For the Final Project for my Studio Art class, I was supposed to make a 3~5-minute-long video portrait of somebody interesting.
and the very 1st person that came into my mind was my friend, Nate Wagner.
He is a fellow student at UNC, and he is also a musician.
He works under various bands/projects/names such as:
-An Occasion for Balloons
(Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anoccasion Bandcamp: http://anoccasion.bandcamp.com/ )
-Jezebel County Hospital
-Leaaves
(Bandcamp: http://leaaves.bandcamp.com/ )
-The Night Wars
So, I decided to make a video portrait about him, which ended up becoming a Rockumentary.
and here it is!
Not really creative.
Not really perfect.
but it was really fun (and time-consuming, and hard) to make :D
and this video is actually about twice as long as the one I submitted for grading.
Honestly, 3~5 minutes was ridiculously short for this Rockumentary.
This is the first video that I actually made a custom thumbnail for,
and I think I'll continue making custom thumbnails for the future videos/projects of mine.
Anyway,
Please give some of Nate Wagner's music a try :)
'Ca'st. Hood' is a close friend of me and Woo Gonghyeon.
He is really into hip-hop, and actually does recordings from November to February (when he has more time).
So right now, it's the end of November, he started doing some music
and he found this.
"Born Hater Contest"
it is a hip-hop contest hosted by 'Epik High.'
so my friend is already making some recordings, and on top of that, he is a fan of Epik High.
Therefore, he decided to give this contest a shot.
he asked me if I can make a parody jacket art of the above "Born Hater Contest" poster, so I was like,
"You can count on me, buddy!"
...and made this.
I couldn't really replicate the style as exactly as it was done on the poster, but I still did the best I could with it.
I would've saved about 1 hour only if I didn't waste my time on searching for a font that I didn't have.
and he used my parody jacket art for the first and the last parts of his music video that he'd be submitting for the contest.
I wish the best of luck to my good friend, Ca'st. Hood.
and speaking of music videos,
I'll be shooting & editing the music video of Ca'st. Hood during the Christmas Break.
It's going to be pretty tough, because I'm more familiar with rock than I am with hip-hop.
but looking at his video above, he seem to have some knowledge of editing and cinematography,
so hopefully, it might turn out to be easier than I'm expecting.
Regardless, I am going to have to start watching some hip-hop music videos, so that I can make a really nice, low budget, DIY music video for my friend 'Ca'st. Hood' during the winter break.
October 5th, 2014,
I had a mandatory meeting for Rival Magazine (which is a UNC-Duke collaborative student magazine) at Duke's East Campus.
How did I know about a UNC-Duke collaborative organization?
Well, my roommate from last year (Frank) is a Robertson scholar, and he is extremely good at talking people into things.... and yes, he persuaded me into this. Curse my gullible ears.
he told me about this magazine, I thought about it for a while, and then decided to join.
Anyway, I took the Robertson Express bus in front of the Morehead Planetarium, just as my other Robertson suitemate told me.
So.... uh...
Here I am...?
at Duke's Campus.... for the first time.
I've been hearing that there is a chapel at the center of Duke's Campus,
and what do you know? It stood right there in front of me when I got off the Robertson Express bus.
Nice gothic architecture!
So, I decided to make my way to the Rival Magazine meeting, while taking some pictures of the campus of course.
Duke University seems to really like all the complex, tall, pointy and grand, gothic architecture very much. (Private universities have ginormous amount of money~!)
It kind of made me feel like I was visiting a place in Europe.
but.... uh.....
I got lost on Duke's campus... haha ^_^;;
Duke has a pretty big campus.
I somehow made it to their student stores and picked up a map, which was really difficult to decipher.
(UNC's map is a lot easier to identify places and navigate.)
See? this is why user-friendly, intuitive interface is such an important thing these days.
I eventually missed the Rival Magazine meeting all because I got lost. (Hoorah! -_-;; )
When I finally started to decode(?) the map, I realized I wasn't even on Duke's East Campus, but instead, I was on the far west of the West Campus!
What The F-word.
-_-
So, I somehow made it back to Duke Chapel, around the time when the meeting should be all over...; Thankfully, I already told one of the Rival Magazine acquaintances(?) that I wouldn't be able to make it there because I got lost.
So, for the remainder of my time, I decided to meet one of my old friends who was attending Duke University. Unfortunately, he had an exam coming up and I also had a lot of assignments, so all we could do was study at the library and then have dinner together.
We decided to eat at Cafe Edens.
The place was really clean and nice.
I ate a flat iron steak, and so did my friend.
The salad, the fries and the meat were all great.
The price was pretty nice too! 15 dollars for a steak this nice?? I think it's a good deal.
There is no waiter, so I can enjoy my steak without worrying too much about tips.
I got lost on Duke's campus,
I missed the Rival Magazine staff meeting.
Yeah, it was a rough day, but at least I got to see an old friend after 7 years.
I hope to see him again on a day, when both of us aren't busy.
This is the 4th project I did for my studio art class,
and it also is my favorite project I've ever done for that class!
I just had to find some footages on Youtube or Archive.org and edit them together into a new narrative.
As you can see, I made this video in a way to express my frustrations and rage about all of the non-skippable, excessive, poilitical ads on Youtube.
Seriously, several weeks ago, whenever I was on Youtube, all I ever got was the 'anti-Kay Hagan' ads that seemed to be funded by anti-democrat organizations. THEY WERE ANNOYING AS H**L!!
At lest some of the product advertisements (e.g. Varizoom Stealthy) are really cool to look at, but these political ads? Nope, they're just annoying and negative.
This video was actually really fun to make, and turned out to be quite entertaining.
Enjoy! :)
and guess what happened on this gorgeous day.
YEAH! I bombed my Physics exam!
(Sobbing)
However, there was a reason why I was still able to smile.
That's because....
this was also the day I was going to see MY FAVORITE BAND OF ALL TIME, RISE AGAINST!!!
you have no idea how happy I was that day.
Since Atlanta is pretty far away from Chapel Hill, I got a friend of mine, Clark (who also is a Rise Against fan) to go see the concert with me.
All right!
2 college kids on a 6-hour road trip to Atlanta, in a 26 year-old BMW!!
That's what adventure is, isn't it?
So, after 6 hours, both of us finally made it to Atlanta.
We followed Google Maps' navigation to the venue.
We parked at a parking lot that was just across the street from the venue.
and made our way to 'the Tabernacle.'
Oh, if you've noticed that the picture quality has significantly gone down,
it's because I started taking pictures with my iPhone4 from the moment we left the car.
I mean, think about it: a bulkyDSRL at a rock concert?
Sounds like a terrible idea to me.
When my friend and I got in, we ran downstairs to get ourselves some official merchandise.
The line was pretty long, it took a lot of time, (well not as long as that of Summer Sonic Osaka 2013)
But I still got myself an official Rise Against 2014 North American Tour T-shirt!
Each time I go to a concert of a band I really like, I buy at least one of their official merchandise.
They're expensive, but so worth the price.
I kind of regret not buying the official hoodie, but.. oh well.
The both of us went upstairs to the stage.
The Tabernacle sure was bigger than Cat's Cradle, which is only 30 minutes from campus.
Rise Against is a pretty big band, after-all.
What was surprising about the Tabernacle was that the standing area was slightly in an angle, so that the floor gets higher as you move away from the stage.
I've never experienced any venue like this one, because all the concert I've been to are either small (Cat's Cradle) or really huge (stadium concerts & internationally big music festivals), and none of those venues had slanted floor.
It sure lightened up my day, since I'm not that tall.
There also were 2 floors of balcony seating areas.
They're for those who want a better view of the stage, but do not want to be in the moshing craze.
Nice decorations.
Kind of reminds me of Carolina Performing Arts' Memorial Hall
.....in a way.
I personally really liked that "Tabernacle" projecting onto the speakers.
Then it became 7 PM,
and thus began the first opening concert
by a punk band named "Radkey."
H**l Yeah!
Punk rock's all about fast and energetic songs!
and these guys totally have some!
Not to mention the awesome stage performance and instrumental skills.
My friend, Clark really liked these guys.
After the first opening concert,
the staffs got busy setting up for the second opening act.
And around 8 PM
The second band started their performance.
Because the band's name was "Touche Amore," I was kind of expecting a softer, Green Day-ish punk songs...
but what do you know? Tons of Screaming!!!
Pretty hardcore stuff they had there.
What was more surprising was how nice these guys were.
In the middle of their gig, someone guy in the crowd lost his shoe, but these guys found the owner and gave it back to him.
:)
And after Touche Amore's performance, the staffs got really busy again.
OH MY GOODNESS!
That mark! Rise Against's fist mark! (which is all blurred out in this picture)
I couldn't believe I was seeing that mark in person, and not through the internet!
Look at that stage set-up.
That alone got me super-hyped.
.....and then....
HERE THEY FINALLY ARE!!! The main act of the night!!! RISE AGAINST!!!!!
That 'Ready to Fall' made an amazing opening song.
Right after Ready to Fall, they went straight on to Give it All.
It's like they're saying "moment to catch our breath? at our concert?? Nah!!"
huff huff
my weak lungs and heart couldn't keep up with so much energy. (but I really wanted to... T_T)
So, I took some pictures of the band members while I needed to catch my breath
Tim McIlrath on the vocals & rhythm guitar.
He is also the frontman and the leader of the band.
Joe Principe on the bass guitar.
and this is Zach Blair on the lead guitar.
but seriously,
iPhone4's picture quality is horrible.
and I don't know why, but the videos are glitching up as well.
Maybe it's time to get a new phone?
Right after Give it All, They played my favorite Rise Against song, 'Re-education (Through Labor)!!!'
Oh boy, I couldn't believe that I'm hearing that song at a live concert for real!
more mosh pit craze for me! :D
Enjoying Rise Against's concert is pretty tough.
It's like a hardcore physical training, in a way, maybe?
Then it was 'Behind Closed Doors' and ' Long forgotten Sons'
and again, I realized how weak my lungs and heart were.
I really should start exercising.
'The Good Left Undone' and then 'Like the Angel'
Such great songs.
Then they performed 'I Don't Want to be Here Anymore,' which is a song off their newest record, 'The Black Market.'
It wasn't as mosh crazy as the other songs,
but it still had a lot of energy, and most importantly, very relatable lyrics!
I love this song.
Help is on the Way was pretty crazy too.
Majority of the songs they play at their live gigs are full of energy.
Then it was time to put our fists in the air, and shout out Rise! Rise! Rise! Rise!
that's my favorite thing about Chamber the Cartridge.
Many of the Rise Against songs are really fast, have complex lyrics, and are sung in really high pitch, which all make them difficult for people to sing along.
Parts like the intro to Chamber the Cartridge and the intro to Make it Stop feel so special in a way that they let the crowd really become one an sing together!
Here are some pictures Clark took with his iPhone 5c.
and WOW.
My iPhone 4's image quality is way worse than that of iPhone 5c...
that was soooo disappointing.
Oh yeah!
I finally got a shot on Brandon Barnes who is the drummer of Rise Against.
H**l Yeah!!
The Sufferer and the Witness has a lot of fast and powerful songs,
and this song, 'Prayer of the Refugee' is my favorite!
The moshing was especially crazier for this song, because it's such a popular song, and an energetic one as well.
and again, I felt the limitations of my weak lungs and heart.
Lesson learned: exercise regularly!
After 'Alive and Well,' 'Audience of One,' and 'Satellite,' they went back in.
Then came back out with 2 acoustic songs for the encore.
They performed 'People Live Here' from the Black Market
and 'Swing Life Away' from the Siren Song of the Counter Culture.
Tim sang this in harmony, not in the original melody.
Then Zach, Brandon, and Joe came back out to perform two more songs.
The first song was 'Make it Stop,' which is my favorite song from Endgame.
I love how well the lyrics harmonize with the melody.
Makes me shed some tears every time I listen to this song.
of course, my iPhone 4 keeps on glitching up while taking some videos, and finally, it really screwed something up on the last song, Savior.
I recorded the entire song while I was in the mosh pit.
then, the camera app wouldn't respond, even when I've touched the record button multiple times to stop recording.
However, the camera app crashed
and Poof! No pseudo-POV videos from Savior.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
Why must this happen on such an important song like 'Savior?'
T_T
:'(
My iPhone finally gave me the middle finger..... crap...
I really should get myself a Gopro or a Sony Action Cam.
Amazing setlist.
They also performed some songs from Revolutions Per Minute, and The Unraveling.
Old school Rise Against fans would have loved this concert, I think.
Am I the only one who wants longer shows? T_T
Rise Against has so many great songs, and one concert isn't enough to hear all of them.
How sad... :'(
I totally feel you guys.
The show's all over but you still don't want to leave.
I felt the exact same thing... :'(
Such a great band, such an amazing concert.
It was a lot of fun.
It was the concert with the craziest mosh pit of my life,
(I never really expected there to be a huge mosh pit for the opening bands' gigs... So much awesomeness!!)
and it was also the concert with the most crowd surfing I've ever been to!!
Thanks to all of this, I was able to relieve all of my stress from bombing the Physics exam that morning!!
This was Clark's first time going to a live concert, and he really, and I mean REALLY, LOVED IT!
It was his first time and he spent most of his time in the mosh pit!
He sure knew how to have fun at a punk rock concert.
Anyway, after the concert,
the both of us bought ourselves a huge bottle of water, drank the whole thing in less than 10 minutes,
and made our way back to Chapel Hill.
We did sleep in the car when we felt a little bit tired, but the weather suddenly got cold, and the car was pretty cramped and uncomfortable.
So, I don't know about Clark, but I barely got enough rest on our trip back to Chapel Hill.
The road trip was uncomfortable,
but it will always be a good memory of mine, since this was the first time I've ever went on a road trip to see a concert with a friend in my age group!
