City band launches iPhone music video

If your idea of a DIY video is close to YouTube sensation Dr K Chaudhry’s homespun webcam recordings featuring the retired man on a chair, crooning awful versions of English and Hindi pop songs, sample Duncun Rufus’ first video from their debut album, Carte Blanche.

If your idea of a DIY video is close to YouTube sensation Dr K Chaudhry’s homespun webcam recordings featuring the retired man on a chair, crooning awful versions of English and Hindi pop songs, sample Duncun Rufus’ first video from their debut album, Carte Blanche.

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Titled ‘Mary’s song’, the video, like its lyrics, features an interesting chiaroscuro of light and dark. What’s even more fascinating is that the entire song has been shot on the iPhone 4S, with practically no budget. Says vocalist Lima Yanger, “It was an idea that our drummer (Hitesh Dhutia) and I wanted to experiment with. We weren’t sure we could pull it off since we aren’t filmmakers. So we asked a friend, Rahul Dias, for help.”

Rahul, who runs a production agency, Faction Collective, has previously shot videos for Lima’s other band, Bliss Logic, using a digital camera. “I was working on their other video for ‘Lemonade’ (not on the iPhone), but it was taking too long, so we thought of shooting this just for fun,” says Rahul.

And while many photographers have swapped their hefty SLRs for the nifty phones, and phone-savvy filmmakers have found their calling with sites like indiefone.com, the music videos space is now set for a change with this cost-effective device.

Shot over two days across Carter Road and Rahul’s office in Santa Cruz, ‘Mary’s song’ also features one of his employees. “Practically anyone can do it. YouTube has plenty of tutorials for amateurs. It’s easier for me since I have my own editing studio,” says Rahul.

Lima confesses that with the help of friends, this video has cost him nothing. “There will always be Justin Biebers who can spend a million dollars on a video, but we know our limitations,” he says. About the song that’s likely to be on air next month, he says, “It’s the oldest song in our album and was written about six years ago, even before the band was born. It’s about loss, longing, redemption and the entire gamut.”