A deep dive into the Begotten Campaign (Inferious)
entry no. 28
When we get asked about how we landed projects, the answer typically reverts to relationship in some way. The quality of work is essential, but it's not the key to gaining new projects. New projects come when we leave clients with a good enough impression to either repeat business with us or refer us to the next client. That's how Inferious came to be.
Inferious is a south-western Ohio Death metal band we've had the pleasure of producing several films for. Past projects we've crafted for their drummer Drew made enough of an impression that when they formed the new group, we were the first call. When we take on work, a variety of things are significant, but long term mutual investment is a top priority. We want to develop our artists and them to continue working with and trusting us. More repetition usually creates a more seamless process and lets more elaborate ideas become more affordable due to chemistry.
For their debut EP Begotten they wanted to make a serious impact and do Inferious right from the start, with a long-term plan. We ended up producing three videos for the album, starting with a single production to test waters on "Worm." We followed up a few months later with a double production for "Genocide" and "Evolution."
From the start, Inferious impressed us. They didn't come to us to just solve problems, but more so to add our value where they didn't have covered. We look at them as a super band that extends further than great songwriters. Each member has unique skills and responsibilities outside of writing and performing music. They all come with years of experience, and they presented a well thought out plan along with how they saw us playing a role. This started things off with a mutual level of respect and saved us time in planning. The big thing they wanted from their video catalog was to provide their fan base with enough content and for each film to have some wow factor.
Our goals with the "Worm" video were to make the process smooth, include the wow factor, and showcase the band for their debut video. In design, it was a performance film, with detail shots of worms crawling and yellow was our color choice for an unsettling feeling, playing into color theory around anxiety. It's straight forward and for us played safe, because we wanted an effective launch video. This earned us the rest of the band's trust and created momentum to move into the other videos shortly after.
Before we get to the next productions, it's important to note that the video for Worm did really well. It's a dope video, but Inferious put together a great release campaign with the content we created. The pre-released, released, and followed up super well. They capitalized on content, and when that happens, it doesn't just release a video but adds to the band's story in the fullest sense. Inferious understands this well and are great planners. We respect and love this trait because it means our hard work will be seen. It also means our contributions matter. This played a big role in our excitement for the next two videos too.
With Worm done, Inferious wanted to get bold on the next two films, and so did we. The key here is still having a wow factor. We focused on more gore and strangeness with the next two and pushed for more story over band shots. They also had a mid-level budget to work with, and we needed to maximize our time. So the obstacles were creating bigger ideas, reducing time, and maximizing the budget we had, while still maintaining quality.
In devising the video, we came to one story of a scientist murder with band shots and a more cult-like ritual story, also with band shots. Each video had special effects, and we decided to dedicate resources there more than gear. We decided to choose one film to be fuller in the story and the other to feel more random to make production shoot quicker on one and to give the other more time for acting.
With all of this, our approach becomes a larger team, special effects focus, minimize the camera department, focus on talent, and shoot for efficiency. This approach worked great. It allowed us to move quickly, maintain ideas that feel a high budget, and created projects that everyone was proud of. Prepping the project was pretty complicated, but the hard work paid off once production was wrapped, and we realized what we achieved reasonably easy.
It's incredible to look back on this albums video catalog and know we created work that mattered and helped grow another artist. We formed new friendships and have continued working with these guys. What I think is essential to realize is how an artist having a plan helps us simplify our approach to production and doing what we do best. We added value to what they wanted, a video catalog full of wow factor to keep viewers' attention, add to their meaning, and make a consistent album cycle of releases.
We look at album cycles as a story, and the content around that story should weave together to help aide the album's story at hand. When the story weaves together, it becomes more engaging, creates a plan to follow, and usually makes for more effective results.
WORM CREW
Ross Theisen | Director
Josh Emerick | DP/Editor/Designer
Taylor Tigner | AC
Josh Hall | Production Assistant
GENOCIDE + EVOLUTION CREW
Ross Theisen | Director
Josh Emerick | DP/Editor/Designer
Zach Abbott | Special Effects
Trevor O'Neil | Gaffer
Matty McClelland | Grip & Electric
Trent Bourke | Production Assistant
Gage Green | Production Assistant
Jordan Unferther | Actor
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