yirm's project object page

Find ye below selected video of Project Object shows at Martyrs', Chicago. If you like Frank Zappa's music, and especially if you never got to see him live, you have to check these guys out. Total love and respect for the music and spirit of Frank Zappa. And great musicianship as well. Great to see the alumni in person, as well as the younger cats. They always put on a great show.

The video clips are Windows Media Video (WMV) format, and should work on both Windows and Mac versions of Windows Media Player. Let me know if you have problems (yirm at tiferet daht kahm).

Video was shot with a Sony Digital 8 camcorder. Audio and video are edited and mixed in Vegas 4. DVD production is done with DVD Architect (actually some was done with DVD Complete - blech - but no more). Video is available for trade (and sometimes for nothing), and never for sale. Videotaping bands I love is a great hobby for me. My goal is to shoot the best quality video I can while enjoying the show myself, to not intefere with the enjoyment of others while recording, to make the best possible "final product" I can, and to share it with those interested.

Project Object is at www.projectobject.com.

If you are here, you may also be interested in my Mike Keneally and Frank Zappa pages.

10/25/03:

Lineup: Don Preston, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Ike Willis, Andre Cholmondeley, Robbie "The Seahag" Mangiano, Jordan "J-Ro" Shapiro, Glenn Leonard, Dave Johnsen.

Notes: Complete show taped from front "row." Wide angle conversion lense (x 0.6) allowed more coverage, but introduced lense flares. Lense also interfered with camera's autofocus (tended to focus on unintended objects, like mic stands more than without). Being up front made tape a lot less grainy than previous recordings because of abundant light. Camera pointing upward at Ike and Andre is a little strange. On the other hand, no backs of heads. Being next to stage improved audio because the volume drowned out crowd noise while playing. Zoom on camera is broken in that it doesn't "snap back" to normal position, making it difficult to control. I was kind of tired, so I sometimes lost focus myself and kind of went on autopilot. Overall, though, probably best video effort yet. Awaiting soundboard audio. Will mix with video to create DVDs of show and make available for trade. Excerpts below (from raw footage).

The Black Page (9.6 MB) - Bluegrass style, featuring J-Ro on mandolin
Excentrifugal Forz > Apostrophe'(21.2 MB) - One word: Yeek

3/15/03

Lineup: Don Preston, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Ike Willis, Andre Chomondeley, Glenn Leonard, Dave Johnsen.

Notes: Complete show taped from in front of pillar several feet from stage. Being in front of pillar allowed me to get some elevation without obstructing others' view. Backs of heads visible in wide shots, but not obstructing the band. Image is grainy because of insufficient light except for in close shots. Color seems "washed out." Added saturation during rendering to MPEG II, which I think came out nice. Videography is good considering uncomfortable position (camera above head, looking up at 2.5" LCD). Audio contains lots of crowd noise. Mixed audio with soundboard audio to create fuller sound. Available for trade on two DVD-Rs. Excerpts below (from raw footage).

King Kong (17.1 MB)
Canard Toujours (8.3 MB)

3/14/03

Lineup: Don Preston, Napoeon Murphy Brock, Ike Willis, Andre Chomondeley, Glenn Leonard, Dave Johnsen.

Notes: Show is incomplete because of missing tape. Includes 1st set, minus last song, and encore from second set. Taped from in front of pillar several feet from stage. Being in front of pillar allowed me to get some elevation without obstructing others' view. Backs of heads visible in wide shots, but not obstructing the band. Image is grainy because of insufficient light except for in close shots. Color seems "washed out." Videography is good considering uncomfortable position (camera above head, looking up at 2.5" LCD). Audio contains lots of crowd noise. Mixed audio with soundboard audio to create fuller sound. Available for trade on one DVD-R. Excerpts below (from raw footage).

Stick It Out (10.7 MB)
Florentine Pogen (13.9 MB)

9/28/02

Lineup: Napoleon Murphy Brock, Ike Willis, Andre Chomondeley, Robbie "The Seahag" Mangano, Jordan Shaprio, Glenn Leonard, Dave Johnsen.

Notes: Recorded from back of room. Poor recording because of insufficient light, uncomfortable recording position, too many wide shots, which are not interesting to watch. Also obtained two other video sources, but their quality is variable as well. Was planning to do multicam editing job, but scrapped project because footage wasn't good enough, and the band kept coming back! It's hard to keep up with these guys.