Video backdrop series, part 2: "Six Keys to Walking Safely"

Some of the backdrop videos began with a clearly defined vision that I then attempted to materialize the best I could. Others were born from experiments with the camera where I simply captured what looked cool and later decided how the footage would be used. "Six Keys" falls into this second category.

R and I were heading out to a show that was part of the city's Old Spanish Days Fiesta, and I decided at the last minute to bring my camera along because at that point in the project everything was a possibility for use. The clock was ticking and I only had concrete ideas for about half of the songs. So I taped some traditional Mexican dancing at this Fiesta show because the color was too vibrant and the motion too constant to pass up.

I spent quite a bit of time editing the footage into a big, multi-layered swirl to go along with "Six Keys," one of the band's faster paced songs, and was pretty happy with the results... but somewhere in the process I lost sight of the original goal for these videos. Sometimes when doing this type of work I become obsessed with the details and forget about the bigger picture. I didn't really think about whether it any sense whatsoever to associate Spanish/Mexican dancers with the music; I was too busy choosing the right dissolve transition between flamenco and hat dancing.

I showed the resulting video to R; she didn't like it. I showed it to the band; they weren't crazy about it either. I loved the original video (I still do), but it wasn't right for this purpose. The images needed to be more abstract. Nobody wanted to see faces or colorful skirts or sombreros. Once I took a step back from the editing, I agreed.

But I wasn't ready to throw away the work I'd done altogether. My solution was to blur the images beyond recognition. The color and motion would remain mostly intact, but the detail would be obscured to the point that it looked like you were watching a reflection in a puddle.

A shot like this:

... became this:

At first it felt like a shame to cover up all of the detail -- for one thing I could have edited quicker if I had started with the blur -- but I liked the idea that there were hidden images in the backdrop, vaguely calling to mind some of the local heritage and perhaps subliminally telling the crowd to get up and dance :-). The revised backdrop works for me. What it's missing in dimension and clarity, it makes up for in fluidity and mystery.

Here's a short clip from the concert to give you an idea of how the backdrop looked in action: