Mick McCleery's video: The Turtledove Boutique - BILLY FRANKS 16:9

FIRST OFF: About a year ago I took some time to revisit the old videos I had made for Billy Franks. Most of them had already been uploaded to youtube back in the early days of the site -- the problem being, they were uploaded in lo-res as youtube was lo-res at the time. They were also in the 4 by 3 screen ratio (as they were shot 'back in the day'). At that time, I decided, in the interest of making these videos 'permanent for the ages', I would you clean them up, convert them to 16 by 9 (widescreen) and re-upload. So, anyway, I did that -- and those videos can been found under my 'videos' tab. At that time I also 'polished/converted', the 2003 video for 'The Turtledove Boutique'. But I didn't make it 'live' on the channel. Why? Because I felt it wasn't quite done. The video pays homage to many other videos that have been made and I always felt that a short bit of animation in the style of Ah-ha's 'Take on Me' should be in there. I figured if I was making this the 'final' version, I should try to do that. And I even made a few attempts. But, alas, it just could not achieve that look. My drawing skills were just not up to the task. In the end I decided I'd put it as it is here (still polished and even a few changes). If someone out there is an animator and wants to help me do the 'Ah-ha' look, do let me know. I'd still think it would be a nice addition. Now, THE BACK STORY on the video: It's the Spring of 2003. Billy emails me and says that he would like me to do the video for his new song and even has a small budget for it. So, I fly out to London (coincidently the very night the USA started re-bombing Baghdad for Saddam's failure to comply -- in fact, I was in the airport waiting for my flight when news of the sorties came through. Let me just say this. I was as nervous on that flight as any before or since... Yeah, I know -- "Wuss!"). Billy's idea for the video was a good one. We would recreate (in a low budget way) scenes from classic music videos. This would make the video a bit of a trivia game as people could guess which videos we were mocking up. We shot over three days, with a fair few pub visits in between. All went smoothly. TECHNICAL STUFF: Shot on a Panasonic DVX-100 in 24p mode. And edited on my good old 'Kron'. I loved that combination. Re-edited in Final Cut Pro. NEW TWISTS:
 The conversion to 16 by 9, where I essentially 'pan and scan' the video up and down to make it fit in the new screen size. Also, I changed the 'ZZ Top' bit by removing the effect which seemed dated to me (2:46). And I added a shot where Bill sings "on the roof". I can't remember why I didn't use the cut of them 'on the roof' back then, I'm guessing I just thought it to 'on the nose' (3:05). Anyway, for comparison sake, the old version can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wr9Tg2Noes REFLECTION:
 It's impossible to watch this video without reflecting on one thing. Billy's drummer and all around fantastic guy, Nigel. About a month after we shot this video he was killed in a tragic accident. To say it was a huge loss is an understatement. I had met him briefly at a gig years before but really got to know him while making this. He was truly a wonderful fellow. For that reason, watching this video will always be bittersweet. Great to see him, but sorely missed. M