Local rock group Bandolier is making itself known internationally thanks to a video produced by drummer Ian Ferguson.
The young rock band shot a video recently for their song Leviathan, from their debut album Negative Space. That work paid off after Ferguson submitted the music video to the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY), which earned him a spot as a nominee in the music video category.
The story behind the video is worth a read.
In an effort to develop his video editing skills and promote the band, Ferguson has been producing music videos for Bandolier. Leviathan was shot over two days in his parents’ garage.
“There was a lot of challenges,” said Ferguson.
The first night was just Ferguson and his older brother Mark. It was tough filming his brother while also holding up a light and fog machine all at once. The goal was to make a gritty feel in the video with black garbage bags taped up as a back drop. “Previous videos seemed to me amateurish,” said Ferguson.
He invested some money in professional video editing software called Final Cut Pro, which changed the game for Ferguson.
“It was a key to unlocking a door that was blocking me,” he explained.
Despite only using a Sony camcorder and even low-fi equipment such as a painter’s light and household products, “there were times we used Mark’s phone as a light,” Ferguson was able to put a professional quality feel to the video with Final Cut Pro.
The second day of shooting brought bassist Brett Halland to help complete the video and the trio was complete. Hours of video footage takes time to go review, choose and edit and Ferguson said it took some time before he was happy.
“It was at least a month before I finally put it together,” he explained.
Being picked for NFFTY was a complete surprise. “I think they (the band members) were more stoked than I was.”
Perhaps Ferguson is his own biggest critic, because he almost did not submit the video until his father, Kevin, suggested it. “I never thought that the video would reach the heights that it did.”
There are also clips of the band from another location over the summer that Ferguson was able to use in the video.
See the NFFTY link to Bandolier’s video Leviathan: www.nffty.org/event/musical-masterpiece?back=6614 and check out www.bandoliermusic.com for more information on the band.