JA
Guest
About six years ago I started a series of video projects aimed towards documenting various aspects of the Vancouver Canucks, both past and present. At the time there were few montages that focused on the audio-visual experience as many seemed to be slapped together from blurry highlights without regard for cinematography or presentation. Throughout the 2009-10 Vancouver Canucks season I released numerous videos, some of which were featured on Canucks.com's "fan section," and I believe as a result of their popularity others began to pursue the same type of video, featuring stylized footage and an array of colors.
In total, I released eight videos, and at one point I was releasing them at a rate of one per every three weeks. It was at a time when Twitter was not so widespread as it is now, and so the Canucks.com message board was where I promoted them.
In late July 2010 I began a new project. This was "Life in Technicolor," an idea that came from my May 2010 discovery of Coldplay's "Life in Technicolor II," a song from 2009.
The song, in my mind, told the story of a hockey game. Every time I listened to it I could visualize what I wanted to see. I wanted to make it a reality.
I had always tried to be a storyteller with my presentations, but with this one I set out to outdo anything I had previously done before, and so I sat down and planned this project with the intention of packing as much thought into it as possible. The Canucks, at that time, were on the verge of being a Stanley Cup contender and so I wanted to revisit the past while looking towards what could have been a magical season.
The video's first section is a reflection of the past. This transitions into hype about the present Canucks and the development of buzz around the city. We then have visuals from throughout the season, and then the start of the hockey game when Chris Martin's vocals begin: "there's a wild wind blowing 'round the corner of my street. Every night there the headlights are glowing." I wanted to reference "Where the Streets Have No Name" and also draw a parallel between the headlights outside and the lights within the arena. "There's a cold war coming on the radio I heard. Baby, it's a violent world" is the start of the game; we see Mark Donnelly's performance of the anthem, and the start of the "cold war."
We are then taken to "where the street lights glow; I can hear it coming, you can hear the sirens sound" -- the goal light, the sirens.
The video plays out as the story of a hockey game, of the city's love of the game and of their team.
The result was something that featured not only pleasant visuals but also a strong parallel between the visuals and the lyrics. Every lyric in the video corresponds with the visuals on at least one level. I wasn't happy with the state of hockey montages on YouTube, which were mostly disjointed, told no story whatsoever, and featured blaring punk rock or cliched hard rock. I wanted to raise the standard.
"Like a serenade of sound," another lyric, for example, featured not only the image of the GM Place crowd but also crowd members holding up a big "Luuuu" sign, giving that moment two different layers. I wanted there to be a narrative, something that made the whole piece cohesive. I thought about cinematography and the flow between scenes. I even thought it was neat that the song featured the lyric "every road is a ray of light," since prior to my first encounter with this song I had already released a Mason Raymond video called "Ray of Light." It was thus a perfect fit to feature Raymond at that moment. The presentation was arranged very carefully. You may even notice that after Shane O'Brien scores a goal against the Chicago Blackhawks in the video, the wide shot of the celebration is sourced from a Canucks game against the Buffalo Sabres.
Of course, there was a bit of controversy after I released the video in August 2010. The video spread very rapidly on Facebook, but I managed to upset a certain cameraman who felt his footage on YouTube should not be used in other videos, non-commercial or not. I asked for his permission but he refused, so I asked him what the price was to use his footage. He asked for a ridiculous sum that nobody in their right mind could afford. As a result I took the video down. There was some bad publicity that resulted, but I just waited and began to work on an alternative.
This is when several Canucks fans stepped in and offered to help, something I'll always be grateful for. I think it's the only project in which people volunteered to provide footage where I had difficulty. Several people were kind enough to provide footage for the sake of getting this video back online, and so all of the city shots and arena shots are provided by people who reached out to me for the extended re-release in September 2010. With the re-release I didn't just want to re-post the video with alternate footage, so instead I added a brand new introduction. The re-release also gave me an opportunity to bring in clips from the preseason as a way to transition into the upcoming 2010-11 season.
I eventually took this video down again. After this video's release I stopped thinking about future projects for a little while, and eventually I felt it was time to take a break. I probably should have left everything online, but I felt that the lack of new content created an expectation for future releases.
There are some things I would do differently with "Life in Technicolor" if I could go back. If I could redo the audio I would because at that time I wasn't as careful about lossless audio or compression. That said, if I were to return to editing I would focus on new projects rather than old ones.
A little while after this I started working on my Lost Shifts and other historical projects. It's been five years since my last musical project. I had a lot of ideas in mind around the 2011 playoffs. Nothing really came out of that.
In the aftermath of "Life in Technicolor," several other Canucks fans released their own videos, and they were quite popular as well. I'm glad so many people enjoyed this video. It's something that still remains close to my heart.
In total, I released eight videos, and at one point I was releasing them at a rate of one per every three weeks. It was at a time when Twitter was not so widespread as it is now, and so the Canucks.com message board was where I promoted them.
In late July 2010 I began a new project. This was "Life in Technicolor," an idea that came from my May 2010 discovery of Coldplay's "Life in Technicolor II," a song from 2009.
The song, in my mind, told the story of a hockey game. Every time I listened to it I could visualize what I wanted to see. I wanted to make it a reality.
I had always tried to be a storyteller with my presentations, but with this one I set out to outdo anything I had previously done before, and so I sat down and planned this project with the intention of packing as much thought into it as possible. The Canucks, at that time, were on the verge of being a Stanley Cup contender and so I wanted to revisit the past while looking towards what could have been a magical season.
The video's first section is a reflection of the past. This transitions into hype about the present Canucks and the development of buzz around the city. We then have visuals from throughout the season, and then the start of the hockey game when Chris Martin's vocals begin: "there's a wild wind blowing 'round the corner of my street. Every night there the headlights are glowing." I wanted to reference "Where the Streets Have No Name" and also draw a parallel between the headlights outside and the lights within the arena. "There's a cold war coming on the radio I heard. Baby, it's a violent world" is the start of the game; we see Mark Donnelly's performance of the anthem, and the start of the "cold war."
We are then taken to "where the street lights glow; I can hear it coming, you can hear the sirens sound" -- the goal light, the sirens.
The video plays out as the story of a hockey game, of the city's love of the game and of their team.
The result was something that featured not only pleasant visuals but also a strong parallel between the visuals and the lyrics. Every lyric in the video corresponds with the visuals on at least one level. I wasn't happy with the state of hockey montages on YouTube, which were mostly disjointed, told no story whatsoever, and featured blaring punk rock or cliched hard rock. I wanted to raise the standard.
At various points such as that I tried to layer the imagery. I wanted the on-screen presentation to match the song and tell a story that corresponded with the lyrics.For example: There are four images (and hockey-related ideas) that align with the following moment in the song.
"There's a cold war coming on the radio, I heard. Baby, it's a violent world."
1. Cold War: Rick Rypien vs Boris Valabik; North America (Canada) vs Czech Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia, allied with the Soviet Union, and the birthplace of Valabik).
2. Radio: The hockey game is presented on the radio; a game is coming up on the radio.
3. Violence: A hockey fight.
4. Cold war: Hockey is played on a cold sheet of ice and is generally a cold game. It's competitive, so it feels like a cold war.
"Like a serenade of sound," another lyric, for example, featured not only the image of the GM Place crowd but also crowd members holding up a big "Luuuu" sign, giving that moment two different layers. I wanted there to be a narrative, something that made the whole piece cohesive. I thought about cinematography and the flow between scenes. I even thought it was neat that the song featured the lyric "every road is a ray of light," since prior to my first encounter with this song I had already released a Mason Raymond video called "Ray of Light." It was thus a perfect fit to feature Raymond at that moment. The presentation was arranged very carefully. You may even notice that after Shane O'Brien scores a goal against the Chicago Blackhawks in the video, the wide shot of the celebration is sourced from a Canucks game against the Buffalo Sabres.
Of course, there was a bit of controversy after I released the video in August 2010. The video spread very rapidly on Facebook, but I managed to upset a certain cameraman who felt his footage on YouTube should not be used in other videos, non-commercial or not. I asked for his permission but he refused, so I asked him what the price was to use his footage. He asked for a ridiculous sum that nobody in their right mind could afford. As a result I took the video down. There was some bad publicity that resulted, but I just waited and began to work on an alternative.
This is when several Canucks fans stepped in and offered to help, something I'll always be grateful for. I think it's the only project in which people volunteered to provide footage where I had difficulty. Several people were kind enough to provide footage for the sake of getting this video back online, and so all of the city shots and arena shots are provided by people who reached out to me for the extended re-release in September 2010. With the re-release I didn't just want to re-post the video with alternate footage, so instead I added a brand new introduction. The re-release also gave me an opportunity to bring in clips from the preseason as a way to transition into the upcoming 2010-11 season.
I eventually took this video down again. After this video's release I stopped thinking about future projects for a little while, and eventually I felt it was time to take a break. I probably should have left everything online, but I felt that the lack of new content created an expectation for future releases.
There are some things I would do differently with "Life in Technicolor" if I could go back. If I could redo the audio I would because at that time I wasn't as careful about lossless audio or compression. That said, if I were to return to editing I would focus on new projects rather than old ones.
A little while after this I started working on my Lost Shifts and other historical projects. It's been five years since my last musical project. I had a lot of ideas in mind around the 2011 playoffs. Nothing really came out of that.
In the aftermath of "Life in Technicolor," several other Canucks fans released their own videos, and they were quite popular as well. I'm glad so many people enjoyed this video. It's something that still remains close to my heart.
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