that is so bogus

Hey Ed, I DL'ed the Exiles - "Hear the People" vid. Very cool! :-)

i checked out that vid d/l link... do you mind if i give it a little constructive whatchamacallit?

it's a bit pedestrian (like the song) / sort of *yawn* easy listening

couple of nice fx with the sky above the waterfall / the ghost by the shed... you should develop that stuff - take me on a journey - otherwise my attention wanes

your framing / exposures were great - i didn't notice any ZOOM action - which is a good thing =) so you've got heaps of potential

the singer didn't seem to be too comfortable in front of the camera - no eye contact - she's gorgeous tho' and talented - so with a better song - and some more confidence she could maybe edge in there between brooke fraser and bic runga (lol) nah seriously - if she's serious she needs to watch herself in this vid and think how she could be more natural / warm / engaging - charismatic?

whole thing has a christian sort of vibe to it *shivers* god forgive me if i'm right (lol)

my advice (based purely pn my own taste)

shoot more footage on the day - keep at it until the singer is totally comfortable - cos you wanna capture the character of the person - not the aura of discomfort / false front

if they can't look straight into the lens that's ok - but make sure whereever they are looking looks "right" - i guess she ain't that bad - but something's missing ya know?

in the edit try and not interrupt a shot with a cut unless you really have to / intended to - looks like you had 5 locaitons then just cut them all together with little thought

your locations were great - but once you'd cut to them 6 times each then you've milked em dry...

your fx shots were a bit random / not building to any kind of revelation or climax

this sort of video is good as wallpaper on a tourism channel - nice locaiton / pleasant song / attractive lady - i reckon HB TV would pick it up - even rotorua TV? any other provincial areas with their own channels? CTV?

---------

you're miles ahead of all the peeps out there who're all talk and no action - do you do weddings too?

I thought my ears were ringing ?

You boys have been having a grand ol chat about me in here.. Troll im not sure who you are, but obviously a fan and thank you for your support and nice comments..most appreciated !

Firstly I believe the awards voting closed on 31st of December... I didnt nominate myself but I do know thousands of fans have voted for me from round the world. Obviously Troll your not from NZ ... go back to AL or indie hangout love, its much more of a supportive community there..

This is NZ sweetheart and people don't praise each other ... they knock each other into the ground ! Praising someone in NZ is seen as blowing hot air up there %&*# ! This place lives on Biggest Tall Poppy Syndrome you will find on the entire planet ! Only the tough survive ! However thats how come there is only 4 million here and so many success stories in all walks of life.

Take note Troll of how you found you had to ask in a post was it alright to be a fan and sing your artists praises here ? You wouldnt find yourself doing that in a global communtity site !

I dont really visit this site much as my genre of music is not so supported here ! thought the people that run it seem nice and its good for genres it does support !!

To my video and mine and the directors choice to have little eye contact in this one, was our choice to portray a little aloofness...!! Yes it has spiritual nature to it, im not necessarily a Christian though.. but there is a message within the song !

As to the director producers skill.. How many qantas media awards do you have under your belt Ed ? The director of my vid has 3 and works in TV all day ! For the budget we had I thought he did well ... you notice NO NZOA logo on it .... Apart from the no money side of it ..I like it that way, people are searching me out and dont think im from NZ ... no I dont think im like Bic or Brooke.. though I wouldnt mind there recording budgets !!

Daniel at Juice doesnt seem to have a problem with my clip ... infact the clip is playing at least a couple of times a day on J2 along with several stations in the US !

I have done a few videos in my time the last one ended up on MTVEurope...... oh slap my butt, Im blowing hot air up my own arse now and that will never dooo... as Thomas would say !

As to my discomfort...........Maybe the fact that it was freezing and the sand flys at Maruia springs have steel cap boots on there feet might have not been grand at the time but really ..mate Im very comfortable with my song I could sing it on my head with one arm up my back.... infact I was probably singing Radio station IDs, singin my arse of in bars and recording sessions whilst your mummy was wipin your butt while you were singing mary had a little lamb on the changing table !!

Anyway Im in the middle of editing a synicated FM radio show and out of the 5000 hits a month my site gets .... none of them ever link from here .. so im gone again !

No ... I dont do weddings .. but maybe you will be, in another 10 years ..lol

[ http://www.alycook.com ]

Im sorry I did just go look back over ed's post and its like hes giving my fan a critic about what he should have done in the video shoot... well .....wel my fan didnt have anything to do with the makin of the vid and those comments I guess are for my video director.. whom never asked for them in the first place !

I guess ed you did say some nice things about me and I should say thank you for that ! So I do Thank you :)

but understand this clip was done on a big fat 0 budget with little time !

I gave the best performance I could give under those conditions....

[ http://www.alycook.com ]

Did someone have a sale on soapboxes?

I'll never ever ever stop being slightly put off a performer who says criticism of their work is a factor of Tall Ploppy Syndrome. Work that is in an 'award' list needs to stand up or pull out.

NZers aren't dumb. We have a voice, and an opinion. People who'd like us to be more like the dumb mainstream homogenous accepting masses around the world, busy lapping up the cheese can kiss my raisin.

To start raving about what this site is etc etc gets me slightly awake. Unsupportive community my arse.

Actually Ed and Aly are an interesting match. How fuckin minor is this whole little thing?

Ed's original comment was the most on the money surely. Its clearly a bogus radio award list. Anyone supporting emerging talent in NZ knows this.

Sure the video was unnecesarrily critiqued, but hey, Ed's a video wanker. They're all like that! Ahaha. Still doesn't mean he ain't correct.

Better bands have been bitchslapped more than this and never do they come on all 'knocking machine' on it. You can't have it all warm fuzzies. Read NME or something then you'll know a good bitchslapping.

Damn now I'm the proud owner of another soapbox.

Self Critism of New Zealand Arts and Music... is what builds it to be the best it is.. but Tall Poppy is rife and anyone whos come up through the music industry and says they have not come up against it is lying ! Or hasnt been in it long !

Im not blaming tall poppy for anything !.. I was simply explaining it as in NZ ... its right through society on all levels and people from other countries are often unaware of it and are shocked when they come across it !

The beginning of the whole subject was the XlR8r awards... I dont really know that much about it other than ive been nominated, so I included it in the publicity andI know hundreds of fans have voted for me there most of them from outside of NZ ....some of them from NZ.

Like I said .. the people who run this site are nice ! :) ...Youve been very supportive to me in the past.. BUT Its not really a site that super supportive community to the genre of music im in ! Your demographic is different here to the market that is buying my music now.

Like I said for the genres of the artists who are very active within your community here. This is a great site !

Just like my clip is playing on J2.. but its not really right for Juice !

I apologise for any offence taken dust. I know you work very hard and you have a great site !

Happy New Year and warmest regards

Aly

[ http://www.southerncybermusic.com ]