VISUAL TWEAKS
There were some instances where the music video in order to fit within the silhouette of the drummer did not quite work and some of the drummer (his head) was not covered by the music video on the layer underneath. This was solved by overlaying the drummer image again and masking just the head but then feathering the neck where it started to cover the music video footage blurring the two together. The opacity was also altered to create a fluid joining of the two elements as illustrated below.
BACKGROUND OF THE PIECE
I had to decide on a back-ground to go behind the drummer. This looked great on a transparent background but as soon as I started putting backgrounds onto it, did make it look a a little tacky and not have the gravitas and class I wanted the piece to have. I had done research but stupidly not done too much testing of this and first tests were a little disappointing. I tested a great variety of background. patterns, mottled, record sleeve spines, flat colours, mottled effects and tones. The images behind it be they patterns, photographs however distorted simply added too much confusion and detracted from the clean lines and simplicity of image and message I had striven to create for the piece.
After many trials I drew on the research I had undertaken into Blue Note Jazz album covers. These have been appropriated many times see the originals and the copies below. Black was too dark but a deep blue as illustrated on some of these covers worked really well. The colour also added a blue tone to the drummers head again reflecting this Blue Note influence. This gave it a sense of period, history and integrity even though the Amen Beak is not jazz. However the flat colour was till too clean and flat so I added vignetting of back to the corners to add a little texture and to draw focus into the middle of the screen.
ON SCREEN EXPOSITION GRAPHICS
The narrative and character exposition on-screen graphics was the final element and one that I greatly struggled with for three reasons. Firstly I did not want it to be on screen for too long. This was because I needed it to be on-screen for only about 6 seconds or for the reprises throughout of the Amen break which was just over this. Secondly and leading on from point one it needed to be brief, clear and concise but also to conjure up some emotion, character and narrative without being too prosaic or contrived. Lastly the font needed to be simple (no kinetic typography here).
The final on-screen graphics (which I had double checked for grammar) read like this. The final two screens of exposition came on after the music had ended so as to draw attention to them and add gravitas to the story and the sad conclusion.
1: In the Spring of 1969, drummer G. C. Coleman recorded a freestyle, impromptu six second drum solo.
2: The song, AMEN BROTHER, was an insignificant B-side for the US soul-funk band, The Winstons.
3: In the mid 1980s the drum solo began to be sampled and was christened the AMEN BREAK.
4: To date, the AMEN BREAK has been sampled over 2400 times, inspiring a multitude of usicians in a variety of genres!
5: G.C. Coleman was never aware of the impact of his 6 seconds of drumming genius. He received no royalties, no recognition, no acclaim…
6: He died in 2006, a homeless and destitute drug addict…
7: amen brother
FONT FOR EXPOSITION
Again a huge variety tried and tester here. Impact, Helvetica, Tahoma to name but a few. I wanted it to be able to be read clearly, quickly and not be script or too extravagant. I did not want it to draw attention to itself and it had to feel in keeping with the piece. In the end I went for courier after not liking the idea of a serif font initially. I was won over by the simplicity, typewriter feel giving it credibility and typewriter as well as an age and history to carry the message with no frills and an honesty.
Interestingly the font which was designed by Howard Kettler was nearly released with the name "Messenger." After giving it some thought, Kettler said, "A letter can be just an ordinary messenger, or it can be the courier, which radiates dignity, prestige, and stability." All of these are elements I wanted for the piece and the font has.
TITLE OF THE FINISHED PIECE & PLACEMENT
This was areal struggle. The aim for the tests was to try and feature 24 examples of appropriation of the break so 1% of the 2400 breaks and therefore it would be named 1% Amen. However for this version i only featured 16 examples and this would have made it 0.666 Amen. I toyed with the idea of this for a while as the number of the beast and the word amen were an interesting juxtaposition but then thought it would add another layer of ideology, context and meaning and possible miss and cloud the actual message so put this to one side.
The Amen Break works but is a little flat. I liked the idea of not having a title at the start and as it would be screened on a loop it did not mater too much but wanted it at the end as a reveal. After I had created all of the other titles and watched the piece see above the aim was originally for the last title/exposition on screen to be the the sixth screen of type "He died in 2006, a homeless and destitute drug addict…".
However this simply seemed to not end correct on a real low and not pay testament to him or the achievements of the break. As we all know at the end of a prayer you say amen, which also means "so be it" and with the name of the song being Amen Brother it seemed fitting to work in these areas. Amen as it was the end, amen for so be it commenting on how he never got his acclaim and they are the breaks and Amen brother for the song and also as a eulogy for GC Coleman and his passing to wish him well.
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