Video Premiere
BodyPlex AndNew Trash - “Are You There Sasha? It’s Me, Bodyplex”
New Trash has been producing and directing videos for artists in Chicago for several years, and this new work is a collaboration between the filmmaking duo and electronic maven Bodyplex. With it’s throwback graphics and Tim and Eric Awesome Show vibe, “Are You There, Sasha? It’s Me Bodyplex” is a blast from start to finish. We had a chance to talk to the guys from New Trash and are honored to premiere their first long form work.
-Kyle Land
NT: New Trash
"Are You There, Sasha? It's Me, Bodyplex" is a crazy long form video. Who came Up with the idea and is it based on a Bodyplex track or an idea you all had that Bodyplex scored?
NT: It started with a single track "I Got Nothing." We were gonna do a regular music video for it. We originally pitched Bodyplex a concept about really violent cowboys fighting over a briefcase of cocaine. Bodyplex responded with a wonderful pitch for a 90s era after-school special, which was perfectly aligned with our penchant for old-school weirdness. They sent us a deranged film called Creating Rem Lezar, which ended up being our primary inspiration for the video. Once we brought in our leads, Squeek Rangel (Sasha) and Ryan Kenney (Dad), it just became alchemy. Squeek showed us a program she had grown up watching called Storylords, which became another pillar for inspiring some of the animated elements later on. So the project organically grew as we all got more into the idea of making a children's educational movie and kept finding ways to expand upon it. After our first edit, Bodyplex began writing the rest of the score and it really made the short feel like a movie, it was great that even when the project expanded we were able to retain the music/visual collaboration throughout.
New Trash has been producing videos for 3 years correct? How did you form the company and what drives you?
NT: New Trash isn't a company as much as it is a directing duo. We just wanted to direct more and music videos were the perfect outlet to try out new things and grow as filmmakers while getting to see more of the art scene in Chicago. We've been lucky to work with an incredible array of artists of all sounds and backgrounds and we wouldn't be here today without all of the tremendous crew who have blessed us with their time and talent over the years.
You're known for your low budgets. What was the budget for this one?
NT: $50 dollars for tape transfers and about $20 for fruit snacks.
The retro b-movie graphics are on point in this video. In fact that is a style you have used in the past, but never quite at this level. What equipment and software do you use to achieve this look?
NT: We used Blender, an open source animation software to create the main bulk of the video. Our animation inspirations came from early CGI animatics that were used to convince studios to go with computer modeling back in the 80s. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xwLFRdewgE&t=1761s)
The animation style of these early videos is perfect for where we're at right now, skill-wise, although we gained a huge appreciation for all the elements these artists were able to construe back in the pre-blender days. It took some finessing to get that plastic, early bowling alley animation look, because Blender is so powerful now. So there was a process of de-lighting elements, using very basic patterns and geometric shapes as well as the classic Blender Render engine to evoke the processing power that those artists had back then.
How long was the shoot and how long did it take to edit?
NT: The shoot was two days; the first day to shoot the bookends in Sasha's room and an in real world foot-chase that didn't make it into the final cut. The second day we shot all the green screen footage. We filmed in early November and finished it this week, so it took a bit on the post end of things.
Any more projects in the works at New Trash you'd like to give us a sneak peak?
NT: Keep your eyes on SOOPER RECORDS the first week of April and you might see something fun!