Music Video Shoot for Bilal Salaam, Decompose/So What

This June we will begin a music video production for...wait, guess who?

Bilal Salaam. The video will be partly animated and part-live action Based on the intro performed by by his group, Op Swamp 81, and the main featured video will be the song "So What."

The video will be a project that includes mentors and students from Bowie State University's Department of Fine Arts (VCDMA) and Communications, and will be shot at a very historic salon in in the H street corridor of Washington, DC, With These Hands Salon, owned by the wonderful Mrs. Betty Hart. It is supported by a Summer Fellows Grant for faculty, sponsored by The Center for Learning & Technology (CTEL) at Bowie State University.

This will truly be a group effort, as I will be assisted by producer Scott Rainey, cinematographer Frank Jackson, Jr., and animator/producer Jabari Hall-Smith. Make-up and talent coordination, Charlene Brown of Sophizticated Ladyz Hair Salon, and Additional video support by Jay Pope of, XDVPros.

Take a look at the storyboards for "So What."

Some conceptual artwork by BSU student interns Stephanie Burgess, Steven Stephenson and Samuel Famoyegun (thank you all, and more to come):

Bilal Salaam Got Your Tongue?

Okay, so I am like months from my last post, but...



Bilal Salaam, a cool, extremely talented and accomplished musician/artist based here in DC. I am working on a music video project for "Decompose" and "So What" by the artist, and most recently produced a "work-in-progress" for a song from his "Langue De Rasoir" or from French into English, "Razor Tongue."

This is a simple story about the words we use with each other in our day to day relationships, interactions and how these words have the power to hurt, kill, destroy, create, heal, build, etc. Here is a snippet (animatic) of my visualization of RAZOR TONGUE.

It was recently screened at an event titled, AUDIOVISION: ALTSOUL/HIPHOPE, part of the DFPA Spring Arts Festival at Bowie State University. This event featured performances by Bilal Salaam, Bless Roxwell, Jah-I-Witness, Tamara Wellons and Trudestar.

It also featured visual artist Jeff Henriquez and performances, video/animation art by undergraduate students in the DFPA (Computer Graphics, Theatre Arts) and Communication depts. For more please visit
AUDIOVISION.

Summer Soft, and gone...

Just wrapping up with the FLIK 2008 International Film Festival, held at ART WHINO, at the new National Harbor in MD. I premiered my short film (from an installation) that explores jazz, color and improvisation and tributes Thelonious Monk and Romare Bearden; two of the greats, and huge influences on me. In fact, Visual Jazz Media gets its very name from the great Romare Bearden. The film is titled, FUNKYMONK (image below), and is still very much a work-in-progress, as I am adding more scenes and animation.

As summer draws to a close, I look forward to a very productive year, season, etc. . Working on some paintings, motion paintings (videos) and more. I am da'studio! Here is a wonderful artist/animator, Michel Levy, who is going in the direction I am going, her stuff is off da' chain. I'll post some images soon. Oh, wait...here is one for the time being:







Peace.

TM