The Hunger Music Video - Response from the creators.

Victor Frost

When Rym and Scott spoke about The Hunger music video a few days back, I went on the internet and forced myself to watch it. Personally, I thought this dude was a little weird, so I made a video comment. Well, two days after I uploaded it, it has been viewed by 15 people, One of which was James Prince, a Producer/Director at Astaria Films.

Now, I wouldn't be posting this if something unexpected didn't happen.

The dude sent me a message, And here's what it said...

Ha ha ha... this is too funny Victor. I had to watch it 5 times and am still laughing. I'm forwarding your video impersonation of THE HUNGER to the lead singer you are impersonating, Joshua Michael. He's got a great sense of humor and I know he will love this as much as I did. You actually look like a Republican politician in your video (with all due respect to Politicians, ha). Maybe you should run for office.

As for his singing, I'm afraid that's the way it is, just his style and signature. We're stuck with it. But we have thousands of fans who love it... and I'm sure there are plenty who don't. I guess it's like anything else, White Stripes, Smashing Pumpkins, Crime Mob, Fergie, everyone has his or her style. And before you jump and say, but he's not anything like White Stripes, consider how typical most music videos are today. Usually just shots and angles of the band members, singing heads...

We wanted to do something completely different, tell a story, while using lots of imagery. The dude dies, but before he does, sees the ancient Egyptian art and icons on the walls of the cafe, and that gets imprinted in his mind. He takes those dream images into the afterlife and it plays out like a video game rendition of ancient Egypt, and along the way, he confronts his inner demons (the vampires). Crazy stuff, and lots of fun. We all had fun making this, and worked very hard on this project... For better or for worse, I can safely say you don't find this kind of video anywhere else. I've noticed an intense love/hate from viewers. No in between. It's scary.

Anyways, thanks for commenting on THE HUNGER Music Video and taking the time to make your video response to us. The cast and crew applauds you!

Peace,
James Prince
Producer-Director
AstariaFilms.com

So I guess that explains the bad CG. It's supposed to be like that I guess.

Apreche

He's right about one thing. You definitely wont' find this kind of video anywhere else! With good reason.

HMTKSteve

That was my first time watching that video and it was bad. I had to force myself to sit still and watch it...

I had to laugh at the face of the guy driving the car! The girls runs out looking devastated and the guy has this, "It's only a model" look on his face.

Sail

I found your video response, like virtually every video response that shows up on YouTube, to be incredibly childish and unfunny.

That being said, I'm so glad that you did it. This man is incredibly naive about the band's and his own "talent", and this letter is absolutely priceless. Thanks for the chuckles.

omegafinal

I just find it cool that you got a response from the people who made the video.
Although if those were suppose to be video game style graphics, they missed the mark, I would've gone the low-polygon textured look similar to the PSone days. The CG Anubis and the paper flat background in the river scene are the worst offenders.
At least they got the balls to break the bobing heads & dancers style music videos to create something different.

Victor Frost

Yeah, more defined polygons would've been better.

Believe it or not, but that song is slated to be released spring of this year. It seems so 80's though....

Well, I sent the dude a clip of the TOTD (things of the day) segment from the relevant episode, and told him how I made the video (shitty webcam, 2 am, energy drinks through an IV, the usual stuff...). Also, I suggested that he propose putting the song under creative commons (I do that for every musician I meet) and I got a kinda funny response. I fixed some of the punctuation a bit, like quotation marks and such.

Hey there Victor,

I hear you about the energy drink, it's going on 4 AM and I'm mainlining one as write. My girlfriend is crashed out in her underwear next to me and has given up all hope of my coming to bed before sunrise. She got me me to go see Transformers with her, even bought the tickets. Omigod, that movie rocks! The future of Hollywood wrapped up in that movie, I love it... My girlfriend is this skinny little UCSD grad student that looks like she is going on 12 so when she cuddles next to me in public places like movie houses, it makes me look like a child molester. Joy.

Previous kudos to "300" - totally liked the way the director got away with filming practically the whole thing in a warehouse in Canada and adding the CG sets in later. Did you ever catch that 305 parody on YouTube? Wickedly funny stuff.

Ok, when we got home tonight, I logged on and got your email, and then checked out the Geek Nights radio link you sent me. Dude, I am still chuckling. My girlfriend was in tears laughing so hard, going poor Joshua Michael, poor Josh.
I said, "Poor Josh? Hey, poor me. Did you hear what they said about the creator of this shite? That would be me since I wrote the story and directed the video. Mayday, mayday, I'm going down. Everyone's going to be calling me the Ed Wood of music videos. Great."
My girlfriend just jabbed my arm and said, "Umm, what were those radio guys saying about you yearning for another woman and the cry for help? Is there something you need to tell me?"
I said, "Umm, yeah, it's Kiera Knightly. When I first saw her in that pirate garb on the big screen, I knew it was true love..."

All kidding aside, the girl that plays Scarlett in all three pirates movies, the one bitch slapping and slugging Johnny Depp, starred in a movie I directed, Mind Forest. The one listed on my YouTube profile getting all the crappy drive by shooting reviews right now.

As for the LARP idea for the music video that Rym and Scott so hilariously mentioned, my girlfriend is a recovering ex-LARPer and talked me into approaching a local group to play the extras vampires. A few months before casting, I did try to convince them to be in this video, offering $350 a head for a few hours work and all the food and drink they could consume. Most of the LARP group looked pretty cushy and fat, so I figured they wouldn't turn down Kraft Catering on the set. I'm not sure if these LARPers are smart or stupid, but they ended up declining, and seemed more self-involved and into their own game then fame and fortune. Ah, who needs em anyway, huh. Have you noticed the typical woman LARPer is usually fat, round and bi-polar? (except my girlfriend, heh). So we put out a casting call to a number of LA agencies and hired professional actors. People who weighed less than 300 pounds. All the actors in this project are innocent and were only acting according to the script and my direction, I swear.

Oh, and yes, I like your idea about remixing The Hunger with more of a techno beat. We got approached by some people on MySpace suggesting the same thing and offering to do the same thing. We're going into the recording studio for a final mastering session this Wednesday, and afterwards, I'm sure Joshua wouldn't mind if you got a copy with the song for remixing. I listen to a lot of ambient and edgy stuff, techno and trance and electronica, on iTunes streaming radio on my laptop while I'm working on projects, so it would be cool to see what you come up with. I'll pass your email along.

If you get a chance, visit The Hunger web site. I'm still putting it together, have been so busy, but it should be complete in a few weeks. I'd love to demo your version of the remix on the site initially. Visit:

www.astariafilms.com/thehunger

(Follow the links to read the true story concept behind the music video).

Thanks again for your input. I'm open to criticism, no matter how bad, especially if it helps me to improve on the next project. Have a great weekend Victor!

Peace,
James Prince

I'm not sure if you guys care or not, but this producer seems a little more balanced than the video suggests.