Charity Gangnam Video
As you most likely have seen, we have spent the last 5 month producing our version of the popular Korean music video “Gangnam Style”
In Raa’s words here is what he has to say about it:
It has been incredibly hard work putting this video together. The idea came up after my children became addicted to the original version. I thought maybe I could a more adult version of this. At the same time I was looking for ideas for my next charity fund raiser and the two kind of merged!
Once filming started it became clear that there was a lot of interest in what we were doing and that maybe this video should have been for a wider audience so I had to scrap a lot of scenes that were shot so the video could be viewed by children as well as adults.
As time passed by I was receiving so many messages asking when the video is was going to be ready as most people that watch my videos know that they do not usually take long to film. Unfortunately this prompted me to try harder to make a better video but then it would take even longer.
By the time we completed I had so much footage I could have made 3-4 versions of the music video.
I have always tried to learn from previous videos and one thing I know you can never film enough. I would literally film the same scenes twice but with two backgrounds just to keep my options open.
One thing I knew from the start is that it was not an option to simply do another copy of Gangnam Style. It had to have :
My weird humor. A brief Martial arts encounter. Something I had never done before
More people than I have ever used. The slightly hidden message.
But then I thought the music video is only 4 minutes long, this cannot be done!
That’s when I decided that the video should have a story around the music video.
The dream sequence idea came to me by accident whilst filming something else. It was not easy to film as that entire sequence I filmed alone as I didn’t want anyone knowing about it until I decided if it would work or not. Even the voice in my dream was me! So whilst shooting I had to pretend I was talking with the voice above and then add it later.
As people who watch my video’s are not used to seeing me dressed up I decided I needed to make a point of the transformation from Raa to PSY so that's why that appears.
Then came the actual music video which took the longest to film and was not shot in order as I was limited on time with the other performers as well as locations. We copied a lot of what was in the original as well as filmed a lot of our own stuff and hoped that there were suitable shots to use.
Natalie was originally not going to be in the video due to an injury to her back but then later decided she could play a small role. After the original leading lady had to drop out, Natalie agreed to play the role of Hyuna, which she did really well.
It wasn’t until the day after finishing the music video that I came up with idea of the mission impossible scene. I had stewed over the idea of using scenes from well known films in the video like the superman scene at the beginning of the video but I scrapped that footage. When the mission impossible idea came up I thought maybe I could use this as a way of saying this is what my next video will be about. Also I would be able to throw once last effect in by blowing up the iPad playing the message about my next assignment.
So this got the superman scene back in the video as well as giving me an ending with the close up of a well known look for me with scars on my face. I chose not to look menacing but to throw a smile at the camera as the scene closed.
The outtakes were a must as the video did have a lot of fun moments during the making. They were severely cut down though as I could not make the video too long. I thought if people wanted more then I could put a video together just of them.
For several days afterwards I became increasingly frustrated by how hard it was to edit keeping in mind the entire video was edited on Windows Movie maker so a very basic program.
This software does not like HD footage so it was very slow and on many occasions would not work at all and I ended up with several versions of the video that simply would not match up. The hardest part was matching the lip syncing with the song.
Finally it worked but I still kept changing things right up to the point of release.
Regarding the release of the video then I was stunned at how well it has done so far. I have literally spent hours answering messages from people who loved it. I had no idea what to expect.
I literally could not escape it. Emails, website, phone, sms and facebook went crazy! All I was thinking was one bad comment would wreck this all but I never got any!
So thank you to everyone who has watched the video and donated. Please continue to support this by posting it on facebook etc.
Once again a huge thanks goes out to everyone that appeared in the video or allowed us to film on their property.
My only concern is how can I top this video!
Time will tell
Raa
The Gangnam 'Raa' Style Cast
Joanne Marchant as a dancer
Natalie Wright as Hyuna
Brennan Marchant as a dancer
Paula Denyer as a dancer
Russ Wheeler as a dancer
Helen wheeler as a dancer
Kaden Marchant as Hwang Min-Woo
Lincoln Marchant as a dancer
Ricky Felix as a dancer
Raa Marchant as PSY
Please support this video by donating and by watching the complete video.
We will be passing money on to a local school for special needs
In Raa’s words here is what he has to say about it:
It has been incredibly hard work putting this video together. The idea came up after my children became addicted to the original version. I thought maybe I could a more adult version of this. At the same time I was looking for ideas for my next charity fund raiser and the two kind of merged!
Once filming started it became clear that there was a lot of interest in what we were doing and that maybe this video should have been for a wider audience so I had to scrap a lot of scenes that were shot so the video could be viewed by children as well as adults.
As time passed by I was receiving so many messages asking when the video is was going to be ready as most people that watch my videos know that they do not usually take long to film. Unfortunately this prompted me to try harder to make a better video but then it would take even longer.
By the time we completed I had so much footage I could have made 3-4 versions of the music video.
I have always tried to learn from previous videos and one thing I know you can never film enough. I would literally film the same scenes twice but with two backgrounds just to keep my options open.
One thing I knew from the start is that it was not an option to simply do another copy of Gangnam Style. It had to have :
My weird humor. A brief Martial arts encounter. Something I had never done before
More people than I have ever used. The slightly hidden message.
But then I thought the music video is only 4 minutes long, this cannot be done!
That’s when I decided that the video should have a story around the music video.
The dream sequence idea came to me by accident whilst filming something else. It was not easy to film as that entire sequence I filmed alone as I didn’t want anyone knowing about it until I decided if it would work or not. Even the voice in my dream was me! So whilst shooting I had to pretend I was talking with the voice above and then add it later.
As people who watch my video’s are not used to seeing me dressed up I decided I needed to make a point of the transformation from Raa to PSY so that's why that appears.
Then came the actual music video which took the longest to film and was not shot in order as I was limited on time with the other performers as well as locations. We copied a lot of what was in the original as well as filmed a lot of our own stuff and hoped that there were suitable shots to use.
Natalie was originally not going to be in the video due to an injury to her back but then later decided she could play a small role. After the original leading lady had to drop out, Natalie agreed to play the role of Hyuna, which she did really well.
It wasn’t until the day after finishing the music video that I came up with idea of the mission impossible scene. I had stewed over the idea of using scenes from well known films in the video like the superman scene at the beginning of the video but I scrapped that footage. When the mission impossible idea came up I thought maybe I could use this as a way of saying this is what my next video will be about. Also I would be able to throw once last effect in by blowing up the iPad playing the message about my next assignment.
So this got the superman scene back in the video as well as giving me an ending with the close up of a well known look for me with scars on my face. I chose not to look menacing but to throw a smile at the camera as the scene closed.
The outtakes were a must as the video did have a lot of fun moments during the making. They were severely cut down though as I could not make the video too long. I thought if people wanted more then I could put a video together just of them.
For several days afterwards I became increasingly frustrated by how hard it was to edit keeping in mind the entire video was edited on Windows Movie maker so a very basic program.
This software does not like HD footage so it was very slow and on many occasions would not work at all and I ended up with several versions of the video that simply would not match up. The hardest part was matching the lip syncing with the song.
Finally it worked but I still kept changing things right up to the point of release.
Regarding the release of the video then I was stunned at how well it has done so far. I have literally spent hours answering messages from people who loved it. I had no idea what to expect.
I literally could not escape it. Emails, website, phone, sms and facebook went crazy! All I was thinking was one bad comment would wreck this all but I never got any!
So thank you to everyone who has watched the video and donated. Please continue to support this by posting it on facebook etc.
Once again a huge thanks goes out to everyone that appeared in the video or allowed us to film on their property.
My only concern is how can I top this video!
Time will tell
Raa
The Gangnam 'Raa' Style Cast
Joanne Marchant as a dancer
Natalie Wright as Hyuna
Brennan Marchant as a dancer
Paula Denyer as a dancer
Russ Wheeler as a dancer
Helen wheeler as a dancer
Kaden Marchant as Hwang Min-Woo
Lincoln Marchant as a dancer
Ricky Felix as a dancer
Raa Marchant as PSY
Please support this video by donating and by watching the complete video.
We will be passing money on to a local school for special needs
Comments from viewers!
Yetis, falling cars, explosions and riding stables are just some of the strange features of a striking new video designed to raise money for a good cause in Wokingham. What started as a short clip by a staff member of The Forest School has ended up as a veritable action movie, involving family and friends and a wide range of locations across Berkshire
Carol Ryall. (Business and Enterprise, The Forest School)
Very funny. I get a bad feeling another is on the way...
Matthew Hodges (Assistant Head Teacher, The Forest School)
I think it's absolutely brilliant! It really is amazing and I loved it, you and your cast should be really proud of themselves!
Rhodri Andrews (Wokingham Times)
Oh wow! Its brilliant Raa!! You've done an amazing job, of course I'm still sad not to have been part of it but you're all great Well done to you and all! You must be so proud of it I hope it does really well xxx
Karly Marchant (Follower)
Wow, what to say...I'll start with..... Brilliant, Fantastic, Stunning.... Well done to all involved, loved it, well worth the wait !!
Andrew Wooten (Follower)
Excellent-well done you!
Sarah Sylvester (The Forest school)
loving the video its really fab !! Well done u guys I hope it gets lots of donations x
Claire Colston-Englefield (Follower)
Fab video!!! you have done a great job. you should all be very proud of yourselves & im sure you are going to raise loads for the charity WELL DONE x
Claire Bigmidge Karkin (Follower)
Carol Ryall. (Business and Enterprise, The Forest School)
Very funny. I get a bad feeling another is on the way...
Matthew Hodges (Assistant Head Teacher, The Forest School)
I think it's absolutely brilliant! It really is amazing and I loved it, you and your cast should be really proud of themselves!
Rhodri Andrews (Wokingham Times)
Oh wow! Its brilliant Raa!! You've done an amazing job, of course I'm still sad not to have been part of it but you're all great Well done to you and all! You must be so proud of it I hope it does really well xxx
Karly Marchant (Follower)
Wow, what to say...I'll start with..... Brilliant, Fantastic, Stunning.... Well done to all involved, loved it, well worth the wait !!
Andrew Wooten (Follower)
Excellent-well done you!
Sarah Sylvester (The Forest school)
loving the video its really fab !! Well done u guys I hope it gets lots of donations x
Claire Colston-Englefield (Follower)
Fab video!!! you have done a great job. you should all be very proud of yourselves & im sure you are going to raise loads for the charity WELL DONE x
Claire Bigmidge Karkin (Follower)
Did you know........
Raa originally hated the original Gangnam video although he had agreed to remake it. Only through playing it over and over again did he start to like it.
The video took 5 months to shoot allowing for Raa to change his hair growth and colour several times which oddly enough not many people notice whilst watching the finish film! (5 months is the longest shoot Raa has done)
This was Raa's first video using green screen and F/X.
The voice of god that you hear during the dream sequence is actually provided by Raa.
The entire dream sequence was filmed by Raa. He appeared on film as well as filming the scenes. He also added f/x and provided the voice of god. He did this as he did not want anyone in the cast knowing the plot as that time.
Natalie Wright originally turned down a part in the video. Later she decided to play a smaller role. After the original leading lady, Karly Marchant dropped out then she decided to do her role too adding long hair extensions to help change her appearance.
Whilst filming the scenes on top of a van, Raa was suffering with the flu and was so weak he fell off the van!
As this video was being filmed during the coldest months in the UK, Joanne Marchant and Natalie Wright had to stay wrapped up until the moment of shooting. (As their outfits were very small)
Whilst filming at the stables a dying horse had to be put to sleep. Filming had to stop whilst the horse was removed as this is not a simple job. The horse had been severely neglected by its previous owner.
Enough footage had been filmed to make 3 Gangnam videos! It took Raa weeks to pick out which footage to use, sadly not using a lot of footage that was hard to film.
Whilst filming the car park sequence it suddenly became obvious that the cast were being filmed by office workers in a building behind the car park.
The original idea for the video involved no story, just the music video. But Raa felt he could not add the 'Raa style' to the video unless he added a short story.
Raa is still being asked to do PSY's 'Gentleman' video!
Antisocial films biggest YouTube hit to date
Raa originally hated the original Gangnam video although he had agreed to remake it. Only through playing it over and over again did he start to like it.
The video took 5 months to shoot allowing for Raa to change his hair growth and colour several times which oddly enough not many people notice whilst watching the finish film! (5 months is the longest shoot Raa has done)
This was Raa's first video using green screen and F/X.
The voice of god that you hear during the dream sequence is actually provided by Raa.
The entire dream sequence was filmed by Raa. He appeared on film as well as filming the scenes. He also added f/x and provided the voice of god. He did this as he did not want anyone in the cast knowing the plot as that time.
Natalie Wright originally turned down a part in the video. Later she decided to play a smaller role. After the original leading lady, Karly Marchant dropped out then she decided to do her role too adding long hair extensions to help change her appearance.
Whilst filming the scenes on top of a van, Raa was suffering with the flu and was so weak he fell off the van!
As this video was being filmed during the coldest months in the UK, Joanne Marchant and Natalie Wright had to stay wrapped up until the moment of shooting. (As their outfits were very small)
Whilst filming at the stables a dying horse had to be put to sleep. Filming had to stop whilst the horse was removed as this is not a simple job. The horse had been severely neglected by its previous owner.
Enough footage had been filmed to make 3 Gangnam videos! It took Raa weeks to pick out which footage to use, sadly not using a lot of footage that was hard to film.
Whilst filming the car park sequence it suddenly became obvious that the cast were being filmed by office workers in a building behind the car park.
The original idea for the video involved no story, just the music video. But Raa felt he could not add the 'Raa style' to the video unless he added a short story.
Raa is still being asked to do PSY's 'Gentleman' video!
Antisocial films biggest YouTube hit to date