The Colonie's Rodgers Cuts Towkio’s Music Video

April 30, 2018, 05:28 PM

https://www.aotg.com/the-colonies-rodgers-cuts-towkios-music-video/

Rodgers cut the video to the jazz-fusion inspired beat of the track using the music as a guideline, rather than letting it dictate the cuts. Selecting some points that didn't line up with the beat, the editor created an off-kilter synchronicity, adding to the unpredictable flow that gives the video a life of its own.

The storyline focuses on Towkio as he tries to get the attention of one particular girl who catches his eye, while still tempted by the other women in the video. The action unfolds in a hotel, as the setting  appears to be changing into a rapid succession of locations seamlessly woven into a cohesive visual story.  

"Bringing together these shifting environments without creating a jarring effect required precise planning and close coordination during every phase of the project," says Rodgers, who also was tasked with the role of postproduction producer for the music video.

"This was a complex production, and ultimately the footage would end up in my hands,” he adds. "It was important that we stayed on top of every detail, caught potential issues early on and made the necessary adjustments, avoiding time-consuming and costly fixes in postproduction.”

Rodgers edited the music video at The Colonie on the Adobe Premiere Pro and handed off sections to the company's VFX artist, Ben Pokorny while they were still in rough form.  Pokorny experimented with different approaches on Flame Premium and Adobe After Effects, creating visual effects with a style that aligned with the director's vision.

"Ideally, greenscreen would be used for some effects, but sticking with a practical shoot was more cost-effective,' says Pokorny. "So instead, I created visual effects and added them after the production wrapped."

"A large number of match cuts required the shots to be meticulously timed out," adds Rodgers. "Even with the close attention paid to every detail, occasionally I would work a scene up to the very end, only to find that the last few frames wouldn’t work and made it unusable. Sometimes this would result in a chain reaction that required changes that affected the whole timeline of the video." 

Rodgers was first introduced to this editorial approach when the production company, Naked Gallery, called on him a few years ago to work on some music videos for a number of artists, including Kami and Cody Varik. 

Nathan Rodgers recently came onboard as an assistant cutter at the full-service editorial, VFX, and motion design company. Best known for its work on commercials, social media and long-form content, the Chicago-based company's team mixed things up a bit with this innovative, jazz-fusion inspired video.

"The Colonie’s team has worked on quite a few music videos over the years," says EP and partner, Mary Caddy, "We appreciate the fresh perspective that out-of-the-box concepts bring to our work in commercials and social media and our team enjoys working in the genre."

"Nathan is a new addition to The Colonie's staff," says senior editor and partner, Bob Ackerman. "We were impressed with his fresh aesthetic and skill-sets as an editor the first time we saw his work. However, the scope of his contribution and the depth of understanding that he brought to the music video real wowed us." 

About The Colonie: 

The Colonie is an award-winning Chicago-based creative editorial, motion design, visual FX and finishing postproduction house with a seamless full-service approach to creating broadcast and digital content.  The company's client list includes a wide range of national and global clients, such as Toyota, Payless, BCBS, Facebook, Anheuser-Busch, McDonald’s, Nintendo, Levis, PepsiCo, and Bayer. 

For more information about The Colonie visit www.TheColonie.com, contact executive producer, Mary Caddy at 312-225-1234, or Sonia Reps, sales@Soniareps.com, 312-519-0911.

CREDITS: 

Product: Music Video

Title: 'Symphony'

Artist: Towkio

Featured vocals: Teddy Jackson

Record Company: American Recording, LA

Record Label: Republic Records, LA 

Production Company: Naked Gallery, Chicago

Director: Andre Muir

Director of Photography: Flynn Drew

Camera Operator: Dae Kim

Producer: Zach Moore; Cory Proctor

Associate Producer: Manny Caston

Editorial  Company: The Colonie, Chicago

Editor - Nathan Rodgers

Post Production Producer: Nathan Rodgers, Jack Williams, August Marron 

VFX Company: The Colonie, Chicago

VFX Artist: Ben Pokorny

 

Color Correction Company: The Mill, Chicago

Color Producer: Dan Butler

Colorist: Mikey Pehanich

Audio Post Company: The Colonie, Chicago

Mixer: Nathan Rodgers

The Colonie's Nathan Rodgers helped set the pace for Chicago rapper Towkio's music video, ‘Symphony,’ a new single dropped from the artist’s album, WWW. The project tapped the editor's broad range of skills. He work with director Andre Muir on developing the finer points of the video, was a postproduction producer on the project and collaborated closely with the crew and The Colonie's VFX talent to provide a cost-effective approach to bring Muir's vision to life.