Artists these days are always grasping for ideas to involve fans. In a video for j.viewz’ “rivers and homes,” fans literally get in on the act. Give the video above a moment – after a more conventional intro, it shifts to a stop-motion sequence made from photographed stills of the film. Some 2000 photos, printed out and then held up by 300 fans, then fuse again into motion, beneath the smiling faces of the artist’s most loyal fans. We’ve seen this sort of special effect before, but certainly not with fans helping produce the motion.
Not to give away the end, but it’s possible this artist is stalking his own music video – not something I previously knew to be possible.
j.viewz is Brooklyn-based producer/remixer Jonathan Dagan. He’s got a knack for bootstrapping fandom, having attracted a cadre of subscribers following his work. They signed up for a “subscription” to buy the record, the physical release of which earned a Grammy nomination for packaging.
But here, the physical is primarily photographic, in an effect that’s to me downright magical, perhaps because of the counterpoint of the fans and the video in-frame. (Those who are in there can tag themselves and nab a free MP3.)
More info:
Taken from the album rivers and homes
Directed by Shelly Carmel, Eran Amir, Jonathan Dagan.
DOP: Hunter Baker | Editing: Elan Golod | Styling: Karin Elgai
Production: Matt Leiderman (USA) | Eran Amir (Israel)
Color Correction: Jonathan Dagan | Color Correction (Photos): Yair Cohen
Post: COPA Network | AC: Sam Pyra, Peter Steusloff, Taylor Baker
Lighting & Grip: Mark Solomon, Zach Stoltzfus | HMU: Liz Furlong
So far, this has only gotten Hebrew-language press, but I expect it’ll spread fast.
http://www.jviewz.com
Here’s what the taggable version looks like: