
2 May, 2018 - 08:03
The Colonies Nathan Rodgers recently helped set the pace for Chicago rapper Towkios music video, Symphony,' a new single dropped from the artist's debut album,WWW.
Rodgers, the editor and postproduction producer on the music video, first stepped in during preproduction and worked with director Andre Muir on developing the finer points of the concept and fleshing out some new ideas.
Using the jazz-fusion inspired beat of the track as a guideline, rather than letting the tempo dictate the cuts, the editor created an off-kilter synchronicity that added to the engaging, unpredictable flow of the music video.
The storyline of Symphony focuses on Towkio as he tries to get the attention of one particular girl who catches his eye, while still tempted by the other women in the video. The action unfolds in a hotel, as the setting appears to be changing into a rapid succession of locations seamlessly woven into a cohesive visual story.
Bringing together these shifting environments without creating a jarring effect required precise planning and close coordination during every phase of the project, says Rodgers. This was a complex production, and ultimately the footage would end up in my hands, he adds. It was important that we stayed on top of every detail, caught potential issues early on and made the necessary adjustments, avoiding time-consuming and costly fixes in postproduction.
Rodgers edited the music video at The Colonie on the Adobe Premiere Pro and handed off sections to the Chicago-based companys VFX artist, Ben Pokorny while they were still in rough form.
Ideally, greenscreen would be used for some effects, but sticking with a practical shoot was more cost-effective, says Pokorny. Instead, I experimented on Flame Premium and Adobe After Effects to create VFX with a style and look that aligned with the directors vision, and then integrated them into the video after the production wrapped.
A large number of match cuts required the shots to be meticulously timed out, adds Rodgers. Even with the close attention paid to every detail, occasionally I would work a scene up to the very end, only to find that the last few frames wouldn't work and made it unusable. Sometimes this would result in a chain reaction that required changes that affected the whole timeline of the video.
Rodgers was introduced to this editorial approach when the production company, Naked Gallery, first called on him a few years ago to work on some music videos for a number of artists, including Kami and Cody Varik.
The Colonie's editorial, visual effects, motion design and one-stop, end-to-end postproduction services have been called on by quite a few music videos over the years, says EP and partner, Mary Caddy. While were best known for our work on commercials, social media, and long-form content, our team enjoys working on music videos like Symphony. They give us an opportunity to collaborate on innovative, out-of-the-box concepts and bring a fresh perspective to our work in other genres.
TravelStart Flight and Hotel Bookings
TravelStart Bookings for the Film Industry
Get More Film Business South Africa
Select your Membership
Nathan is a new addition to The Colonies staff, says senior editor and partner, Bob Ackerman. We were impressed with his fresh aesthetic and skill-sets as an editor the first time we saw his work. However, the scope of his contribution and the depth of understanding that he brought to this music video real wowed us.
About The Colonie:
The Colonie is an award-winning Chicago-based creative editorial, motion design, visual FX and finishing postproduction house with a seamless full-service approach to creating broadcast and digital content that engages, entertains, informs and moves audiences. The companys credits include a wide range of national and global clients, such as Toyota, Payless, BCBS, Facebook, Anheuser-Busch, McDonald's, Nintendo, Levis, PepsiCo, and Bayer.
For more information about The Colonie visit TheColonie(dot)com, contact executive producer, or contact Mary Caddy at 312-225-1234, or Sonia Reps at 312-519-0911.
CREDITS:
Product: Music Video
Title: Symphony
Artist: Towkio
Featured vocals: Teddy Jackson
Record Company: American Recording, LA
Record Label: Republic Records, LA
Production Company: Naked Gallery, Chicago
Director: Andre Muir
Director of Photography: Flynn Drew
Camera Operator: Dae Kim
Producer: Zach Moore; Cory Proctor
Associate Producer: Manny Caston
Editorial Company: The Colonie, Chicago
Editor - Nathan Rodgers
Post Production Producer: Nathan Rodgers, Jack Williams, August Marron
VFX Company: The Colonie, Chicago
VFX Artist: Ben Pokorny
Color Correction Company: The Mill, Chicago
Color Producer: Dan Butler
Colorist: Mikey Pehanich
Audio Post Company: The Colonie, Chicago
Mixer: Nathan Rodgers
Embedded video for The Colonie's Nathan Rodgers Cuts Towkio's New Music Video, Symphony'
Music Videos
Americas United States
SJ Golden, news@sjgoldenpr.com
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
11/08/2026
LiveUs LU900Q intelligent production unit played a central role in the host broadcast operation for the Games in Glasgow (July 23 to August 2, 2026). The host b...
11/08/2026
Jigsaw24 has appointed James Morse as Client Director, Media Sales, as it deepens its focus on sports, live events and integrated production. His appointment co...
11/08/2026
Net Insight today announced that DMC Production Norway has selected its Open Live Media solution to centralize the production of Blinkfestivalen 2026. Combining...
11/08/2026
Modular HEVC and JPEG XS workflows enabled resilient, ultra-low-latency delivery for leading linear and digital media platforms across all 104 matches
Appear A...
11/08/2026
Homecoming Artist Spotlight: Fabiola M ndez The first cuatrista to graduate from Berklee talks about the community that shaped her career ahead of her Homecom...
11/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced Dalet Solution Suites, a new portfolio of cloud-native solutions ...
11/08/2026
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, will showcase how media companies can prep...
11/08/2026
Transforming your audience into advocates with Kelsey Gamble 10 August 2026
Building community, harnessing fandom for marketing and activating the four stages ...
11/08/2026
A Day in May airs Wednesday 12 August at 9.35pm RT One and RT Player
A Day in May revisits the people and stories behind Ireland's historic marriage equa...
11/08/2026
As AI shifts from chatbots to autonomous agents, open models are serving market ...
11/08/2026
The open source ecosystem is making it easier for AI enthusiasts and developers to build, customize and run increasingly capable agents locally.
Throughout Au...
10/08/2026
Weekly immersive broadcasts will feature 8K 3D video, a 180-degree field of view...
10/08/2026
Saturation plug-in free until 20 August 2026
fedDSP have announced the launch of Raiju, a new guitar pedal-style saturation plug-in that's capable of de...
10/08/2026
New mix-comparison & feedback tool
Independent Swedish record label I/O Music have recently released a handy new tool that provides artists, engineers, prod...
10/08/2026
Additive soft synth gains free counterpart
Sound Radix have just released a free monophonic additive software synth that's based on the same engine as t...
10/08/2026
Chroma integrates MXO oscilloscopes into ATS 8000 platform, rounding out its hig...
10/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/08/2026
Students in the Technology and Applied Composition (TAC) program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) gain rare, real world experience in professio...
10/08/2026
FOR-A is using its presence at IBC2026 (stand 2.B53, Amsterdam RAI, 11 14 September) to show how its products deliver the answers to the real challenges faced...
10/08/2026
Frontier EU, official Peplink distributor for Europe, will exhibit at IBC 2026 in Amsterdam from 11 to 14 September, presenting live demonstrations of how Pepli...
10/08/2026
Remote Editing Without Cloud Storage Premiere Pro
Michael Cioni August 10, 2026
0 Comments
This is a step-by-step guide that demonstrates how to setup...
10/08/2026
Stunning Pixelated ASCII Effect for Apple Motion
Simon Ubsdell August 10, 2026
0 Comments
Apple Motion is perfect for building this popular ASCII unic...
10/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/08/2026
Monday 10 August 2026
Welcome to the Show : Sky Creative unites football fans w...
10/08/2026
Red Seat Ventures' Speakeasy Brings Video to Apple Podcasts, Beginning with ...
10/08/2026
A major unconventional operator increased monthly pumping hours by more than 30% by automating critical frac completion processes and eliminating common sources...
10/08/2026
Today, Apple and Major League Baseball (MLB) unveiled the September schedule for...
09/08/2026
Combines physical modelling with subtractive synthesis
reFX, the company behind the popular Nexus and Vanguard2 soft synths have announced the launch of the...
09/08/2026
Human nuance is not a switch
Dreamtonics have built up a solid reputation off the back of their Synthesizer V Studio software, a powerful vocal-synthesis t...
09/08/2026
COW Jobs: Documentary Editor - Remote
Brie Clayton August 9, 2026
0 Comments
Documentary Editor
July 31, 2026COW Jobs: Lead Generation Representativ...
08/08/2026
Enhanced ToneNET integration & 220 new Premium V2 Tone Models
IK Multimedia have just launched a public beta of Tonex 2.0, a release which is said to repres...
08/08/2026
Honouring the drum machine that redefined modern music
Roland have announced their plans for this year's 808 Day, a day that was founded to celebrate th...
08/08/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
08/08/2026
Star Wars Hyperspeed Tutorial: The No-Echo Method in After Effects
Graham Quince August 8, 2026
0 Comments
The Echo Effect to create long streaks is n...
08/08/2026
Chyron Releases AXIS 4.0 With Expanded News Workflows and Richer Map Storytellin...
08/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/08/2026
Foundry Unlocks Professional-Grade AI for VFX with Griptape Enterprise; Appoints...
08/08/2026
Award Winning New Horror Film Shot Using Blackmagic Camera App
Brie Clayton August 7, 2026
0 Comments
Fire Alive, shot using the Blackmagic Camera i...
08/08/2026
The global buildout of AI infrastructure reached a new milestone today - Firebird, an emerging AI cloud, launched the CIS region's largest AI factory in Arm...
07/08/2026
Diversified has appointed industry veteran Pete Emminger as global chief technology officer. Emminger will lead the company's global go-to-market technology...