Music Video - Sandra K featuring "Katika" from the album "Nyina Wumuntu"

[www.sandrak123.com]

My adopted African daughter, Karigirwa Sandra (she adopted me on my first trip to Africa) had just completed recording her very first cd in Kampala, Uganda. I couldn't believe what superb songs she had written! I was just so impressed by the CD "Nyina Wumuntu" - all songs written by Sandra. Then, suddenly, she was struck with both Malaria and Typhoid and was in hospital in a very weak condition. I was inspired to create something very special for her and produced this music video. It was a labour of love and I used almost 50 Digital Juice effects. The video is in Quicktime , Windows Media and Flash at this address :
www.sandrak123.com/katika.htm where you can also purchase the cd which will help this beautiful girl, orphaned by the genocide in Rwanda.

Gordon

Gordon Nicol
President Scotch Productions, Inc.
"Please live simply that others may simply live"

www.scotchproductions.com
www.spivideo.com
www.morphalot.com

Love the song. Makes me want to buy the CD if all the tracks are as good as this one. Were ALL the effects Digital Juice? Text too? Or just the background plates?

Michael Horton
-------------------

Very Good.

The smallest video dropped off line, but the other two are there in good shape.

I liked getting lost in the visuals. The song is excellent.

I was expecting all the face shots to be singing the lyrics. I know that would have made cutting a complete nightmare, but hey. They may have been singing the lyrics and the download sync was that far off.

Koz

Gordon, may I make a suggestion? The whole video is made up of so many effects that the effect is generic -- almost like we're looking through the Digital Juice video catalogue. I'd much rather see Sandra. What is she like? What is the logic of the footage in relation to the song? What is her story as embodied by the song? She's the one who's unique, the element that will make the video interesting -- not the effects, which have appeared in Lord knows how many video projects already.


www.derekmok.com

i gotta tell ya, it really just looks like an ad for digitaljuice. the song was quite cool actually, but the ultracolorful and "bouncy" video treatment confused me - is the record aimed at children?

i have to admit that i have a digital juice bkg in one of my vids posted here, but my theory with them is to modify them or work them into a composition as opposed to making them the star - otherwise as derek points out youre gonna just look like every other cheesey corporate video ever made.

id like to hear some more of the music. not bad - especially for a teenager!

I appreciate all your replies. I don't know if I made it clear that Sandra lives in Uganda and the only video I had of her were the few clips you saw. I didn't have any video of her singing because the last time I visited was in 2004 and the cd was recorded only a couple of months ago. If I had, it sure would have been so much better I totally agree with that. But, I just did the best I could with what I had. It's funny but those who are not in this business absolutely love the vdeo. I imagine because unlike you, my peers, they haven't seen any of the backgrounds or effects before. I really had a blast doing it as this was my first foray into using Digital Juice and it was really a great exercise for me in learning how I could use them in future projects.
Wayne, you can hear a sample of all the songs at [www.sandrak123.com]
Just click the "LISTEN" link.

Gordon

Gordon Nicol
President Scotch Productions, Inc.
"Please live simply that others may simply live"

www.scotchproductions.com
www.spivideo.com
www.morphalot.com

Michael,
So glad you loved the song. I guarantee you that some of the other songs are even better.
I think the title track Nyina Wumuntu is my favourite. The music has a Peter Gabriel feel and Sandra's voice has a haunting, pleading feel. She performed all the harmonies and, I'm sure you'll agree, that this is pretty darn stellar for her first time ever in a recording studio.
The songs are sung in Kinyarwanda (the language of Rwandans) and English.
And, can you believe this, Sandra sang the songs ONCE to Didi her producer and he composed all the music with just that one listen. I've played this to people hear in Dallas who say, " It was recorded in Kampala???? Who wrote the songs? Wow !!!"
Regards the effects Michael, the text at the beginning (letters bouncing onscreen) I created in Photoshop and then keyframed them. Some, I created using Live Type and others right in FCP.
Thanks for taking the time to view and review.


"Love the song. Makes me want to buy the CD if all the tracks are as good as this one. Were ALL the effects Digital Juice? Text too? Or just the background plates?"

> Sandra lives in Uganda and the only video I had of her were the few clips you saw.

Do you have more still pictures? Those would work as well.


www.derekmok.com

She really is sensational. Why I think we all wanted to see more of her. I know you did this as a gift to her and I'm sure she loved it, but she deserves a video for US. Hope you can make it over there again and this time grab some footage of her singing.

I'm going to buy the CD, not because its going to a good cause, but because it's damn good music.

Michael Horton
-------------------

Mike,
As her adopted dad, naturally I think Sandra is sensational but when someone esle, especially in this business, says so too, it really makes me proud !
In her short life, Sandra has had many unbelieveable challenges. Earlier this year, I planned to take her to Scotland, to visit my home town of Edinburgh and, after many months of going thru hoops, purchasing her flight and even getting my sister's financial statement to the UK embassy, she was still refused a visa. BUT, I was determined to make up for that, so I will be visiting Sandra on her birthday (the day after Christmas) in Kampala, Uganda and so will be there for Christmas and New Year. You can bet, that I'll be shooting some video while there. So watch out for the new and improved video of Sandra K.

Gordon

Gordon Nicol
President Scotch Productions, Inc.
"Please live simply that others may simply live"

www.scotchproductions.com
www.spivideo.com
www.morphalot.com

Thats awesome Gordon. Looking forward to it.

Michael Horton
-------------------

Anyone who spends part of their day making art, as art is something that improves the quality of life. Keep her songs available to purchase on the internet or download to iPod. She's so natural. The video show's the spirit of play. I like VideoEgg.com for putting out my dvd's as attachments. Like the above threads, I want to see more of her...more ecu's and still shots!!!

Kathy,
Thanks for your positive and upbeat email. I would certainly loved to have many more photos of my beautiful daughter featured on the video but, I was last over there in Uganda 2 years ago. Sandra was still attending school and had the requisite shaved head (it's to keep the lice and other nasties at bay in boarding schools). As you can see, she now has some hair and has a totally different look. So, the vast majority of the photos I have just wouldn't fit with her new, vibrant look.
If you'd like to see more photos, please check out
www.africa.spivideo.com

and [scotchproductions.com]

And thanks for your suggestion about downloading to ipod. Do you know how to go about doing that? Where someone pays for downloading tracks or the whole cd instead of buying the hard copy.

Thanks.

Gordon

Gordon Nicol
President Scotch Productions, Inc.
"Please live simply that others may simply live"

www.scotchproductions.com
www.spivideo.com
www.morphalot.com

Podcast maker is a very easy way of generating the XML and RSS file(s)

[www.potionfactory.com]

Michael Horton
-------------------