Not too far back, we reported that our friends in Motion Soundtrack had landed themselves a videoFACT grant to make a video. Coupled with recent distribution through Maple Nationwide for their The Bridge album, it was shaping up to be a good time for these guys. Not long later, the band passed out a call for some assistance with the swanky video, looking for extras to fill a concert scene at the shoot. Well, your faithful Cord staffers know a good story when they see one, and I jumped all over this. The band agreed it would be good to have the day documented, so off I went to do just that.

Arriving a bit earlier than necessary, my companion and I approached the loading bays of CBC Studios in downtown Vancouver, and signed our release sheets at a front table. We were greeted by the assistant director, told where the extras holding area was, and invited to stand around in the pleasant sun outside until they were ready. I managed to be taken in for a sneak preview of the location where the magic was to happen - a large, bare concrete room surrounded by black curtains, with the band's gear set up in the middle.

I went back out and continued to wait as a couple other people began to show up for their time in the background of the limelight. We were standing about minding our own business, when a willowy blonde figure came careening around the corner on a skateboard, whipped down the hill, seemed to easily avoid taking the gathering crowd out, and leapt casually off inside the loading bay before trotting off into the studio. A familiar face around town, I wondered what he was up to here, and soon learned that this was Craig Laviolette, the star of the video. More extras showed up, from many different styles of 'rock' (volunteers were instructed to dress like they were going to a rock show. That's obviously something that's very open to interpretation). Idle conversation with some of these people showed that a few of them knew the band in some way (friends, girlfriends) and came down just for fun, and others heard about the shoot in other local papers and radio and whatnot and felt like adding something to their resumes or just having something to occupy themselves with on a weekend. Pretzels were consumed, water drunk, new friends made.

The Motion Soundtrack boys started making appearances outside to see who was around. They had just gotten their makeup done, and all of them looked ruddier and more matte than one would usually see them. Drummer Niko Friesen was having a wardrobe fiasco, but eventually, a clean and suitable shirt was dredged up for him, and all was well. By the time we were all brought inside, the extras totalled somewhere around 51. I think this was less than everyone had hoped would show up, but it was definitely a workable number.

Everyone shuffled into the room, which was now lit only by the shooting lights - one enormous soft box, a few white spotlights around the perimeter, and a red and green light off to one side that bounced off of rotating mirrors (which were actually turned by people - what a job!) and cast subtle splashy highlights across the scene. The group was arranged around the instruments, and told what would happen. Basically, the song would play a bunch of times, and everyone was supposed to just plain rock out. But what was I to do? I was trying to cover the shoot, but had also been asked to participate. After talking this over briefly after meeting Laviolette, and Allison Beda, a documentary filmographer who was also covering the day, the three of us came to the conclusion that I should just be in the damn thing. Shortly, Friesen came by, he grabbed the director, and kaboom! I was in. A photographer in the Motion Soundtrack video. Hmm. People seemed amazed that I wasn't just there for appearances, but was actually photographing what was going on. It was kinda fun.

It was interesting to see how it all came together. I had documented one video shoot before, but it was done in a very razzle-dazzle sort of way, with fancy chicks in bikinis and big elaborate metal stage setups and all this cockamamie rock and roll excess stuff. This was much more raw and natural. After a few issues with the gear not functioning properly (low to no volume, which, when fixed, scared the holy hell out of everyone because it came through with such force), we were off and running. One thing that continued to amuse me, particularly as time went on and some of the extras starting getting visibly restless and tired, was how the guys in the band kept their spirits so high and did whatever they could to keep everyone entertained. They were very gracious hosts, cracking jokes, jamming songs, just having a great time. They'd had a long day the day before, and still, here they were being so on top of their game. During downtime between takes, they played some of their own material, and hooked up a little Sam Roberts "Brother Down" action. They mock limbo'd and they bowed and joined in when the extras cheered after the longer takes. Singer Chad Horton was the butt of unintentional butt jokes, and could never manage to get his guitar cord to keep from curling up into a big mess. Even though there were plenty of tired feet and hungry bellies in the room, the band kept everyone laughing.

There were a couple breaks in taping, during which the band (particularly waiter/bassist Kevin Cooper) went so far as to take food out of their own dressing room, which was more substantial than the potato chips and pretzels left out in aluminum trays for the extras, and bring these tasty morsels around the mingling folks outside, chatting with and meeting people, thanking them for coming down, and offering them carrots. I took some time to ask a few questions of some of the folks in attendance (at one point sparking a conversation about different favourite videos of all time and the Smashing Pumkins), and ran into someone I hadn't seen since high school. Motion Soundtrack reunites people.

Into the latter stages of the day, shooting moved from the general overall crowd shots, to closer shots of the band members. We had to take five at some point for guitarist Marc Wild to take care of a 'wardrobe malfunction.' Read : hot lights, lots of action, and a dusky-green coloured shirt. The hairdryer buzzed away in the dressing room for a few minutes, and soon, Wild was back and ready to rock out further. Laviolette had spent most of the day until now sitting off to the side, but now was his time to come into the fray. It was a bit creepy actually. He hovered in a dark corner of the room out of camera range, and all you could see was his head of blonde hair against the black curtains, like a ghost. He would approach and then just stand there sort of behind Wild, nodding his approval before grooving away a bit.

And then, folks, came the fun part. Pieter Stathis, the man behind the camera, got strapped into a heap of armour, had the camera hooked into this metal arm, then had a few other people who took care of various cords and gizmos surround him, and the whole group just peeled back and forth around and through the crowd a bunch of times, nearly knocking (knocking, haha) people over, who had all been told to look out for them, but still had no clue where they'd run to next. It was fast-paced and seemed quite dangerous, but no injuries were sustained. That concluded our part of the shooting, and most people were hurried out of there pretty swiftly. The band disappeared to dinner immediately, as there was to be even more shooting going on in the evening time. The extras hobbled away on their weary toes to find dinner and a recliner, some citing the munchies as the best part of the day, some finding my mini-interview with them the highlight, some enjoying grooving to/getting "Knockin'" stuck in their heads for the entire day, and some being most satisfied simply by watching something be created in front of their own faces. I can only imagine Motion Soundtrack got in what relaxation they could before working the rest of the night away.

But do you think that's all we have for you? No siree, we know better than that. We asked Motion Soundtrack about a few of the video vitals, and here's what they had to say...

CORD : Describe for us briefly the video concept and how it relates to the song.

MOTION SOUNDTRACK : The concept for the video: a twenty-something guy , (Craig Laviolette), walking through a whole series of doors. The doors all lead to different places - a barber shop, a record store, a pub, a laundromat, a rock concert. Doors are made for Knockin' ... Craig is listening to Motion Soundtrack on his Discman the whole time, and the band is omnipotently present throughout the whole video in all the different locations. Eventually Craig ends up at a Motion Soundtrack concert (in CBC Studios, Vancouver) where he takes off his headphones and mingles with the masses.

Who came up with/how was the concept conceived?

Kevin dreamed up the doors idea one morning and brought it to the band, we thought about it together and expanded on it and brought it to the director, he polished it up and finalized it. Then Marc pointed out that it is actually a Megadeth video. And we don't really care.

Roll us some credits - who was the producer/film company and why did you decide to go with them?

Field Producer: Vera Lubimova, Director: Scott Winlaw, Assistant Director: Andrea Levesque, DOP: Pieter Stathis, Electric: Jim Swanson, Grips: Jeff Smith, MakeUp/Hair: Kerry Vaughan. Scott Winlaw is an editor on CBC's ZeD and he approached us to make a video. We are all huge fans of his previous work, editing ZeD spots for Motion Soundtrack . He applied for VIDEOfact, got approved and BAM! Video. The crew is comprised mainly of people who work at ZeD.

Likewise, how did you hook Craig into the starring role?

He was a last minute addition! The original actor we had got called in to some sort of work something or other and could not make our scheduled shoot dates. Vera (Producer) sent us four headshots and it was no contest, Craig was our unanimous choice, 'cause he's got style.

As far as I'm aware, this was your first major video shoot. How did you enjoy the process? Was there anything surprising about it? Did the video itself turn out as you'd hoped or is there anything you might have changed?

We have all been part of video shoots before, but this was our first shoot (as Motion Soundtrack) , so it felt really awesome. There were two really long days of shooting, and we had fun changing outfits a lot and also eating a lot. Often Kevin would forget to participate in shots, because he was eating. So far , we have not seen any footage except for some documentary footage, and that looks really good. Change? Shorter days would have been better. Especially for the extras.

What was your favourite part of the filming days? Conversely, what's your favourite scene from the video?

Kevin Says: Well, I haven't seen anything yet, but my favourite scene is the one where Chad "Action" Horton gets pushed by Craig and then goes chasing after him. I also liked where I got to play the difficult role of "Guy getting a beer from the fridge while wearing sunglasses." It was challenging and foreign to me, but I think I was up to the task.
Note from Niko: My favorite part was watching Chad jump over the rail of a staircase and chase after Craig... there may be an action star in him yet.....

When will we see this thing as a finished product? What are your plans for pushing it?

The video is being edited right as we speak, and should be ready mid-September and we will be out on the road, touring across Canada to promote it. As well, the song is featured on the soundtrack for the new MuchMusic movie, Going the Distance. That hits theatres August 20th, 2004 . Rock radio stations around the country are already spinning "Knockin'"! And lastly, there was a new galaxy discovered last week that has been named Knockin251x. That should help. Most of the above facts are true.

Very insightful guys, thanks for that. The fun doesn't stop there! After a bit of poking and prodding, Cord got what we needed out of the video's big accidental leading man, Craig Laviolette. A funny thing which confused me slightly - as you just read, he became involved in this video last-minute after being chosen from a group of headshots. However, Laviolette's response to the same question yielded an answer indicating that he was approached out of the blue at work by a casting director, who said he'd be perfect for a project she was working with. So I had to ask him, where did this headshot come from if he'd never acted or thought of acting before? Well, it wasn't much of a headshot at all. His response to that question was to email me a shaky digital picture of himself in I believe the Fluevog store, that looks like the type of picture I might take if I were discreetly trying to take a photo of John Travolta buying sheets at Eaton's (true story), and a happy-looking close-up taken in his work. Instant star!

He weighs in on the shoot itself. "Yeah, day one was a lot of work and yeah, a lot more than I thought it would be but yeah, it was fun. Some of the cooler stuff of the day was just seeing the process in motion, what it takes to get shots and how a video is shot. The best part of the day was getting to push Chad to the ground numerous times (ed. note - popular choice...). The hardest part is probably the waiting. The filming is such a procedure, getting the lights right, but it all works out in the end 'cause it think it is going to look great." And we may have created a monster, as he continues, "This was the first project that I have worked on and yeah, maybe it has sparked a little bit of an acting bug in me. It was a blast to make."

Finally, I just ask him the same question I asked some of the folks at the video shoot. Many of those put on the spot couldn't think of their ultimate choice, but Laviolette had a bit more time to come up with his answer to the what's-your-favourite-video question. "Probably... "Just" by Radiohead. It is amazing. While watching it, you forget that you are watching a music video, and you are drawn in and you just want to know, why is the guy lying on the ground? I still want to know."

Keep an eye out! As you saw, the song is already all over the place, on radio, and in a movie that you'll see later in August. News from the band is that the video is in the final third of the editing process, and we're a mere couple weeks away from a finished piece. Of course, 'finished' and 'released' are two different things, but still, you know what that means... that means video release party, sooner or later. We hope. Before the tour? After the tour? Who knows, but when it happens, we'll tell you. In the meantime, give them a hand by requesting the song on your local radio station (and if they don't have it, give them a kick in the switchboard!), and go check 'em out live in Vancouver at the Media Club on August 19th. More show dates across Canada will be available on their website as they become available.

I want so badly to end this seriously with a cheap joke about Motion Soundtrack knocking on the door to the next level of success or something, but that would be exactly that... cheap... n'est pas? And these guys ain't cheap.

(...please check your Bob Dylan/Guns N' Roses/Avril Lavigne bits at the door.... oh my God! The door! Ahhhh!)

Elsewhere

By Andy Scheffler
Photos : Andy Scheffler
Published : August 8, 2004.