Openfilm

Enrique's Blog

by enrihrts

Enrique turns a critical eye to web video trends.

All Posts From This Blog

Invite Your VJ on Stage

December 05, 2008

Categories: Music Videos Video Technology Thoughts

Tags: art blog enrique huertas invite live stage video visuals vj your

Comments (1)

It was about 5 years ago when I first learned that the term "VJ" could be used to describe someone other than a person on MTV telling me what videos to like. I had always loved movies, animation, electronic music and the visual arts. So the concept of a person that mixes video images live in the same way a DJ mixes music was very appealing to me. Since then, I've put together my own VJ setup and have had the opportunity to perform alongside some great musicians. I joined a band, and even went on tour a few times. As my ambitions and skills as a VJ have grown, I've realized that this could very well be the perfect job for me in the long run.

Now being a VJ is not without its bad trips; not everyone respects what we do. The medium is in full force in Europe and Asia, but here in America it has a long way to go. You have to be wired a certain way to be able to spend four to eight bathroom-less hours staring at trippy, psychedelic, seizure-inducing imagery without going crazy.

Just another day at the office

Sometimes you have to deal with bad promoters who don't want to pay a decent rate, clubs that still don't have projector systems, and the occasional retarded DJ that switches from Trance to Reggaeton without giving you a heads up. But the thing that bothers me the most is when you show up to the club and they hide you like the man in the iron mask. No shout-outs from the promoter on the microphone. They ask you to set up away from plain site, behind the stage, around the corner from the bathroom or upstairs in the closed section of the club. And as result, people assume they've spent the entire night watching a prerecorded DVD on the screens. This is unacceptable. Invite your VJ on stage and let them distinguish themselves and feed off the crowd so they are forced to earn the respect of the crowd and become better performers. I feel confident that, in the not-too-distant future, VJs will perform at every club in every city and people will know who they are. But for now, we just have to keep hustling our way onto the stage, one party at a time.

Comments