Some Background
I believe I met Abs through skateboarding when we were barely in our teens. We were both creative kids who liked to draw, made music and films, and throughout the years our paths have crossed within various creative and social circles. Abs makes incredible music, spits rhymes almost as fast as the Fu-Shnickens, has toured the world, and collaborated with some very cool musicians along the way. I run a small company called 3:AM Design that makes little films and animations.
A while back we had the opportunity to collaborate with Abs on the music video for “Abdominal Workout”. With a minimal budget, a small but enthusiastic crew, some volunteer actors, and a very patient rapper, we created something special. That project was an incredible experience and is still one of my fondest memories of filmmaking. It’s not everyday one gets to work with great people coming together and making a true labour of love.
Today we’re hoping to drum up some funding for an exciting project that we feel will recapture the same magic and awesomeness we had together previously. A new collaboration with Abs on the music video for his tune “Broken”. We've always been a fan of Abs, and we're all big into hip hop - this would be a great opportunity to give a little love to the scene.
There was no shortage of great stories in the many tracks we listened to off Abs’ new album "Sitting Music", but “Broken” above all others gave us a playground of ideas that
we wanted to develop. The song is filled with image and narrative and we knew this was the track we had to make into a video as soon as we heard it. I’ve replayed it dozens of times since then and it’s grown on me with every listen.
Summary
To us the song is about looking at oneself and wanting to fix pieces of one’s past. And who doesn’t want to fix some broken part of ourselves? To have the chance of a do-over. It feels like a universal and shared consciousness. Also we immediately thoughts ROBOTS!! How do we make a video incorporating lots and lots of robots!
What we’d like to do is to approach it as if we are making a movie. We want to create a video that calls upon a certain look: something very gritty and cluttered, like an old toymaker’s workshop filled floor to ceiling with remnants of an industrial age long forgotten. An environment where we can place Abs and his band, that will immediately create a dusty and complex world to draw our audience into. It is a domain positively brimming with broken gears, rods, axles and various other odds and ends: wind up robots whose gears have rusted shut, robot heads looking for their robot legs - a decrepit island of lost toys, if you will. Throughout the video, Abs and his band will tinker and manipulate the broken fragments, while slowly bringing elements of this robotic garbage back to (robot) life. The audience is never quite sure what exactly it is that they’re building, but there will be a lot of visual intrigue throughout and the end reveal will be a fantastic cornucopia of robot awesomeness!!
We’ll be combining a lot of practical live action and sets with an assortment of 3d and vfx, but the overall look will be a seamless integration of the two that will never seem forced or out of place. Bottom line is that it’s going to look really, really cool!
What We Need
Why do we need you? Well, here’s the thing: unlike many artists that have a label to support them, Abs pays his own way on all aspects of his art. Making videos - especially ones like this, that involve fairly heavy vfx and props ain’t cheap. There are a lot of people who, even at this early stage, are on-board to work long hours for little more than a lot of hugs and thanks, just because they believe in this project. We’ve gotten a fair amount of gear loaned to us, including a brilliant camera and lens package. But even with volunteer gear and services, there are things like props, sets, lighting, etc. that will cost money. Your money will be spent on only things we just can’t do without. Also, Abs is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. His music is really good and if you can afford to spare a few bucks you should support him and this project.
Hey, I almost forgot - did I mention that we are going to have some really cool, retro-futuristic robots? We got too excited to wait for funding and are in the beginning stages of design on some of them and they are looking awesome! Here’s an early peek at one of them.
What You Get if You Help
Regardless of what you donate, you get our eternal gratitude and thanks for considering this project worthwhile. We won't let you down. That said, here are a few more tangible tokens of our appreciation:
"The New Jack" Pledge ($5 or more): Downloadable mp3 of the song.
"The Player" Pledge ($15 or more): Abs freestyle CD (please specify vol. #1 or #2) + downloadable mp3 of "Broken".
"The Shot Caller" Pledge ($25 or more): The brand spanking new CD "Sitting Music" from Abdominal and The Obliques + thank you credit in the video.
"The Baller" Pledge ($40 or more): Both freestyle CDs, signed by Abs himself (maybe in marker, possibly in pen. Who’s to say...) + downloadable mp3 of "Broken" + thank you credit in the video.
"The Hustler" Pledge ($75 or more): Abs will give you a custom outgoing answering machine message for you to impress and confuse your friends + downloadable mp3 of "Broken" + thank you credit in the video.
"The O.G." Pledge ($100 or more): Custom video freestyle, incorporating donor's name. (use it to pick up girls, impress the boss - unlimited possibilities!) + downloadable mp3 of "Broken" + thank you credit in the video.
"The High Roller" Pledge ($250 or more): Abs will go eat chicken wings with you. Mind blown yet? Wait for it - he'll even pay for the wings! [*only available in Toronto, On.] + downloadable mp3 of "Broken" + thank you credit in the video.
"The Rain Maker" Pledge ($500 or more): Abs will perform a home concert with the band for you, your cat, and even your granny if you want! [*only available in Toronto, On.] + downloadable mp3 of "Broken" + thank you credit in the video.
"The Don Gargon" Pledge ($1000 or more): We’ll give you a cameo in the video! That’s right - just like Courtney Cox - this could be the first step on your road to stardom! [*only available in Toronto, On.] + downloadable mp3 of "Broken" + thank you credit in the video.
Thank you very much for your support!
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