The Rock & Roll Chef®

Labels: chef joel nickson, chicago recording company, chip znuff, Chris Shepard, CRC wishbone, Dennis Webber, Hank Neuberger, Paul Coscino, Professor John, rock n roll chef, Tim Beattie, Tony Dale

Have a look at something that was shot & edited in under a week. This was actually a 1-take green screen test with only the singer, taped at the end of a long, hot photo shoot for Brendan's Cross. BC is a 5-piece Chicago-based band with a new record coming out called "Vs. The World," produced by (sir) Chip Znuff. Regardless of the production value, the singer asked me to put it online anyway (better than nothing, I guess). In my opinion, the piece:

1. Features a very strong song & production

2. Features a very engaging/talented singer/songwriter with a cool vibe (and great pipes).

To me, the singer Rich almost has a rockabilly/Elvis thing going on, although I can't imagine there's any way that was intentional.

RESOLUTION. Here's what's funny about this video: When it's reformatted with an online sharing site (I use Vimeo.com for the sharper picture, YouTube.com to spike search engine ranking), the video seems to even out into a softer, film-ish look. However, when it's rendered in the highest resolution available to me (NTSC, 30-ish frames per second, .avi format), it looks like a cheesy public access production. Go figure. And so the question: Maybe there should be a strategy for content produced (for the time being) with that low-resolution softening effect in the plan?

CAMERAS. I used a Canon GL1, shot at 30 p. I was REALLY wishing we'd shot this in the "film-look" 24 p, but that camera wasn't available at the time.

Labels: Brendan's Cross, Chicago band, chip znuff, Green screen, music video, rock n roll chef, Shine

It's been awhile since the last post, lots of stuff happening. One thing in particular: I've been doing some personal chef stuff for the original drummer from Guns N Roses at Blue Island Recorders (yes, southside Chicago). His name is Steven Adler, he's a pal & bandmate with my pal Chip Znuff, and since meeting & hanging with him, I've started to check out some GNR stuff I've found online.
Apologies to Steven - I can't say I was the biggest GNR fan in the world. But I can say I've really had some fun with him, he's a real sweet & funny guy (and I've been shooting some video of him, which I'll put online soon).

Beyond that, I was happy to find this live video of their band from 1988, and was very impressed. Everyone seems at the top of their games, it's a good tune, and Slash really plays well over the rest. Are the two guitars a little out of tune up front? Hey, that's rock & roll, baby - and maybe they really were one of the best rock bands ever? Enjoy...

Labels: blue island recorders, chip znuff, guns n roses, rock n roll chef, steven adler