Influential Documentary – Gracer
I wanted to draw some attention to a video we stumbled across a few days ago. It is a neat documentary that we found that features a band by the name of Gracer. The film and footage do a tremendous job capturing the artists’ personalities and musical creativity. It is incredible how many different backdrops and time was spent with the musicians. The 10 minute documentary does an incredible job of telling the bands unique story. As many of you know we are a pretty young start-up but this is much closer to what we would like to produce and experiment with moving forward.
When I saw the Gracer video, it opened my eyes to where we are with our production and where we need to go. I had an acting teacher who once told me that acting is like a grappling hook: you have to physically pull yourself (and the audience) from one side to the other. And that’s what I want to start doing with these videos — build a dynamic relationship between the material with compelling storytelling and the audience, but I need your guys’ input! Don’t hesitate to criticize our material and let us know what you think! It helps us get better. After all, we are learning our way as we go.
I’d also like to note, though, that there is almost an intimacy between the videographer and the performers in that they had the flexibility of going to different locations and having different set ups. A strong sense of storytelling intertwined with ethereal music clips keep the viewer pulled through and hungry for the information. You don’t have the distractions of outside influences or too much exposition, just the artist and their music.
I hope you all enjoy it!
Walker Foley
walker.foley@ourvinyl.com
Agree completely. The way the video captures the band’s story artistically is what would pull frequent visitors to Ourvinyl.com. It gives information in a way that you can’t get from other sites. In business terms, your competitive advantage. Keep working because its good stuff. One critique I would give is to publish more frequently. I feel with blog style sites, visitors have a habit to check back and see what’s new on the site. It makes it difficult to form this habit when it’s being updated only a few times a month. Good work though. Looking forward to seeing where you guys go with it. Excited for this Xavier Rudd interview I’ve heard about.
Mike,
Thanks for the input and support! We are working to try and find dedicated writers to help write on the blog. Please let us know if you or anyone you know may be interested in getting involved. I would really like to see more discussion under the topics. In the next week or so PJ is going to post an album review of the new Ben Harper and The Relentless 7 cd.
I’m excited to hear PJ’s thoughts on the album. Its a new sound for Ben Harper. I have yet to hear the “Live From Mars” album but, his latest spotlights Ben Harpers dynamic sound and musical creativity. We are moving to a new blog layout in the next few weeks thanks to Matt McNamara’s programming genius. It should make it much easier for everyone to navigate the blog.
Thanks again for the input and keep me posted on any ideas!
Best,
Mike
Hey guys,
I have been following the site for a couple months now and I like the progression that I see. The the video of Gracer is a perfect example of a production that allows the viewer to connect with the artist. A video with this production level is definitely the path you should strive for next. Perhaps teaming with small start-up production companies could allow you to bounce production ideas off of each other. As far as the site goes, I agree with MROD that more frequent or scheduled content should be considered. Perhaps you could incorporate a list of upcoming interviews or articles with its release dates in order to provide incentive to return to the site. Also I think it would be pretty cool to spotlight one artist every week. This wouldn’t have to be an elaborate article or anything, just something that gets the average listener to look deeper into the vast archives of music from varying genres. I always like to discover a new artist and I find applications like iTunes to be too bulky to do so.
Thanks for providing insight on some talented musicians and I will be following in the future.
-Kevin
I enjoyed this little clip as well and I definitely think it should be an influence going forward on how an artist’s story should be captured and projected. I think it is nice to conduct a straight interview and record it, but it can only be a good thing to be able to make a bigger piece of work like this. After watching the whole video I noticed that this is a small part of the documentary series “The Raw Side Of…” which was part IFC, a company out of Canada. There was a news post about this series on a site i visit quite a bit last year. I believe one of the guys from Broken Social Scene had an episode as well. Point is there are more episodes of this type of work out there for anyone interested.
I think the most important thing for a piece of work like this is time. It is very apparent that the Raw Side Of… people were granted a lot of time and access to the band. I think a good idea for the future might be to find a different band or artist that is ready to make a new record and chronicle the process. Logistically it could be tough to work out, but I am always curious about the recording process for different bands so I am sure others are too. In the work you can throw in the artist interview. A lot of bands try to do this on their own, but often times due to making a record it is not done as well as it could have. Just a thought I felt like throwing out there because it would be something different and interesting. Sorry for just shotgunning thoughts out but I am a little rushed. Keep up the good work here fellas!
-Mike
First of all I can’t believe how many Mike’s their are offering input. Thanks for all of the thoughts guys and Kevin I really like the idea of featuring an artist each week moving forward. Do either of you guys have any suggestions for bands to keep an eye on? Ben Rivet just introduced me to a I guy by the name of Trevor Hall. He has been opening for Matisyahu and has a really neat sound.
Thanks again for all of the input guys!