy until you actually do it and then it's rather mundane and boring. You could wait all night for someone to do that scandelous bump of coke followed by the blowjob and the 3-way.... Off the top of my head I'm trying to think of ways to "fix" it and the best I can come up with is to tell him you'll do it, as long as he sends a couple of dancers in there to make it look interesting.... You know, stage the blowjob. Not an actual blowjob, but some sort of silly wacked out performance with simulated whatever. That way it is controlled, no one will sue, you know it will get the crowd talking (which is what he wants) and you won't be showing the nothingness of people waiting on lines to pee. Otherwise, I don't know what to tell you. It sucks to tell your boss he has a bad idea.

In the CareBears vein of random stuff you are told to put up at the last minute, I did a hip-hop party last weekend in a brand new club and the owner was so nervous about his bar being torn apart by an unruly crowd, he actually asked me if there was a way to put up words to the effect of "Don't Fight" and "This club is your place to party so don't destroy it". Har har. Like those workplace signs that are supposed to brainwash you into being a well-mannered drone....

[akira_k]

Originally posted by holly
e actually asked me if there was a way to put up words to the effect of "Don't Fight" and "This club is your place to party so don't destroy it".
That is one excellent idea you can smash up to pieces, flashing that text and showing people destroying things or stuff,... should be fun :D

For the topic, If the guy comes, days in advance, and gives you the carebear video, I would grab it and try to mash it up and see what comes out of it, as Tom says.
Now if he shows up in the venue and gives you the video you tell him something to avoid using it. In my case, it would be "I don't work with VCRs, sorry" :D The tech excuse uses to work

[Tabrizi]

yeah, I suffered from the same problem. this promoter made us put on some wired religious arty french video just before our set using our equipment.

Wont be doing that again, i think your just got to tell them to go f**k. There paying you money to view your visualls and set up, its not a change for them to play around with your equipment just because there orgainising the event.

It gives your visualls a bad name, it shows that you carnt be arsed to produce your own stuff and your just happy to show anything on the screen.

[Rovastar]

Say
'Yeah ok I will play that video if the DJ plays this XYZ record"

[KillingFrenzy]

In my case the guy wanted that stupid video of the Hippo Dancing around to the Thong Song...

So, I made a clip out of it.
Then, I MADE SURE HE WAS WATCHING. and let it play fairly normal, then ripped it up by scratching and sampling, and generally beating the clip to death for the duration of an entire Hip-Hop track.
The result was that he knew the original content, and was impressed that I could take something so linear and make such a complicated mess out of it.
So, I turned lemons into lemonade and took something I thought was pretty stupid and turned it into a showcase for my abilities. A little time investment, and a pause from my regular programming, but the promoter definitely saw where his money is going each time he hires me. Its often hard to get a promoter to really watch what you're doing.
Obviously this technique can only go so far. I'd especially discourage anything where the person is dictating a good part of the evenings worth of content. You'll get bored, and if they really just want to see the thing straight, they might get annoyed if you start f'in it up too much. If somebody has signage or logos, encourage them to actually make physical signs or logos. Just remind them that your Live visuals are something they're paying for instead of a tape. I'll often ask a promoter to give me themes and moods, or a particular thing to riff off of; so they feel like they're setting the tone, but I get to choose the content and interpretation.
That bathroom business just sounds tedious. You can always suggest that they add a couple of monitors, or a second projector to just run that on, instead of tying up the visuals screen. You could also suggest an installation PC that would do samples, effects or time displacement and have that as a standalone for the bathroom action.

[kallisti]

i remember some web site had clips of this inflatible booth thing that they would set up at parties... wired with cameras.. got the same effect as the bathroom cam (scandalous 3ways...ppl making out...drugs..etc), but without inconveniencing the poor souls who just had to pee.... if you wanted to use the booth, you waited your turn... this way there was more of a choice involved for the people, no "accidental surveillance"....i forget the web site tho...

it was funny tho... i mean, ppl would do things in the booth on camera for hundreds to see that they wouldn't do in front of them, in person..