Friday, December 12, 2014

FD Automatic Video "Red Shoes"


I have had the good fortune to work with quite a few of the local rock'n'roll legends of my youth.   One of those legends was Face Dancer.  Capitol records released their album "This World" in 1979 and their single "Red Shoes" was on the radio constantly in Baltimore.  It is a lively and memorable tune.

I never saw the band itself during its prime, but I frequently enjoyed one of its offshoots, Growing Up Different, during the 1980s.  Recently, the band attempted to regroup and I had to good fortune to watch four of its original members, Scott McGinn, Jeff Adams, David Utter and Billy Trainor rehearse.  Sadly, the original singer, Carey Kress passed away but he was ably replaced by Steve Hancock.  The group certainly displayed the old magic, but the reunion ultimately didn't pan out.  Scott McGinn and Steve Hancock decided to continue the Face Dancer legacy and FD Automatic was born.

For their first release, Scott and Steve decided to remake the classic Face Dancer song "Red Shoes."  They recorded the remake in Ross Hancock's studio.  Scott played the bass, with a pick I must add.  (An important detail to me since I am learning the instrument myself.)  Buffalo Lee Jordan played drums.  Aaron White and Robert Fiester played guitars.  Steve sang, obviously.  I attended the session with Timothy Ratajczak.  We were invited to participate in the backing vocals.  Fortunately for the sake of the recording, we had to leave before they recorded those vocals.  Personally, I like the new recording better than the original.  It has a rawer more enthusiastic sound.  There was only one thing it needed:  A video!

Yours truly, Teri McGinn, Scott McGinn, Timothy Ratajczak
The making of the video was a reunion in and of itself.  My fellow Towson alumni, and co-writer on so many films, Timothy Ratajczak was slated to direct.  He asked me if I was willing to edit.  I said yes.  Then he asked another one of our Towson alumni David Butler to shoot the film.   David usually works as a director but he was happy to get behind the camera to work on the video.  It was a fabulous Towson State reunion.

The video was shot in one day against green screen using a Red camera.  Then it was my turn.  Tim and I edited the video over a couple of weekends.  I must confess that I learned quite a bit about After Effects during this edit!  In the end, David jumped back in do the final visual effects, color correction and mastering.

Here's the video:




The project was a pleasure to work on from the beginning to the end.

Download the album on iTunes Here:  FD Automatic
Or Amazon here:  FD Automatic
Or CDBaby here:  FD Automatic

Music Videos:

Be sure to check out my memoir The Promise, or the Pros and Cons of Talking with God, published by TouchPoint Press. It is my true story of first faith and first love and how the two became almost fatally intertwined. (And keep an eye out for my upcoming paranormal thriller Chapel Street.)



Here are some sample chapters of The Promise:

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