The Making of Glitch
Written by Martin Joiner
Both myself and the Darlingtons are from Taunton. We all met through
Open Mic Sunday at the Perfect 5th which I organise and host. The band study Music at
Richard Huish College and are taught by Richard Sparkes
(notice his name in production credits) who is a great supporter of the Open Mic event and
The Perfect 5th as a venue.
Shot over a day and a half the video was filmed at
Kingston Studios using my basic camcorder and a few lights modified for effect. Further shooting was required to obtain the motorway lights footage for which
Karl Ficarotta (also met through Open Mic) assisted as a driver. Then after a solid 14 hour session infront of the computer the video was completed. That same night the band held an EP launch party at the Perfect 5th and just before the band performed, I projected the video on stage.
In summary the whole project went incredibly well. The Darlingtons were great to work with because they took direction well and if they didn't understand a request they simply asked me to explain. It sounds like something that should be a given, but often a director's biggest frustration can be people who nod and agree to everything you say regardless of clarity on the instructions. In the initial meeting with Kiwi and Dan from the band we discussed lots of ideas. But having failed on projects before due to being over-ambitious I made sure I laid out exactly how much work and effort each idea could take and the risk of it failing and looking stupid. So quite rightly we decided to go for this simple solution because a) we knew it was achievable within timescale and budget, b) it did not require acting and c) it could all be shot in one location that was not weather dependant.
When a video gets completed and looks good you completely forget the amount of time and effort that went into it. But so many projects never get finished and because of that the people involved begin to resent the wasted energy. This usually happens because the group were not thorough enough during shooting and mistakes go unnoticed until the editing phase when it's too late to rectify. So the editor looses interest in the inevitably flawed project and abandons at the final stage. This causes tension within the group and a loss of faith in themselves and each other. I am really proud that this has not happened. Our humble efforts may be simple but it shows that we can complete on the type of project that potentially could have tainted our relationship forever.
As our careers progress in baby steps I hope this video can sit proud in our portfolios.