Little Bo-Peep lost their sheep… and the sheep from space took over. Here’s what happens when a bad dream meets animal farm with guns, George Orwell style.

Band – Bo-Peep
Song Title – Power
Album – Vibe
Labels – Flightpath Records & Tours and 3rd Stone from the Sun Corp.. Available worldwide in every major music store, also online at Japan Files and iTunes.

Credits:
Producer – Ethan Green
Co-Producer, Director, Art Director, and Editor – Aaron Jenkin
Camera Operators – Edward Caughlin, Ethan Green, Aaron Jenkin, and Pierre Maugendre

Notes:
This was my third video on the Canon 5D Mark 2; I love this camera. My first attempt at stock motion was a 30 second Kraft Singles Cheese commercial. We shot the Kraft commercial in one day and edited it in three days. It was a piece of cake, or should I say cheese? I made the assumption that any stop motion was easy. Enter, Bo-Peep and “Power.”

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Bo-Peep is a punk rock girls band from Tokyo, Japan. Mika is the lead singer and guitarist, Ryoko is on drums, and Take is destroying the bass. They write their own music and perform live shows on a regular basis. If you see them, you will be instantly PUMPED. Recently they had an awesome writeup in a very popular Tokyo Magazine for English Speakers, titled Metropolis. They also went on tour in the US to promote their 3rd album, “VIBE” which will hit stores worldwide on May 29th. Alternatively, you can download the album at Japan Files and on iTunes.

The Experience:
The concept for this video was originally VERY simple. Of course as my brain ran wild, it went from a one month project to an obsessive five month perfection attempted, but very successful disasterpiece. Working with the band was nothing short of great, and in the end the video turned out just as we had hoped, but the hours put in to make the final result became uncountable and there were days when I thought I was going to go insane over not being able to get something technical to work. This video pushed the limits for me and everyone who helped. Four cameras shooting a live performance (We shot on 4 different cameras, including one with a fish-eye lens, to give the video a mixed look); 130GB’s of miniature footage; sometimes 20 takes to get a shot perfect; countless other hurdles. I now am a firm believer that shooting miniatures, even with the right equipment is one of the hardest things in the world. A speck of dust or a hair that you miss with the naked eye turns up so easily when you view it full screen. We got to the point where we had to check every take on a laptop monitor, to give it a pass or fail. Even our High Rez shooting monitor was not picking up all of the necessary details. Editing was not any easier than shooting. Since we were doing both simultaneously we had to learn new techniques AND invent new techniques to pull off all of the gags and ideas we had. Coming out of this, I feel like we can call this experience the miniature version of filming Apocalypse Now. At least we were in a studio for most of the shoot!

If you are interested in working with me on a music video and have an idea using miniatures or stop motion, let’s collaborate. As much as I hate the pain staking process, I love the outcome.

Special thanks to Bo-Peep for making such a rocking song and freedom to create a visual to match, Flightpath Records & Tours and 3rd Stone from the Sun Corp. for giving me the opportunity to work with the girls, Dean De La Cruz and Joe McDaniel for technical assistance, and Michelle Vines for letting us set our stage on fire in her studio space.

I’m currently directing a music video with punk rock band Bo-Peep (http://www.bo-peep3.com). Last month we shot them live in Tokyo; they rocked the stage and almost blew my ears out. It was intense and fun. We rolled four HD cameras and now I have the task of syncing everything up and finding the best shots. In late December, I’ll be shooting the second part of this video with my Director of Photography friend Brian Levin (http://www.brianalevin.com) back in Chicago. I won’t give the whole thing away but think punk band, black sheep, miniatures, and fire. Trust me when I say the video won’t be baaaaaaaaaad. Editing should wrap by the end of January. Keep an eye out but don’t poke an eye out.

The Watanabes are looking for a female friend for an upcoming music video. The chance of finding a girl, about 20 percent.

Band – The Watanabes
Song Title – 20 Percent Chance
Album – Independent Social Power
Label – BabyBoom Records, Available at Tower Records, HMV, CD Baby and Apple iTunes

Credits:
Producer, Director and Editor – Aaron Jenkin
Written by The Watanabes and Aaron Jenkin

Cast:
Duncan Walsh – Himself
Selwyn Walsh – Himself
Ashley Davies – Himself
Flavio J. – Himself
Stefan Samuelsson – Himself

Notes:
I spent the last couple of months editing a music video I directed back in March. Here’s the link to the video on YouTube if you’d like to rate it. I’ve also included the real story behind the video. This was my first video on my new Canon 5D Mark 2; what do you think?

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The Watanabes are a European Band, living in Tokyo Japan, writing music and performing live shows. They just released their album “Independent Social Power” available at Tower Records and HMV stores. You can also download their music over at iTunes.

I hope you enjoy the music and consider buying the album because these guys deserve it. Not only do they pour their hearts into their music, but they’re great guys to be around too. I had so much fun making this video, and I’m not just saying that. If I didn’t mean it, I wouldn’t say anything at all! It was good working with people that cared.

The Experience:
The story in the video is pretty much what happened in real life. Originally our video was about a girl who’s lost something special to her and the band finds it and eventually returns it. We were to shoot it over the course of two days. We had locations picked out, storyboards, all of the band on board, and a nice girl lined up to play the lead. I even bought a new camera, the Canon 5D the night before the shoot to really get everyone excited.

Talent Problems:
On the first day of shooting, our star canceled on us. She was very apologetic and promised up and down she would be there for day two. We quickly adjusted our shooting schedule, and shot everything that DIDN’T involve her. With high hopes we gathered for our second day of shooting and our girl canceled on us once again. At this point we were dead in the water with no well thought out backup plan; not a good position to be in. The band and I sat down at a restaurant and completely rewrote the script. We decided to make a video about NOT having a girl for a video. It seemed more fun, and felt right for the bands personality since it is in fact difficult for “gaijins” (foreigners) to succeed in a serious relationship in Japan.

Technical Problems:
To top off the difficulties, after the first day of shooting I realized that my new camera had a flaw. Something was wrong, and the footage was coming out with a reflective looking reverse image on the right side, covering about a 5th of the total image. When you watch the video, it’s not hard to miss, but it’s most noticeable on the fourth shot. For most shots, I was able to crop it out, but for this shot, we left it there as a bit of a personal reminder of what happened, and because it kind of looks cool, plus Ash the bassist was playing his heart out and the band insisted the shot stay. On day two of shooting, I figured out a way to minimize the effect, but it severely limited what I was able to do with the camera and meant I had to shoot everything on a fixed 24mm lens because for whatever reason the problem was least noticeable at this range. During post production, I cropped out the reflection out of most shots so much of the footage was salvageable. I posted still images of my problem on several Canon forums but no one had ever seen anything like it. I sent the camera to Canon, and they quickly realized the problem. Somewhere on the assembly line, someone forgot to remove the protective clear plastic piece covering the chip sensor. I imagine this plastic is supposed to be pulled off before the camera is sealed up, but it wasn’t. Before sending it to Canon, me and my Director of Photography friend Brian Levin tested the camera, inspected it, and couldn’t figure it out for the life of us! This plastic thing must have been nearly invisible. I’m just happy the camera works now!

Despite all of the problems, we put together a video that everyone involved is happy with. The band is happy, we’re planning on making another video this fall, and that’s all I can ask out of the whole experience!