Pygmy Video (or when Random House calls and asks you to create a video promoting Chuck Palahniuk's new book, you say "Hell yeah!"

This was the sort of project I was looking to sink my teeth into for a while. Subject matter that would challenge my Photoshop and After Effects chops and spark my latent (and seemingly missing in action) creativity.

Random House (the publisher of books - those things you can physically hold to read instead of fleetingly scrolling through online) needed a video to help promote the new novel from the writer of Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk. They had high hopes for this one and wanted a video that would push the envelope and be as gripping and as controversial as the content between the pages.

Enter me. Could I create a video with almost no visual resources to draw from and make it compelling and be faithful to the novel? Duynno, but I’m gonna have fun trying!

I accepted the gig largely because I had visuals running through my head as the client was describing the book to me and I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of. In fact the screengrab you see above is exactly the image in my head upon first getting the synopsis - except for the bloodsplat. I would have been worried if that was there initially.

Every now and then, we as editors and motion graphic designers get lucky with a project where you can feel everything is working. Your ideas are gelling, the design just falls into place, you hit on the right music, you have a cohesive stimulating design and you have an interesting story to tell. And to top it off you have an agreeable client. One who is in sync with where you’re going and is even encouraging you to push the tasteless further (I admire that in a client).

So in the end, I have ended up with a video the client is quite pleased with, and one that largely came together as I had hoped, say 90%. I have never produced a piece that I have felt 100% pleased with. I think if I did I would pack it in and go sell insurance or something. Ya gotta leave something out there. In this one for me it was the chemistry part. Never hit it right. I think I was just too excited to get to the deadly arts section that I just kind of glossed over this part. Maybe one day I’ll come back to it with fresh eyes and follow that zit. (Ya gotta see the vid to understand that one folks). click here to view the final