Watermann Shooting

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- I forgot who your editor is, remind me please? And are you and Serj involved in the editing process? How much?
Greg: "Ben Darling. We've worked closely on this one... having long discussions even before shooting began. I also sent him 2 pages of editing notes after the shoot, with thoughts relative to what we created on stage. Serj will of course see our final edit, and then make any suggestions before it's approved."

- I read that Serj has gotten different people to direct his videos, is he very involved in the process or did he just give you artists free reign?
Greg: "He decided which song to give each of us. After that, we were told to go as far we wanted. I love the song he gave me; it's been quite a challenge."

- Did you have more than 2 people filming the shoot?
Greg: "We had 3 other cameraman there besides myself... one of them specializes in filming while he's on his skateboard. He shot some amazing footage of the bride running down Sunset Blvd."

- Will you tell me about the editing process? What do you do? What will you do with the cutting room floor material?
Greg: “First we go through everything, finding all the really great stuff and putting it in the "Must-Use-This" folder. Then based on the direction of the performance we lay-out all the best scenes in an edit that works with the song. This video was a concept piece and there's no band playing, so we can put the pieces of this puzzle together in an order that feels right. It'll be like a beautiful collage (or a scary ransom note!). We certainly have enough footage to do an alternative version or 'making-of the video for this. But I don't think anyone will care to see it unless the main "Ammunition" video's a total hit..."

- Was the woman in the wedding dress a fan or an actress?
Greg: “Both, and she's a good friend. When I wrote the part of a bride into the video treatment, TC was the first person I thought of. She was perfect for the role... she even punched a guy for moshing into her."
 

With Issac Flors
 

The pride

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- How did you get into photography?
Isaac: “I had always been a very creative child, and up into my sophomore year of high school I had experimented with almost every different artistic medium you possibly can except for photography. I decided I would give it a shot, and once I started I was hooked and I've been doing it as my main artistic relief ever since.”

- How did you get into taking photos of FTM and what other bands do you take photos of?”
Isaac: “About two and a half years ago I went to a local nightclub that Fair To Midland just happened to be playing at during one of their west coast tours. I started conversation with Cliff Campbell (guitarist) and we got along extremely well. then after hearing their
music I knew they were more than just your average bar band, so after that first night I started going to every possible FTM show I could. I never went to another show without my camera. Very quickly the band and I formed a very strong friendship and ever since then I've been photographing their live shows on tour and at every possible occasion I can. At the moment FTM is the only band I photograph for. They give me enough work to keep me busy but I'm not opposed to the idea of photographing other bands. I just haven't got any other offers that I’ve wanted to take yet.”

- What did you do before you started taking photos?
Isaac: “I slept in late and would stay up all night playing video games . . . ah, to be young again.”

- What is your overall take on the PTLPTA video shoot?
Isaac: “In this day and age and the state that our world is in, it was so refreshing and such a relief to see an artist make a stand for what they believe in by portraying those beliefs through such an amazing form of art.”

- Did you understand the concept?”
Isaac: “Totally, the concept that's being conveyed in the video was completely evident. Obviously I might have a little more insight on the over all message seeing as how I was there to see it in it's entirety but I'm pretty confident that once the video comes out, the message will be very apparent.”

 

- Are you interested in the video process? Or is making video's in your future?”
Isaac: “Actually, for the past 5 months I've been working on a combination of photography mixed with video. A really good photographer friend of mine (Jared Jurcak) helped me with the concept and preproduction and once that was completed I began the tedious task of the main bulk of the project.
There's not much I can say about it other than the fact that I've lost 45 pounds and grown out a beard. I plan on continuing to grow it without trimming until the video is completed, which should be in mid 2008. I wanted to start something that I had to physically devote myself to, and through this experiment I've gained a new understanding of my trade and myself.”

 

Sevag in action

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- What did you think of the song itself?”
Isaac: “I think it's a great song. It’s very moving in the sense that the music goes through so many ups and downs and the lyrics are so memorable. a good friend of mine who is also a close acquaintance of Serj's made the comparison that "PTLPTA is like "Devil's Wedding" off of Serart . . . but on acid" and I think that's a pretty good description but with a little more of the rock elements thrown in.”

- Any upcoming plans or projects you would like to share?”
Greg: "No one wants to hear about that System live photo-thing anymore... I just need to finish it. Other than that, Serj and I have another photo shoot coming up. And I may be touring with Coheed and Cambria. Also, I'll be putting up a lot of new (and old) photographs new on my website soon (yes soon, really)."

Isaac: “Other than my current video project, probably just working with/for FTM and continuing to edit my thousands of live photographs of them. They have a lot in store for
the remainder of this year and the next, so knowing that, hopefully that means I will too. You can find all of my personal photography and all of my current FTM photographs on my website at www.myartistsblock.com .”


Greg was unable to relay plans for the video’s release date.



Greg‘s personal comments on the shoot:

"The crowd was incredible. I've never seen 200 people get into a brand new song so intensely! They were singing that chorus from their hearts. I really want to thank everyone who was a part of this... right down to the last minute choir girls I grabbed out of the line. I just saw the first edit and it's insane. Tell the crowd they should be proud of how hard they worked!!!"

 

Exclusive Photos (taken by Issac Flors) - Click to enlarge the photos.

More Photos (taken by Greg Watermann) - click to view large version on Greg's myspace

You can read fans review for the video shoot (with more photos) HERE and HERE.

Article by Tina Flors ~

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