LIFE THROUGH A LENS.

PROJECT UPDATE: Crime In Stereo - EC//NIETL Deluxe DVD

A brief update for all you CIS fans who have been patiently waiting for this deluxe DVD and free DVD. Finally the authoring company have come back to me with the above prices for the production of the DELUXE units. 

Realistically we’re looking at a cost of £5 in the UK and $8 in the USA/Rest of the world per DVD.

No I’m not joking! That’s how cheap we want the units to be. The next part now is down to where we go with, postage, the cost of the DVD menu creation, and charity donations. The DVD menu was £100 to have put together. Why was this paid for? The answer is simply because I put the artwork onto the background of the menu design and found it looked far too static. So I got in touch with a motion graphics artist and he gave the project a special cut-rate. For £100 he’s made the menu come alive in the way I wanted. Its visually stimulating in it’s new digital form; giving the product far more value. All the design work is exceptional but for it to evolve from a print form to a digital format, we needed that little extra professional involvement.

As promised, we’re being completely transparent with EVERYTHING. There is nothing here being hidden. I’m also considering how amazing it would be if we got some screen prints designed. I know a lot of people are waiting for the kickstarter but as we are so near the end of this giant I feel it’s a shame to rush hastily forward. This is especially true when we can bulk it out another step with a screen print or various other bonus items? How do potential customers/fans feel about this; I’d love to hear your input? Again this is only being put out to the crowd for a couple of weeks, if we hear nothing back or don’t get enough interest we’ll be rolling out the kick starter in it’s basic format (the DVD only).

I’ve also been in touch with Bridge Nine who might stock the free DVD’s and get them being passed out as free ‘bonus’ accompaniments for other Bridge Nine webstore products. That has yet to be confirmed though and is just one avenue of distribution to get the free DVDs ‘out there’. Lets not forget that there are no profits involved in this as well. The DVDs wouldn’t be advertised as part of merchandise items, they would simply be added to packages without prior notice.

The number of deluxe DVDs we have printed will be based on the response on kickstarter. Also it must be noted that if the kickstarter doesn’t reach the minimum target, we can’t get these DVDs pressed, so it’s within the interests of everyone to remind anyone they know about this project. It’s a bonafide one off!

Forecasted complete costs are thus (not finalised):

• UK copies with postage: £10-12
• The rest of the world with postage: $20-25

This gives you all some idea of how much deluxe copies will be. As previously stated I would love to hear your feedback on this, or any ideas of things to include as bonus items in the release. Please drop me a message directly or a reply to this post. If any messages that come in are really great ideas I’ll reply and put them out there for everyone on this blog.

Finally, the DVD will soon be heading off to the band for a final look where they will give it their approval. That is the last step in this whole process. I’m now in touch with Alex Dunne over email, which in itself is something of a miracle because (and I admire this fact a lot) he doesn’t come on the internet a lot!

Thanks for your continued support. I can’t wait to get these out there.

Ryan.

Feature Release: Crime In Stereo ‘Everything Changes // Nothing Is Ever Truly Lost’ DVD

Here is the finalised artwork and DVD menu (bottom for the forthcoming Crime In Stereo DVD. The main artwork designs will predominantly feature on the deluxe release.

Crime In Stereo ‘Everything Changes/Nothing Is Every Truly Lost’ DVD

Ok so here it is, the final cover design for the DVD! I’ve had a lot of people asking ‘what’s going on’ and ‘when is it being released’ and my answer on this remains the same as it always has been “it will be released but we’ve been trying to do this when we get a free moment”.

This cover has come together as a collaboration between designers and artists who have given their time, expertise and dedication to the project as a labour of pure love. We’re all extremely proud of what we have here.

The Contents

To be clear on everything, the entire project featured many people of all professions who came together to make it possible for us to have what is on the disc. This was not all Crashburn Media, nor is it a direct reflection of it’s talents with live performance capture. The crew was a host of people, some of which I’d never worked with before. This came about due to a double booking of production companies on the evening of the performance. As I was already out with the band filming it felt to me to arrange around the problem, so I negotiated us all working together. So what is on the DVD project is so far limited to the following:

• A full live set of Crime In Stereo playing ‘The Troubled Stateside’ in full at the peel in Kingston, London, UK. 
• The I Am Everything I Am Not music video.

The DVD comes with a basic interactive menu (photo of the menu coming later this week) and we are considering adding possibly an extra feature or two. But the inclusion of these extra features will depend largely on YOU the fan. The project has taken long enough to be put together, and I really appreciate everyone’s patience and enthusiasm towards it all. I don’t want to keep people waiting for another 6 months, and to do so would be quite frankly a joke. So we are opening one last window for fans to contribute towards this ‘one off’. How? Please read on.

We’re looking for the ‘best of the rest’ fan shot footage. Do you know someone who recorded part of a set somewhere recently, or put something together which could be added to this revolutionary project? Perhaps you’re aware of an interview a zine did with the band, or a feature that has long since been forgotten? If so please contact me direct via my ask box. We’re looking for anything that is in the spirit of this entire endeavour (i.e. anything that’s had some time and love put into it in one form or another). There’s no guarantees to how much will be put on the DVD or what will make it, but it’s a chance to make this more of a multi-levelled release with fans putting the icing on the preverbal cake. Please include your direct email address’ in your ask box entries, and I will pick out whatever sounds good and reply to you via email. No-ones contact details will be published on this blog or anywhere else for that matter. I’ll only be opening up this chance for a couple of weeks, starting now. 

What versions will be available and how does this work?

Just to clear up any confusion on this, here is how the release will work:

THE FREE VERSION

We’re naturally giving away a version which will be free. For me this is the most exciting part of the project because I want to see how far we can push this out there. It’s a pure ‘down to fate’ situation, because you guys will largely be in control of who has a copy and where it goes. I think there is so much negativity based around internet sharing right now, so I came up with the notion that we should showcase and promote a project which is designed to work within this sharing system for wholly positive gains. There will be no reigns. 

We’ll be encouraging everyone to copy, upload and share copies of the DVD where possible. Everyone copying and sharing the DVD will be doing so under their own name, and we accept no responsibility for your actions in how you do so. Crime In Stereo have no direct affiliation with anyone acting as a ‘sharing individual’, nor do they accept any liability in anything concerned with the project or the distribution of it. But we all back fans all over the world sharing this as good will ambassadors to the music (and especially the ‘family like’ scene associated with it). Go about sharing it in the best possible spirit and do so without fearing that you are ripping anyone off.

• The INTERNET distribution will work as follows. Once the project is completed there will be an online torrent uploaded to a location on the internet and this will be shared direct from Crashburn Media. People are then encouraged to start burning this to DVD and giving it to friends or family where they can. Please leave the torrent sharing so we can get people seeding it. This means faster downloads for everyone.
• The PHYSICAL distribution will work as follows. Copies will be sent out to locations in the UK, Europe, USA and to any other country that makes itself known via a representative. From these people/places you can pick up a copy at no charge. It’s going to be a very basic affair. You’ll probably get your copy on a cheap DVD-R, but the idea is you get to see the DVD for free. Once you’ve watched it we ask that you make 5 copies and hand out those 5 copies to other people and ask them to do the same. No one should be charging you a single cent/penny for a copy, this rule is paramount to the project. The only profits being made are going to a musical charity, and they will be coming from the sales of the Deluxe version. However we understand that if you’re in the middle of nowhere, and you don’t have a great internet connection, you might want a copy posted to you. So in this case please be aware that distributors might charge you a very modest fee for postage. Our main distributors though will be selected carefully, and they will be trustworthy people who will represent the project well. A complete listing of people/locations where you can pick up a copy will be posted online so people can get involved.

“Throw your body, on the bad days”

Good people back making music again. Amazing. Hopefully coming to a UK city near you after the re-birth has gone down in the USA. Sorely missed friends who I wouldn’t turn down working with again (so who knows).

As you all know though, the DVD is still going out regardless. Sooner than you think. Christmas isn’t far off eh? (hint)

Not Dead - Photo by Ryan Mackfall

A screen grab.