IN DEPTH: Chamillionaire "Hip Hop Police"

Maybe winning a VMA for his video "Ridin" raised the stakes. Maybe he didn't want to be remembered as one-hit wonder. Whatever the case, Chamillionaire has stepped up big time with what's undoubtedly the most ambitious and entertaining hip-hop video of the year. Cham and director Marc Klasfeld go for laughs and social commentary, creating something that would be perfectly at home  between the Chapelle Show and The Daily Show. "Hip-Hop Police/Evening News" is damn good and damn funny. And, Cham does a much better impression of a white person than Bill O'Reilly.

Marc Klasfeld, director: "The Shop Boyz 'Party Like A Rock Star' video with Universal Records video commissioner Robin Simms had been a great experience. She invited me to her office to meet Chamillionaire, who said he wanted to do something different for Hip-Hop… really different. Something with the impact of my Scarface 'My Block' video in terms of message. Once I heard the songs, I suggested we go back to Hip-Hop's roots in social commentary. Not that there is anything wrong with a good booty video, but there is currently a shortage of meaningful Hip-Hop videos in a world that is rife with topics for rappers to discuss. I told him there is only one man we need to turn to for influence: Ice Cube. His songs and videos in the '90s were provocative and ballsy. When Cham saw Ice Cube's 'True To The Game' video, he got excited to do something that challenging. Check out that video and imagine it playing on BET today.

I said we have to dive into the N-word controversy head first. All the pundits are discussing it, but no one in Hip-Hop is. Hip-Hop needs to respond to this. So, the video imagines a world where rappers are under siege and rap is outlawed - all because Cham is misheard using the N-word by the Hip-Hop Police. Cham plays multiple roles in the video, including himself and an officer, just like it is on the track. He also plays the role of a right-wing like news show host. Putting him in 'white face' took about four hours, and the morning of the video he got cold feet about it. It took some convincing by me to get it done. We should've videotaped that motivational speech, it was pretty hilarious.

There is a lot of satirical imagery, like the SWAT team raiding Roscoe's. We combined shot footage with stock footage, a concept I had played around with on my movie The L.A. Riot Spectacular. I love the idea of not knowing what is real and what is fake — sort of like watching the actual news. We also shot a video for 'Evening News' which riffs on current events and then combined the two into like a 9 minute short film. For 'Evening News' we again took stock footage shots and digitally altered them for satirical purpose — like with what I was calling a NASCAR tank, riding through Iraq with sponsorship logos all over it.

I'm really excited about the positive reaction to the video. Robin Simms and Cham deserve a lot of the credit too. I don't want to sound like an pretentious art house Jarmusch type, but Hip-Hop could really use more vids and songs like this. They aren't selling records anyway, so why not take a shot at something different?"

--> watch "Hip Hop Police/Evening News" (full screen Flash version)

Chamillionaire "Hip Hop Police/Evening News" (Universal Motown)
Marc Klasfeld, director | Billy Parks, producer | Rockhard Films, production co | Robin Frank Management, rep | Barry Norwood, DP | Richard Alarcon, editor

SHOT: Office - Adam Neustadter, director

artist: Office
song: "Oh My"
label: Scratchie/New Line
director(s): Adam Neustadter
production co: Ghost Robot

SHOT: Ky-Mani Marley - Gil Green, director

Director Gil Green and Ky-Mani Marley hanging on the set of "One Time."

artist: Ky-Mani Marley
song: "One Time"
label: Vox
director(s): Gil Green
production co: 305 Productions

note: Gil Green is now signed with Merge @ Crossroads and repped by Labuda Management

NEW RELEASE: White Stripes "You Don't Know What Love Is"

So what is rock n' roll in the 21st Century? Judging by the White Stripes, it's the same as it's always been and still made by and for the common people. Damn if they didn't prove their point with a recent tour of every Canadian province and territory, including Nunavut, population 29,474, where they shot a video as part of a tour documentary that is in the works. The simple performance clip for "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)" is set in what's essentially the middle of nowhere, and pictures our generation's King and Queen of Garage Rock outside a red and white-painted beach house and walking through one of the most remote graveyards. Although Jack White sings about love to his rhythm section/ex-wife/fake sister here, it may not be the scathing statement it seems, but rather an assurance that even in the Internet Age, where we think we know everything, we still have no idea. (review by Kevin Holy) --> watch "You Don't Know What Love Is"

The White Stripes
"You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)"
(Third Man/Warner Bros.)
The Malloys, director | Mike Sarkissian, producer | HSI, production co | Giles Dunning, DP | Tim Wheeler, editor

BOOKED: Alicia Keys - Justin Francis, director

artist: Alicia Keys
song: "No One"
label: J Records
director(s): Justin Francis
production co: HSI Productions
rep: Robin Frank Management

SHOT: Backstreet Boys - Ray Kay, director

Let the comeback begin...

artist: Backstreet Boys
song: "Inconsolable"   
label: Jive/ZLG
director(s): Ray Kay
production co: Rockhard Films
rep: Robin Frank Management

NEW RELEASE: Killswitch Engage "Holy Diver"

While there's no denying that the original Black Sabbath with Ozzy Osbourne on vocals was the definitive version of the band — if not the definitive metal band, period — the years with Ronnie James Dio were fertile enough to warrant its own greatest hits compilation and a reunion tour that's documented on the brand new CD/DVD Heaven & Hell: Live At Radio City Music Hall. Killswitch Engage shows props by resurrecting the solo Dio warhorse "Holy Diver" and matching it with a video that pays homage to  the diminutive metal lord's preferred subject matter of medieval machinations. The Killswitch fellows each shine in their roles — especially drummer  Justin Foley as the King who always has a drumstick in hand and ladies in his wake. That's not the only humorous touch in this fairytale adventure directed by Brian Thompson, who manages the difficult task of keeping the action suitably tongue-in-cheek while never letting it get outright silly. (PS: My friend Doug scolded me for not referencing The Kingdom of Caid. I scolded him for even knowing that link.)  --> watch "Holy Diver" in Quicktime or Windows Media

Killswitch Engage "Holy Diver" (Roadrunner)
Brian Thompson, director | Carolyn Vye, producer | 1171, production co | Jason Hafer, DP | Steve Forner, editor

BOOKED: i15 - Dale "Rage" Resteghini, director

artist: i15
song: "Lost In Love"
label: Interscope
director(s): Dale "Rage" Resteghini
production co: Raging Nation
rep: Yell Productions

SHOT: Rich Boy - Edwin Decena

Shot on-location in a rural location outside Atlanta...

artist: Rich Boy
song: "Let's Get This Paper"
label: Zone 4/Interscope
director(s): Edwin DeCena
production co: Pure Productions

IN DEPTH: Minus The Bear "Knights"

Maybe I love this because I recently went to the World's Largest Kaleidoscope. Maybe it's because it reminds me a bit of those old Mad Magazine fold-ins. Most likely it's because this video is pretty darn clever and fun. Director Keith Schofield does a much better job explaining the details of this trippy gem for Minus The Bear than we ever could, so we put him to work.

Keith Schofield, director: "I've seen the 'mirrored split screen' effect in a bunch of videos — most noticeably U2's 'Mysterious Ways' — but my idea was to do a twist on the premise, which fell into three categories:

1. Crossing the Line: Where performers leap from one side to the next.
2. Differences: Where the shot appears the same; but then a difference emerges.  This was done by running the> shot twice and then compositing.
3. Tracking: Where a specific point (like a guitar fret) becomes the line, and the performer's movement dictates where the line goes.

We shot on the HVX in 16:9, using only half the frame (usually centered).  Most shots were locked off; the movement was added in post. I think half the crew never understood what we were doing.  When you see it finished, it makes sense. But on set, we were shooting limes placed on the floor and a guy boxing a piece of wood.

The 'upside down eyes' section at around 2:50 is an idea I recycled from an older (rejected) concept.  It's an optical illusion called the Thatcher Effect. It's created by turning a face upside down and then cutting out the eyes and mouth, and turning them right-side up. We're not used to seeing faces upside down, so we have a hard time noticing that things  are actually off-kilter. It's only when this distorted face is rotated that we see something is creepily wrong." --> watch "Knights"

Minus The Bear "Knights" (Suicide Squeeze)
Keith Schofield, director/editor | Steven Johnson, producer | Factory Features, production co | Tyson Wisbrock, DP