Comments on: We're all blue from projection tubes

We're all blue from projection tubes

whir — Mon, 12 May 2008 21:53:47 -0800

UK band The Get Out Clause made their newest video by performing in front of 80 of London's approximately 13 million CCTV cameras, and then requesting the footage via the Data Protection Act. The footage was then edited together into this music video.

This technique was apparently prefigured by Irish band The Frames, who used a single camera in a post office to make a £2 video. via.

By: whir

whir — Mon, 12 May 2008 21:56:21 -0800

(The music itself will probably not be to everyone's taste.)

By: wemayfreeze

wemayfreeze — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:01:32 -0800

Unlike other music which we all love.

By: awfurby

awfurby — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:14:39 -0800

The idea is better than the execution of the idea - if only because CCTV footage is kinda of hard to look at (IMO).

By: mexican

mexican — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:29:23 -0800

awesome idea. too bad it couldn't have been done well and with a good song, though.

By: suedehead

suedehead — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:42:00 -0800

I haven't seen the video yet, but it's been done before, and in a more pertinent context: FACELESS. In a society under the reformed 'Real-Time' Calendar, without history nor future, everybody is faceless. A woman panics when she wakes up one day with a face. With the help of the Spectral Children she slowly finds out more about the lost power and history of the human face and begins the search for its future.

By: freshwater_pr0n

freshwater_pr0n — Mon, 12 May 2008 23:39:02 -0800

Well done, I think, and clever. For those of you who take issue with the song, or the band, or what they were wearing or what their facial hair looks like or how they were standing: that's what you came away with, is it?

By: subgear

subgear — Mon, 12 May 2008 23:56:50 -0800

and in an astonishing display of naiveté, they have unwittingly provided the prosecution with damning evidence that clearly shows them murdering the genre.

By: awfurby

awfurby — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:04:00 -0800

For those of you who take issue with the song, or the band, or what they were wearing or what their facial hair looks like or how they were standing: that's what you came away with, is it? Erm, so far only you have mentioned facial hair and the way they are standing, and only one person in the thread so far has said they don't like the song. So, um, what?

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:08:48 -0800

that's what you came away with, is it? Isn't that the point? It's a pop promo video. OK, so it's a pop promo video with a gimmick, but given that's true of an awful lot of them, that really shouldn't surprise anybody. Personally, I found the band so awful I couldn't watch make it to the chorus.

By: three blind mice

three blind mice — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:16:14 -0800

by performing in front of 80 of London's approximately 13 million CCTV cameras And the thing is, in order to piece together a few minutes of film, they had to perform in front of every one of those cameras to find enough that were actually working.

By: basicchannel

basicchannel — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:31:02 -0800

Gwyneth Paltrow's husband has really let himself go :(.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:34:31 -0800

I'm happy, hope you're happy, too. I've loved all I've needed to love.

By: subgear

subgear — Tue, 13 May 2008 01:02:40 -0800

I've never done good things I've never done bad things I've never done anything out of the blue, woh-o-o

By: Leon

Leon — Tue, 13 May 2008 01:16:11 -0800

80 cameras at £10 per request. Hmm.

By: Jofus

Jofus — Tue, 13 May 2008 01:18:53 -0800

Obligatory point of order: Manchester band. Interesting tidbit: The alley they're playing in front of at 1m33s? I used to work down that alley. It smells of piss.

By: sgt.serenity

sgt.serenity — Tue, 13 May 2008 01:25:29 -0800

hitting an all time low................. anyway, this is a great idea and i wish i'd thought of it first.

By: therubettes

therubettes — Tue, 13 May 2008 01:37:14 -0800

By: Duug

Duug — Tue, 13 May 2008 02:05:53 -0800

I would be extremely skeptical of this claim. It looks very much like a viral video PR scam. The production details on the supposed CCTV shots are much too good, and as someone who has tried to get hold of CCTV footage after a car smack, it's not that easy to just stroll up and demand the footage. I suspect they maybe did one or two clips and then created the rest for the marketing. I call scam!

By: therubettes

therubettes — Tue, 13 May 2008 03:18:14 -0800

13 years ago Irish band The Frames (Including Glen Hansard - Once/Oscar Best Song Fame) did something similar for IR£2. They used a post office security cam, for the video of their indie rock classic Revelate . posted by therubettes at 1:37 AM on May 13 [+] [!] . I apparently have a blind spot, just below the more inside!

By: samstarling

samstarling — Tue, 13 May 2008 03:20:48 -0800

Yeah - a lot of this looks like Manchester. On board the Metrolink, Castlefield, Salford Quays... But still, good video, and fun to try and guess the locations (for me at least!)

By: tiny crocodile

tiny crocodile — Tue, 13 May 2008 03:23:19 -0800

Nevermind therubettes, I thought it bore saying twice. I think the Frames video works really well, actually (and it's one of their better songs). Just goes to show that Glen Hansard has always been adept at finding new ways to get his work out there.

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Tue, 13 May 2008 03:25:30 -0800

The production details on the supposed CCTV shots are much too good Yeah, I know from bitter experience that the cameras that get you when you drive into the congestion charging area without paying are good, but I don't think they're so good that they follow you around filming the guy on the back seat for a whole verse. Also, at least some of these are clearly from Manchester, not London. One is shot at Salford Quays, and the shot inside the tram clearly says GMPTE (Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive) on the clip.

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Tue, 13 May 2008 03:26:34 -0800

And from failing to preview, samstarling clearly beat me to it.

By: Jofus

Jofus — Tue, 13 May 2008 04:09:02 -0800

Nope. I did. :)

By: Jofus

Jofus — Tue, 13 May 2008 04:09:38 -0800

(Citation Needed.)

By: goo

goo — Tue, 13 May 2008 04:16:32 -0800

I don't think they're so good that they follow you around filming the guy on the back seat for a whole verse They're in a cab, aren't they? Good idea, wish I'd thought of it.

By: fire&wings

fire&wings — Tue, 13 May 2008 04:17:11 -0800

Worst attempt at faking up CCTV footage ever. Wee lines across the screen and everything like a cut scene from Metal Gear Solid.

By: jammy

jammy — Tue, 13 May 2008 04:41:25 -0800

for other CCTV antics check out the Surveillance Camera Players and long ago, when the first CCTV camera in the UK was installed in Bournemouth, one local resident decided to have a little fun

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Tue, 13 May 2008 04:41:49 -0800

Oh, I assumed you were saying they were a Manchester band, playing in London, jofus. Sorry.

By: Jofus

Jofus — Tue, 13 May 2008 04:49:50 -0800

I was a little opaque, wasn't I?

By: DU

DU — Tue, 13 May 2008 05:00:42 -0800

A great idea, but the end product looks just like the CCTV-style videos that are produced professionally every day.

By: longbaugh

longbaugh — Tue, 13 May 2008 05:25:17 -0800

Interesting tidbit: The alley they're playing in front of at 1m33s? I used to work down that alley. It smells of piss. Can you name an alley/stairwell/shop doorway in the UK that doesn't?

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Tue, 13 May 2008 05:38:19 -0800

English journalist John Harris wrote a good article about requesting information from companies and organizations called The John Harris Files. An excerpt: "I didn't remember buying the autobiography of the US basketball star Dennis Rodman from Amazon on February 19 2000, but according to the bumf they sent me - and, in actual fact, my bookshelves - that's what happened."

By: Spatch

Spatch — Tue, 13 May 2008 05:41:22 -0800

"Nice job, lads, but I'm afraid it's just not Internetty enough. Perhaps if you'd dragged a few treadmills around with you to jump on, engaged in lightsaber combat or used cats with bad grammar as your backup singers, then maybe we'd have had a real YouTube hit on our hands."

By: knapah

knapah — Tue, 13 May 2008 05:47:07 -0800

Liberty suggest there are around 4 million cameras in the UK as a whole. Roughly 1 per 14 people. There are supposedly around 500,000 in London. I wonder about the privacy implications of the spread of CCTV, but saying 13 million when it's more like 4 million is a bit much.

By: dombruno

dombruno — Tue, 13 May 2008 06:09:21 -0800

Pretty good idea

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Tue, 13 May 2008 06:13:25 -0800

Note on British CCTV statistics: Usually they include privately owned cameras in the counts together with the government owned cameras. This always struck me as misleading.

By: wmeredith

wmeredith — Tue, 13 May 2008 06:25:12 -0800

Yeah, the idea is right on, the song is a bit lacking... This idea on the other hand is perfectly executed and the song is super-catchy.

By: grounded

grounded — Tue, 13 May 2008 06:42:39 -0800

Would be better without close-ups of the hobbit dude. Gave me flashes of the traveling gnome.

By: krautland

krautland — Tue, 13 May 2008 06:49:19 -0800

the idea certainly worked as they seem to have gotten lots of attention. they wouldn't be the first band to have a hit song because of a video. (also: they didn't get shut down on sidewalks and that crossing? I wouldn't be surprised to hear in a week or month that this was a much more professional production that we're lead to believe right now.) I can't stop wondering about those freedom of information act requests for camera footage though. would overwhealming the authorities with mass requests result in them thinking twice about where to spy on people? how do british foi inquiries work?

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Tue, 13 May 2008 07:01:04 -0800

krautland: I can't stop wondering about those freedom of information act requests for camera footage though. would overwhealming the authorities with mass requests result in them thinking twice about where to spy on people? how do british foi inquiries work? The John Harris article I linked to earlier should give you the flavor of it.

By: jammy

jammy — Tue, 13 May 2008 07:05:39 -0800

Privacy International has an annually updated map & collection of survey information concerning Leading surveillance societies in the EU and the World 2007 The Campaign for Freedom of Information features a user's guide (pdf) to the FOIA-UK, along with alot of other interesting material

By: ericbop

ericbop — Tue, 13 May 2008 07:09:24 -0800

their jeans have zippers.

By: oddman

oddman — Tue, 13 May 2008 07:13:34 -0800

That song (and video) by The Bird and The Bee was pretty darn good. Good show, wmeredith.

By: asok

asok — Tue, 13 May 2008 07:32:34 -0800

CCTV news:

Street robbery and violence - two offences one might expect to be effectively tackled by CCTV cameras - have actually soared as cameras have proliferated over the past decade. Robberies are 50 per cent higher than in 1998/99 and violence against the person has more than doubled since then. Police patrols have diminished over that period often because, we were assured, we were now protected by CCTV.

-Daily Mail

Massive investment in CCTV cameras to prevent crime in the UK has failed to have a significant impact, despite billions of pounds spent on the new technology, a senior police officer piloting a new database has warned. Only 3% of street robberies in London were solved using CCTV images, despite the fact that Britain has more security cameras than any other country in Europe.

-Gauniad

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Tue, 13 May 2008 07:46:41 -0800

Not sure I'm happy to take my crime stats from the Daily Mail. The Met reports a drop in street robberies during 2007, and an overall reduction in crime of 6.35% for that year.

By: ericb

ericb — Tue, 13 May 2008 08:07:10 -0800

A great idea, but the end product looks just like the CCTV-style videos that are produced professionally every day.

"But after the M.E.N. [Manchester Evening News] spotted some telltale signs that the footage was not all that it seemed, the band admitted that the idea of a CCTV video was a PR stunt. The unusually clear images show them performing in a variety of Mancunian locations including on a tram, in the back of a taxi and at Castlefield. CCTV footage showing the band playing in the back of a taxi that apparently belongs to Clayton cab firm Mantax also features in the four minute long video. When we contacted the city centre firm they denied all knowledge of it. Spokeswoman Bernadette Tabner said: 'I don't think any of our drivers actually have CCTV footage yet. And even if they did it would not say Mantax on it. I'm the manager and if any request like this came in I would know about it and I don't! Further clips show the band playing on a tram. Footage bears the label `GMPTE CAR 4'. But when we contacted Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority, they too denied that it was genuine CCTV film. A spokesman said: 'We do not hand over CCTV for requests like this. And our footage bears the label Stagecoach - not GMPTE. I don't know where `CAR 4' comes from either.' We also spoke to Manchester city council who said they had received no requests under Freedom of Information laws for CCTV footage taken in Manchester. A spokesman for the band admitted that not all the videos used were genuine CCTV images and said the group had been looking for a 'fresh idea' to promote their single. And PR experts agree that regardless of their use of faked CCTV footage, the band have played a masterstroke in media promotion. Rick Guttridge, Managing Director at Brazen PR - no stranger to publicity stunts themselves - hailed the launch as a `great success'. He said: 'When there are thousands of bands out there trying to get noticed this has made people sit up and listen. They've appeared on Sky and whether their music is good or not people will hear it. It's got people talking about them which is what I guess they meant to do.'"^*

By: whir

whir — Tue, 13 May 2008 08:08:36 -0800

This Sky News article seems to be the main source on this story, though a truncated version running in the Telegraph is more commonly linked to. It does confirm that both the band and the footage are from Manchester rather than London, sorry about that. I've been a little hard-pressed to find more serious stories about this, and in retrospect it does seem likely to be some sort of PR maneuver, although the way the article is worded does imply that the band really did use CCTV footage. To promote their novel idea, the band have just hired the man who helped break Oasis, Manchester PR, Liam Walsh. He thinks this video idea might help him sell the band. "I've always liked them but it was only when they came to me with this idea and they showed me the video. I thought 'oh great, that's an angle' which is just perfect when you're doing PR," says Liam.

By: whir

whir — Tue, 13 May 2008 08:11:26 -0800

Or, what ericb said.

By: ericb

ericb — Tue, 13 May 2008 08:13:18 -0800

"To promote their novel idea, the band have just hired the man who helped break Oasis, Manchester PR, Liam Walsh. He thinks this video idea might help him sell the band. 'I've always liked them but it was only when they came to me with this idea and they showed me the video. I thought "oh great, that's an angle" which is just perfect when you're doing PR,' says Liam. With Liam's help, The Get Out Clause are now trying to break into the mainstream."^*

By: ericb

ericb — Tue, 13 May 2008 08:14:08 -0800

Or, what whir said.

By: krautland

krautland — Tue, 13 May 2008 08:21:52 -0800

I think ericb turned a post that was in essence just a link to a music video into something much, much bigger. perhaps this should be reflected in the title.

By: Aversion Therapy

Aversion Therapy — Tue, 13 May 2008 09:07:51 -0800

The song is kind of blah, but I didn't think the execution of the video was so bad. Nicely put together overall, and the way this unsigned band is getting such a huge viral marketing boost in the last couple of weeks as a result has got to be good for them. Nice Misfits reference too, btw, if somewhat at odds with the bland music here...

By: kingbenny

kingbenny — Tue, 13 May 2008 09:14:10 -0800

This would have been a much more enjoyable song about 10 years ago before anybody had ever heard of Coldplay.

By: honest knave

honest knave — Tue, 13 May 2008 10:27:41 -0800

asok: additionally, not only is the CCTV not effective as a deterrent, but the police can't even make use of most of the footage.

By: quin

quin — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:31:55 -0800

fire&wings : Wee lines across the screen They are usually called "scan lines", and it's an easy effect to duplicate if they didn't want to use actual CCTV cameras. I actually keep an old 1970's TV camera in by collection-of-weird-stuff just in case I ever want to try to use it as a video effect. I know that with enough effort, I can fake what it looks like, but it's so much easier to just use the real thing.

By: jimstimpson

jimstimpson — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:38:30 -0800

Great idea!

By: juiceCake

juiceCake — Tue, 13 May 2008 12:58:17 -0800

and long ago, when the first CCTV camera in the UK was installed in Bournemouth, one local resident decided to have a little fun I love how they maintain the tradition of aliens on the old Dr. Who, they often walked incredibly slowly (which killed the menacing aspect), particularly the Silurians.

By: cillit bang

cillit bang — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:51:04 -0800

the way this unsigned band is getting such a huge viral marketing boost I'm not sure the term "unsigned" has any meaning if the band has a PR team and professionally produced videos.

By: Durn Bronzefist

Durn Bronzefist — Tue, 13 May 2008 20:18:59 -0800

GREAT idea. Major points for it, regardless of the music.