nsu – Panic Bells feat. Siknik from newclear Music on Vimeo.

Background Story

Dear all,

Finally the music video for “Panic Bells” is here. Thanks to everyone who has already given us great feedback and shared the link around – we are truly humbled about your reactions. The full credits and links are near the bottom, but here’s a brief story on how it all came together:

In late 2008, Alek Janev heard a demo version of “Panic Bells” online and almost instantly developed a concept in his head, and approached Ivan (nsu) about the idea of creating a video for the song. In January ’09, on his return from UK, Alek met up with Ivan to discuss the concept and plan of attack, together with Iain Hamilton-Gates. We twice failed to obtain the funding for the project, but in all fairness to NZ On Air, “Panic Bells” isn’t a song with strong commercial potential, so we weren’t feeling hard done-by. Regardless of the financial situation, the team was determined to make the video happen, no matter how long it took. The process taught us how to be resourceful, and made us appreciate the sacrifices we were all putting in for each other.

It wasn’t until June that filming started, and our 5 shoots were finally completed in September, with Tara O’Brien finally making an acting appearance on that last day. It took over 5 hours for Saul Barnes to apply the special effects make-up to Tara, compared with about 3 hours of filming the actual scenes.

Undoubtedly, most time was spent in editing and post-production, with Alek taking on the mammoth task of creating virtual sets to apply to the green-screen shots, learning many of the techniques along the way. His approach ensured that the scenes he envisioned before the shooting began, made it onto the final video.

After almost 40 hours of shooting in front of a green screen, as well as in the darkness of central Auckland alleyways and carparks, and over 6 months of late nights in post-production, not to mention the time it took to plan and organise the people, the equipment and the resources involved, it’s finally here… and we are very proud, to say the least – it is incredibly satisfying and rewarding to see it all come together.

So, if you have a YouTube (or Vimeo account), and you agree that this is an impressive piece of work, could you please take the time to rate (and comment) on the video. We’d love to hear it!

YouTube (HD) | Vimeo | Behind the scenes pics | Pictures from the launch gig

Your support means so much to us. Thank you for taking the time!

Release Party

A quick “thank you” to all who came along to the “Panic Bells” video & remix single launch party – we were delighted to be able to share our achievements with you. Special mention to all the performers on the night – Bromide Dub (Kerry Adams), AP3X (Shane Willis), Romantech (Matt Turner), D.I.S.H.A (Ivan Ivanović) & Macros (Malcolm Burgess).

Credits

Starring
Ivan Vuković
Tara O’Brien

Director / Editor / Visual Effects
Aleksandar Janev

Producer / DOP
Iain Hamilton-Gates

Special Effects Make-up
Saul Barnes

Special Thanks to
Karl Howe
Carlota Sanchez
Marianna Salvini
Danielle Maurice
Nina Gastreich
+ EVERYONE who was at the premiere @ Galatos Lounge – Apr 22nd, ’10

“Panic Bells” is taken from the “Escape” EP (NCMR002EP), out now on newclear Music. Available from Beat Merchants, Conch, Marbecks, iTunes, JunoDownload.com, Amplifier.co.nz and other digital retailers.

“Panic Bells” – remixes by AP3X and Bromide Dub (NCMR003DS) – out now on newclear Music. Available from iTunes, JunoDownload.com, Amplifier.co.nz and other digital retailers.