Alkaline Trio get the steampunk treatment in this whizbang action video. Ghost Town Media kicked major ass on this FX heavy beast. Ambitious as hell, but we somehow pulled it off.

And yes, that is Kat Von D from LA INK and John Ennis from MR. SHOW.

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Pootube

         

Nominee for worst CGI of the year. I really don't understand why people do FX videos when there clearly isn't enough in the budget to do them right. Where's the texture?, wheres the atmosphere?, the CGI is flat and garish.

         

I enjoyed the promo and thought the CGI felt appropriate for the video's universe. I'm normally not a big fan of CGI at all but it worked here. Fun, light, visually interesting, overall a good vid. If I was to quibble - the song was the weakest link. ;)

K

         

I admit that I've got a soft spot for Steam Punk and Kat Von D, but I thought it was chock full o'fun all the way through. To me, the saturated colors, painterly backdrops, and good guy/bad guy narrative are all reminiscent of a Warner Brothers cartoon, which is probably one of the greatest compliments I could ever give any creative work.

         

Dig it. Also not a huge fan of cgi like this but the story was fucking epic for a music video. And it brought you deep into another world and kept your attention despite a not so amazing song. so, the track and cgi (im sure mainly due to budget and time issues) were the weak links... neither the fault of the director. All that means is that next time someone should give josh forbes more of a budget. awesome job.

         

I love a video that doesn't take itself too seriously. The coloring and design were spot on. Reminds me of the Rocketeer in some ways. Perdy neat.

         

www.imdb.com ..kind of

         

AKIIIIRAAAA!!! no, wait, STEAMBOOOOYYY!!!

         

Forbes seems to be able to do it all. Does anyone have a more diverse reel then this guy?

         

Let's lay all the influences on the table. This video is essentially a combination of: Steamboy
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (the comic)
The Searchers
Indiana Jones I-IV
Kung Fu Hustle
Wile E. Coyote cartoons
The Great Train Robbery
Wild Wild West (the first steampunk movie, and one which I honestly loved at the time of its release. I wasn't sick of Will Smith yet, and Kevin Kline is a genius. Plus, what other movie combines the Shakespearean weight of Kenneth Branaugh with the cartoon-ness of a steam powered robot-spider-wheelchair. It's funny to me that people refer to that movie with such disdain. Any way you slice it, the damsel in distress on a train element was the band's idea. Which I latched onto, wholeheartedly).
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (which I am in the minority for loving)
Superman
The Rocketeer
Vanishing Point
and lord knows what else.

For those of you who enjoyed it, I thank you. For those of you hating on it, well, I guess that's the danger of sharing something on Antville. Mr. Yogabbagabba, if you have any suggestions of post houses that are willing to create entire epic worlds, train battles, 3D jets, and insane jet packs on a shoestring budget, I'll gladly take their number. Until then, I'm standing firmly behind the boys at Ghost Town. I think they pulled off the impossible with the budget and time restraints we had.

         

ghost town seems pretty popular with video directors lately. do they do a lot for cheap or what?

i love this director camaraderie that happens whenever someone posts their own video on antville. it's cute, but the compliments are not. they are disingenuous and fake.

         

I wouldn't necessarily say that Ghost Town is cheap, but they are incredibly efficient and and crafty about how to pull off a lot with a little. They're also incredibly passionate about doing excellent work and that always spills over onto the screen.

As for the veracity of the compliments, I'm sure they're all lying. These people get a great joy out of writing nice things about things they secretly hate.

         

i hate you josh forbes. this is ridiculously epic. i'm counting the days till you die so the bar can be lowered for the rest of "low budget" guys.

         

It's simple. Kill the Josh Forbes.

         

epic... but the art direction really bugged me. Thats just personal taste. I am not sure but i am guessing the label demanded that the band be performing in this? Would have been better with just the band acting as characters.

         

Mr. Forbes, I was not saying you should have gone to another post house. I was saying that if you don't have the budget to do an FX ( one with epic worlds, train battles, 3D jets, and insane jet packs) video right, don't do one. Hell it would have been cheaper to do SOME of it practically, and it would have looked a lot better. It looks as though the FX budget ran dry when it came time to apply some texture and atmosphere.

         

don't rub it in yoga. you're done

         

a bit confused about the influence the searchers might have had on a shoddy vfx promo with suburban rockers and a reality tv actress. sure the birth of a nation isn't deserving of being on that list?

         

Wow, tough crowd. Too often I get the feeling the 'joie de vivre' has been sucked out of the majority of antvillians. This video is fun and good. Most importantly it entertains. Nice work Mr. Forbes!

K

         

Im not outright dissing the video, and I'm done when I'm done MVA. The video IS fun, the story isn't half bad, the performances are pretty good especially for a reality TV star, and there are quite a bit of unique ideas and references, however I was commenting on the quality of FX in the video, does no one else see what im talking about here? All im saying is if you dont have the budget for it scale it down, i'm not the only one saying this either, check out the absolute punk boards on the video.

         

Yoga, this video's graphics look amazing to the average video audience. They might not be pitch perfect in every way, but it's about as cohesive and impressive as you'll see in the world of mv's this year. This video will probably continue to get Forbes more work, and if I were him I'd sit back and let the film nerds bicker while continuing my streak of videos that own MTV for months at a time.

If you really want to blow off some steam, you might find a better candidate here.

         

i'm not going to pretend that i'm not completely biased on this, but josh did fail to mention that ghost town is popular among directors not only because of their vast talents (or as i would call it, general magic and wizardry) but also because they and their office is fun to be around. more important than you'd think.

i won't bother with my "fake" compliments, i think i've shrieked with impressed-ness when the train falls from the sky enough times in front of everyone who's important for them to know what i think of their work.

and p.s., who points to the absolute punk boards as the credible source on music video critique? the top two items on their page right now are about silverstein and steel train touring with forgive durden. pardon?

         

I think its more about the video actually sucking than if the CGI is good or not. This video sucks either way, with good or bad CGI.