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Cloud Cult asks: Wanna be a video star?

Posted at 4:54 PM on February 29, 2008 by Ali Lozoff (4 Comments)

Looking for something to do on Sunday with your stir-crazy, Winter-weary family and those hard-to-please out of town friends? Cloud Cult has just the answer: Star in their new video! They'll be shooting a video for a track off of their upcoming record, and are looking for a group of folks who can "look expressionless and jump on command". Sound like you? Check out the full details on their web site here, and if you do join them on Sunday, be sure to come back here and tell us all about it.

http://www.cloudcult.com/

Comments (4)

I went to the Cloud Cult video shoot yesterday. It was a lot of fun! I've been listening to Cloud Cult on The Current since the station's inception, and a couple of my friends who I turned on to the station have fallen in love with the new CC you've been playing.

I'd been listening to all the different blurbs people had written to go along with their contributions during the member drive, and one man mentioned how he had been listening for a long time but had never gone to The Current's website, except to stream the station. Once he made the trek over to the site and explored, he found all sorts of cool stuff. I was bored Saturday night and decided to do the same, and that's when I found your link for the CC video shoot. I managed to get another of my friends interested, despite his not having heard the band before, and we headed out to Como Park.

We got there about 10 minutes late, and there were already 80+ people there. The variety of people was refreshing. There was a fair number of hippy-looking-type college kids, but the rest of the crowd was dominated by normal Minnesotans wearing their normal, albeit colorful and busy, winter clothing. Several families were there, one of which brought a sled to pull her daughter along in while they watched the shoot. A couple, I can only assume married and in their mid-70's, ended up being next to my friend and I for quite a few of the shots. It was a fun exercise in people-watching, especially when trying to figure out everyone's intentions for being there. One could assume that most of the people there had heard the band before and were perhaps fans, but the friend I'd brought had done nor was neither, and I had only minimal exposure to the band (which I plan to change soon), so really anything was possible.

My friend and I were relegated to the back corner of the crowd, and sat around "looking forward stoically" as the cameraperson walked through the crowd, filiming out faces as other band members popped their heads in and out of the crowd, mouthing lyrics to their song at 1.5x speed.

The shots were changed up every 15 to 30 minutes. We had a shot where we, the huddled mass, split into two random groups by birthday and mouthed/sang either the "ba da ba da's" or the chorus to the song. Both of these were done at 1.5x speed; it was very interesting to hear their song for the first time sped up like that.

The rest of the shoot consisted of the band placing us in various formations and having us either stand still and stare forward or walk towards the camera, then behind it to circle back to walk the circuit again, apparently to give the illusion of a never-ending wall of people. We did several takes of the mass of us jumping in the air and flailing our arms around in celebration (of who knows what!) as the camera walked through the middle of the group, and several of us doing the same while the camera circled the group.

After much sitting and resting after our aerobic jumping expedition, we got in groups again and the camera panned by as one band member, placing him/herself in the front row, said a line from the song as the camera panned over hir face. All in all, the shoot took just over four hours, and I got frostbite (for the first time!) on my nose. The video is supposed to come out by the beginning of April, and I for one am very excited to see how it turns out!

In the end, I got to see the nitty-gritty aspects of what a band does, and I got to support some local music that really inspires me, all the while meeting some new people and bonding with an old high school friend who took me on faith and stood for four hours in cold with me. I'd do it again!

Email me if you want any more details on the shoot.
Ben

Posted by Ben | March 3, 2008 10:18 AM

Wow, that is one great recap of the day! Thanks Ben. I love how many things came together in that story - a listener testimonial during the membership drive, a call to action for our web site and of the cool features, reconnecting with an old friend, support of the local music scene, falling in love with a new band or a new song, and a sense of community formed by strangers rallying around a specific cause or event. Pretty much sums up how we feel about The Current every day. I'm looking forward to seeing the video!

Thanks for sharing your story!

Anyone else?

Posted by Ali Lozoff | March 3, 2008 12:33 PM

Hi Ali,

I - with some friends, attended the video shoot. I'm a big Cloud Cult fan and could not pass up the opportunity.

All I have to say about the shoot is that it was really cold. The kind of cold that kind of creeps up on you. Unfortunately, I could only tolerate it for about an hour and a half. My friend and I bailed around 11:30.

We did not participate in what sounds like the really active, fun part of the shoot. We were there for all of the stoic standing. My toes just couldn't stand the cold for any longer.

I'm kind of bummed I didn't stick it out. Sounds like the rest of the shoot was a lot of fun.

Here's to hoping I don't end up on the cutting room floor!

Posted by Niki | March 3, 2008 2:02 PM

I am a huge fan of Cloud Cult but I've only been able to see them live once -- at the Vita.mn 1 Year Anniversary party out at the Varsity this past November -- amazing show!

Anyways, I subscribe to The Current Music Blog and when I saw that anyone could be a part of their music video I just about died. I grabbed my bro and we headed out to Como Sunday morning and it was a blast!

I think my favorite part was the RANDOM SILENT HAPPY JUMPING. I can't believe how much fun it was to be in a giant mob of frostbitten people flailing all over the place in the middle of a snowy field.

When all was said and done, it was definitely worth the 4 hours of hypothermia to support an amazing local band. I can't wait to see the finished video! Great job everyone :)

Posted by Sarah Girard | March 3, 2008 8:28 PM

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Cloud Cult asks: Wanna be a video star?

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