Get ready for life in technicolour. Director Chris Shen’s music video Stampede Me, uses a fascinating colour-separation technique that evolved from his university experiments with old-school Amiga technology. Inspired by the song, which is about The Boxer Rebellion, the promo toys with the idea of magic and revolution. We caught up with Shen, who is in his final year at the London College of Communication to chat technical geekery and creative wizardry.
What led you to first develop the RGB-separation technique?
I was experimenting with an old Amiga, a Genlock and an piece of software called Digiview (http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/digiviewgold). The program allowed you to make a colour image from a camera input by capturing it 3 times and combing the stills – one image for each colour of the RGB model. I first exhibited it in 2008 using some custom software that would replicate the effect in real time from a live video feed allowing visitors to interact and mess with the colours just by moving around. (more info at:http://chrisshen.net/chromalapse)
As I understand it you’re still a student at LCC – how is that going?
Yes I am finishing this year! it’s been really good moving to London. Meeting people with similar goals and interests I think is the best thing about being in an art school environment.
How did the Stampede Me video come about?
I met Alfred (Daedelus) through my good friends Jonny and Ryan, who run a night called Hoya:Hoya in Manchester (http://www.hoyahoya.co.uk). Alfred saw my Chroma-Lapse project and we talked about adapting it to create a music video, without any particular song in mind to begin with.
Stampede Me is a song about the Boxer rebellion – did that influence in any way the video that you made?
The video started with the RGB technique and the song is off an EP that has a really strong concept behind it. The Boxer Rebellion as an historical event was an uprising against foreign influence, fought in vain using magic beliefs. As a concept for a record it was a real challenge to attempt to do it justice. So we decided that by focusing on the themes and emotions of the record we could create a modern take that is open to interpretation. We wanted people to relate to the themes and for it not to be a historical re-enactment.
What were the biggest challenges you face making this video?
I grew up making little movies, filming skateboarding and generally messing with electronics. So there were no issues with the production or technical stuff. The main challenge was creating a music video for a song with such a strong existing concept; and including the RBG stuff in a way that it meant more than just being eye candy.
Outside of filmmaking, what sort of thing inspires you?
I’m inspired most by technology and music. Working with Daedelus was a huge honour as I’d been a fan of his music for a long time. I’ve got to know a lot of music producers that are really pushing new ideas and that’s something I feel I want to focus on in my work. I am always looking at new technology and how it has evolved. I’d say I probably spend more time looking at technology than film stuff. I like looking for new stuff to mess with.
Have you got any projects on the go at the moment? What next for you?
I’ve got a few projects in progress, don’t want to reveal to much at this stage. I am going to be finishing Uni this year which is keeping me busy, but I am on the lookout for opportunities after graduation.
To find out more about Chris and his work, check out chrisshen.net/
