JJODA - GASP EP

They say that ‘collaboration is key’ and that ‘two heads are better than one’. I think ‘they’, whoever ‘they’ are, might be right! Collaborating with others can offer up new perspectives or ideas and can help push a project to another level. A level that perhaps you wouldn't have thought of if you only ever work independently. When you find the right people to collaborate with it can be incredibly inspiring, open new doors and maybe push you out of some of your comfort zones. And, that’s exactly what happened to me when I was approached about a visual collaboration by, up and coming, Bristol-based DJ and music producer, JJODA.

THE PROJECT

JJODA had just finished producing his first EP, GASP. To launch the EP he wanted to create ‘an immersive, visual DJ set’ that would feature tracks from GASP as well as others from selected artists. To put it simply, a video to go with the mix! JJODA had the music side done and ready to go and had seen what I was doing here with Creative Nowhere Land so he asked if I could help with the visual side of the project.

I explained that although I can edit, I wasn’t really a video editor as such. But, JJODA convinced me that we could create something really interesting by collaborating and that, apart from some of his key visual references and ideas (one of them being the whole thing would be in black and white), I’d be able to do whatever I wanted to with the piece. So, not only would this project be exactly what Creative Nowhere Land is all about, no rules and anything goes, but it would also give me a chance to experiment more with video editing techniques and hopefully learn a few new things along the way. So I was in!

WHERE TO START?

Well, the first thing I needed to do was to listen to the DJ set! It’s an eclectic mix of music and genres but it triggered lots of visual ideas from simple to much more complex. I used to go to loads of clubs and warehouse raves and they’d always have obscure, crazy psychedelic visuals that, as a creative, would captivate me. (I say it was because I was creative but it could’ve also had something to do with the chemicals that may, or may not have been ingested during said raves haha. DON’T DO DRUGS KIDS!) Anyway, as always, I digress. The visuals…

JJODA had some visual references that he sent over and some ideas about how they could be used. We also spoke quite a bit about the stuff that he’s into in terms of films, art, politics, life etc. It was important for me to get more of an idea about him to make sure the visuals weren’t just solely from me as it was a collaboration and I wanted JJODAs ideas and personality to come through as well as mine.

As DJ sets go it’s relatively short at about 20 minutes as it’s a promo for the EP but, in video editing terms, that’s a lot of editing. I was armed with my visual ideas and music from JJODA and I set to work listening to the mix over and over again and began searching for video clips that I felt could work with the audio.

At this point, I should say that I had to contact a couple of ‘actual video editor’ friends to find out where to source video clips from. Luckily they gave me a tonne of resources to check out. Everything from sites to buy video clips to free sites that you can just download directly, but be sure to check your usage and copyright on these sorts of sites.

Here are some useful links if you are looking for clips for your own videos.

https://www.storyblocks.com/

https://www.shutterstock.com/

https://www.pexels.com/

https://archive.org/

So how did it turn out? Well, I’ll let you be the judge of that! What I will say though is that working on this project definitely improved my editing skills but it also drove me a little more insane than perhaps I already am in the process haha.

Days of editing, cutting to beats, replaying the tracks over and over again, finding the right visuals and making them work with the feel of the music, hours of Facetime calls with JJODA to show him clips and edit ideas, then creating something, going back to it with fresh eyes, hating it and starting again. It was late nights and long hours in front of the screen but…I wouldn’t have it any other way. That’s the process and that’s the best bit!

This truly is one of the most insane projects I’ve worked on creatively in a while and I think it fits perfectly here in Creative Nowhere Land. The range of music JJODA created allowed me to explore all sorts of different visuals from psychedelic patterns to retro film and news clips, as well as learning new techniques of editing that I perhaps would never have considered using beforehand. So a really fun and rewarding project to be involved in.

GASP EP - VISUAL MIX

So sit back. Make yourself comfortable and get ready for 20 minutes of visual and audio craziness. (It’s that crazy, and on the advice of my friend Sophie, I’m including a warning about all the flashing lights and fast cuts throughout the video. So, you’ve been warned but I hope you’re still up for watching it despite that haha. Enjoy!)

WARNING - CONTAINS FLASHING LIGHTS AND FAST CUTS. PLEASE DO NOT WATCH IF YOU HAVE ANY PHOTOSENSITIVITY CONDITIONS.

Thanks again for taking the time to read the blog and check out the JJODA collaboration. I’m looking forward to more interesting and inspiring collaborations this year. There’s some big things planned for Creative Nowhere Land going forward and I can’t wait for you to join me on the journey so, if you haven’t already, please consider signing up for the newsletter to stay up to date with everything that’s happening. Until next time! Stay Creative!