Locally made music video “Stroker's Row” to light up screen at SXSW

Local filmmaker, Taylor Engel of Movable Type Pictures along with local cast and crew have produced the music video “Stroker’s Row” which was recently announced as an official selection of the SXSW Film Festival 2013, one of the largest music and film festivals in the United States.

The music video, “Stroker’s Row”, features local hip-hop phenom Matt Bostick, a.k.a Righchus with music by Benjamin Berry. Director Taylor Engel, along with his long-time collaborators and crew; Blake Engel, Dale Fagan, Josh Bishop, Andrew Stepp, and Jonathan Bouknight; set out to create a unique video that visualizes the process of light-painting which has become a recent photography fad. “The effect known as ‘light-painting’ is usually accomplished through a series of still photographs where the camera is set with a long exposure,” explained Engel. “This means in order to create a single frame of a light painting photograph, the camera has to remain stationary and open for a period of anywhere from 30 seconds to many hours. The photos look great but when combined into a video format, it create a jittery, stop-motion like effect. I wanted to find a way to see the fluidity and motion that comes from the actual process of light painting and I thought that this would be a great way to express the emotions and memories that Righchus reminiscences upon in the song.”

This is the third video for Righchus that Taylor and his crew have teamed-up to create. The first video, “Ridin’”, became well known for it’s extremely low budget of only $42. Taylor went on to direct “High Off The Fame”, featuring Snoop Dogg, and then followed up with “Stroker’s Row” which was accepted into SXSW.

Aside from directing and editing the videos himself, Taylor often tackles many other aspects of the post-production process including color grading and visual effects. “Whether the budget is $42 or $80,000, there’s always something I want to do that is just a little too expensive or technologically complicated. When that happens I just jump in and figure out how to do it myself. Sometimes it’s just easier that way,” says Engel.

The SXSW Festival will take place Friday, March 8 - Saturday, March 16, 2013 in Austin, Texas. “Stroker’s Row” will be screening in the music video section on the 11th, 13th, and 16th.