"Il Modo Che Tutto Si Svela (The Way It All Unfolds)" by Leper (Music Video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmjglIRD7Yw

This music video is for the song "Il Modo Che Tutto Si Svela (The Way It All Unfolds)" by Leper from the album "Beautiful Gray Day" released on September 11th, 2012 through Grrr Records.

The concept for this video came from a discussion a few years ago with Skot Shaw. We both work at Cornerstone Community Outreach and there was some sort of party going on this particular day. While eating and fellowshipping together, Skot brought up the idea of making a music video for "Il Modo Che Tutto Si Svela (The Way It All Unfolds)" using guests of the shelter and showing service to the least of these. I think that could have been a very good music video. At that time, I had one live clip of the song being performed by Leper and I figured that I could use that footage in the video. I realized though, we would need to have shelter guests sign releases if we were going to film them. I brought this up to Skot at the time. I also brought up an idea of having him perform the song with a group of shelter guests around him. I thought that might add to the concept.

Part of the purpose of creating this music video would be to bring awareness to the need for Cornerstone Community Outreach and the services it provides the least of these. It was also intended to bring awareness that Cornerstone Community Outreach also has needs. Needs for support to help cover the costs of the services provided. Needs for volunteer help (at least when there's not a COVID19 pandemic going on).

We did not discuss the idea all that much after this. Every now and then it would be brought up but nothing came of it. I was able to capture another performance the song some time after this during a fundraiser for Chicago Tiny Houses.

Like with "Spezza Spezza Spezza (Chop Chop Chop)," when we discussed making music videos again recently, I asked Skot about doing something with "Il Modo Che Tutto Si Svela (The Way It All Unfolds)." Skot had seemed to have somewhat moved on from this idea...not that he didn't care about it but was wanting to get some things out for the more recent music released by Leper.

After I finished  the music video for "Spezza Spezza Spezza (Chop Chop Chop)" I decided to take a break from the music video projects that are now on my plate so that I could finish editing the footage from a little trip we took over Labor Day. As I finished that project off, I decided to look at some footage I had sitting around so I could see what I could do to make something for "Il Modo Che Tutto Si Svela (The Way It All Unfolds)" before getting back into the other few projects Skot and I had discussed and started for other Leper videos.

I watched through the two live clips to see what, if anything, could be used. After cutting that which I definitely did not feel was usable, I worked on syncing up the live performance to the studio performance. This proved to be a bit more difficult than I had anticipated as the timing of the performances was different from the studio version. With Skot's veil, it's a bit more difficult to sync his lips to the lyrics but I think I was able to get fairly close. The clips with Jennifer Mercy singing were helpful in that regard. I also tried to sync the guitar playing to the music as best as I could as well. All of this required quite a bit of cutting. I did a little bit of re-arranging of pieces where either lyrics were not being sung or it wasn't so clear that it was obviously wrong. I had enough live footage to fill the entire studio track. Once I got this all set mostly in place, I began to try to balance the use of the clips so I wasn't relying too heavily on one over the other. While I initially had quite a few hard cuts, I smoothed most of them with transitions. I did even more of this later in the process after layering some of the other footage on top. While still working on the performance parts, I decided to some layering of clips making them somewhat transparent instead of cutting from one or the other. I watched through a few times and made a few more adjustments but when I was mostly satisfied, I added in more of the other footage. That other footage was intended to show "the least of these" and service to those in need.

I went through some previous clips I had used sparingly or didn't use at all. Most of these were filmed when I began thinking of making a music video for October Bird of Death for the song "Goons" but also had thoughts of using them for this song when it was originally discussed. I mostly used footage of the tent city under Wilson Viaduct that I had not used before other than maybe one or two short clips. I did re-use some footage of a Westboro protest but used less than I had in "Goons." It felt fitting to some of the lyrics of the songs. I used some recent footage from the CrossTour CR900 as I drove into work a few different times, capturing folks holding signs at the end of Wilson Avenue near the ramp coming off Lake Shore Drive. I also used some footage that captured folks waiting in line for the food pantry that Cornerstone Community Outreach also runs to serve the least of these in the neighborhood. Another clip captured a man on Damen Avenue on the ramp from I-55.

I took these clips and alternated them throughout the video, trying to fit them where it seemed most appropriate with the lyrics. I layered these clips over the performances of Leper playing the song live. The final clip I captured was an art piece Skot created on one of the doors of Cornerstone Community Outreach of a celtic knot with gaelic words written around the celtic knot. I think this is probably the most I have used the layering effect on one project ha!

I added a "gradient colorize" effect (without colorizing it) to get the black and white look Skot and I prefer (extreme black and white without much if any grayscale). I also added the "bad film" effect and randomly increased and decreased levels of distortion in this effect so none of the clips had exactly the same look in regards to this distortion.

I added just a little bit of "bad TV" effect at the very beginning and very end. I didn't want to add a lot of the chaotic appearance that I had done with "Spezza Spezza Spezza (Chop Chop Chop)" but I thought it looked good to fit at the beginning and very end along with the sprocket holes.

I created the title and other text screens on Motion 4. I decided to use the usual font style I do on most of my personal videos instead of the old classic looking font. I used black lettering, removing the outline, and tried to fit the words into a white area of the screen. I chose the Leper logo from the "Beautiful Gray Day" album cover which was black on a white background. While I'd prefer the background to be transparent, I do the best I can with what I got to work with. I found a Grrr Records logo on transparent background that I added to this project. The other text screens I used white lettering with black outline. I wrote a piece about Cornerstone Community Outreach with a link for those who may be interested in supporting the work of the shelter. I also added credit for my work at the end along with my usual credit clip I have used since 2011.

The video does sort of repeat similar looking clips a bit. I realize that and wish I had a few more different clips that I could have used instead. It was a pretty simple video to create. It really only took me a few hours over two evenings to create it. I think the general idea was presented. It shows "the least of these" and while there isn't any actual service shown, it does show folks in line to receive the services offered through Cornerstone Community Outreach's food pantry. I think this really was the best that I could do without having to get the releases of information from shelter guests...which we would have needed to attain the full concept that was originally discussed.

I am happy with this result. I also hoped to get it done before the holidays which is usually a "giving season." I don't know the impact of this video...I don't know for certain but I can assume this year is going to be more difficult for most than any before. Hopefully this video can bring about something good.

For more information on Cornerstone Community Outreach and the services this organization provides for folks experiencing homelessness and others who may need assistance, and/or if you would like to support the efforts to serve the least of these through this organization, please visit http://www.ccolife.org/.

Footage was filmed using an iPhone 6, Canon Rebel T6, and CrossTour CR900 in Chicago, Illinois between 2015 and 2020. Video arranged and edited using Final Cut Pro on a Mac Mini. Titles and other text created using Motion 4 on a Macbook in November 2020. Filmed and edited by Joel A. Swanson.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9ZwEF2QQpMCrULqZ3e-5fqVxb_2UCHl