Source: Herald Sun August 26, 2008

THE Pop Princess can add most popular public transport companion to her list of accolades. Kylie Minogue was the No 1 choice across all age groups as a tram or train seat buddy in a Newspoll of more than 400 Melburnians. The Queen was voted the least favourite companion. Model Megan Gale was ranked the most popular person by men, followed by Hawthorn football star Lance “Buddy” Franklin. Women’s pick of the bunch was, in his own persona, comedian Barry Humphries.

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Source: Sunday Herald August 24, 2008

KYLIE Minogue will hold a week-long series of shows at Rod Laver Arena in December. ”The reason I hadn’t confirmed dates in Australia is I really didn’t know what I was getting into,” Kylie told the Sunday Herald Sun. ”But now I know. ”I have a show that breathes and changes and is dependent on people’s moods and environment.

“I can’t wait to bring it home.”

Her critically acclaimed KylieX2008 show will visit Melbourne and Sydney.

Kylie’s tour promoter, Michael Gudinski, will announce dates this week with the venue already booked for the first week of December.

Kylie, who battled breast cancer two years ago, will hold a limited number of shows before enjoying Christmas with family in Melbourne.

“As far as my health goes, I do two shows in a row, then have a day off,” she said.

“Sometimes after two shows I think, ‘Well, I could (do) one tomorrow . . .’ But, I’ll quit while I’m ahead.”

The show is minimalist chic, but her stage converts into a football field, dancefloor, ballroom and garden.

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Source: Metro August 21, 2008

New Coldplay album due next summer? Hot on the heels of the phenomenal success of Vida La Vida, a new Coldplay album could be in the can by next summer. The band have already recorded the bulk of the songs, many of which were left over from recent studio sessions with Brian Eno for Vida La Vida. ”The Vida La vida sessions were incredibly fruitful. They gelled brilliantly with Brian and recorded much more music then they could fit on one album,” a source told The Sun.

“The majority of the follow-up is already in the can, though they will have to go back into the studio at some point to add a few more songs.”

If the band follow up their new offering with a greatest hits collection they will have fulfilled all commitments to their record label EMI.

“Standard industry contracts tend to be for six albums, so if they provide some kind of compilation after their next album they will be free agents and able to renegotiate their contract or head out on their own,” the source added.

Coldplay singer Chris Martin accidentally let slip the band’s desire to rush through new material when discussing a collaboration with Kylie Minogue that didn’t make it onto Vida La Vida: “It will be on a record we will put out in 2009.”

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Source: Digital Arts 21 August 2008

The promo for Kylie’s new single, The One, is a sexy, glamorous piece in black-and-white with flashes of primary colour and the pint-sized diva at her most sultry. To direct the promo, she turned to Ben Ib, who had also created her tour visuals. We caught up with him to talk about how the piece was created.

DA: What was the brief for the project?

BI: Kylie sent me a really detailed brief with loads of amazing images, from Man Ray to Rodchenko, through Donna Summer and The Jackson 5. We had worked together on her tour visuals, so she was familiar with the type of work I do. I came up with a treatment inspired by some of her references, heavily based on the era of the 1940s.

DA: What were your conceptual ideas and influences?

BI: Initially the idea was very Rodchenko. But the storyboard included various images of Carol Lombard and Veronika Lake, and it seemed to grow organically from this look that Kylie pretty much devised. So the whole Art Deco thing stemmed from this. We wanted the look to be 1940s Hollywood, but not retro — like a 1940s vision of the future. Personally my inspiration came from a wide range of places: Bauhaus graphic design, Art Deco architecture, Marcel Duchamp short films, Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, The Wizard of Oz, Saul Bass’ title sequences. Basically all the things I like!

DA: How did you turn this into the final promo?

BI: We shot the video against greenscreen in Manchester, where Kylie had a day off in the middle of her X tour dates. The shoot was fairly simple with a few props and various costume changes. We also filmed two dancers, Jason and Nikki. Kylie’s performance was impeccable. Not one mistake!

DA: What was the biggest challenge you faced, and how did you overcome this?

BI: The post deadline was extremely tight — initially about a week. I tend to be pretty hands-on with my videos and do a great deal of the post myself, as my background is in 3D and motion graphics. Or maybe I’m just a sucker for punishment! But luckily I had a very talented gang of motion-graphics artists and compositors to help out this time. But it was still a serious amount of late nights and strong coffee.

DA: What software did you use to create the piece, particularly the motion graphics?

BI: The backgrounds were created in Maya using Mental Ray and the 2d work was done in After Effects. The keying and finishing was done in Flame.

DA: At times it looks very much like elaborate stage lighting, with characters appearing in front of these vivid, changing backdrops. Was the promo influenced by your stage design work?

BI: The influence was definitely on stage lighting, but really the film stages of the 1940s rather than the live stage. The look of real stages, such as those used by Busby Berkeley, Hitchcock (eg Spellbound), Fritz Lang etc I think have a beautiful sense of depth. The fact that they are constructed rather than built on a computer gives them something which is more imaginary and organic. The sense of scale is beautifully imperfect. So the inspiration was definitely from constructed stage sets — but of course, built on a Mac!

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Source: PromoNews August 13, 2008

Ben Ib has been away from promos for a while. As well as making a short film, he’s been occupied creating tour visuals for the likes of Paul McCartney, Mika – and Kylie. Out of that night-in, night-out collab with La Minogue comes this: a new video for The One which combines Kylie’s peerless style with Ben’s graphic sense to bring the glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Age into Century 21.

Ben clearly worked closely with Kylie on this. They actually made it while on the road, and she’s credited with doing her own wardrobe, hair and makeup, no less (but sadly, she’s probably missed the deadline to enter the MVA for Best Styling).

Ben explains more below about his dazzling addition to the Kylie video canon – and he’s supplied us with his director’s cut. So check out this, ahem, Promo News exclusive…

Kylie Minogue

The One (director’s cut)

Prod co: Blink TV

Director: Ben Ib

Producer: Tom Colbourne

DoP: Alex Hemming

Stylist: Kylie Minogue

Hair and Make Up: Kylie Minogue

Dancers: Jason Beitel, Nikki Trow

Editor: Ben Ib/Amanda James

2D: Ben Ib, Gavin Davis, Dan Kitchener, Josh Michnik

3D: Ben Ib, Shaun Yue

Flame: Lorraine at Triangle

DCP: Sonny at The Farm

Commissioner: Kylie Minogue

Ben Ib on making the video for Kylie’s The One

“The video was shot in an evening in a makeshift greenscreen studio in the Manchester Evening News Arena, on Kylie’s day off between performing. The concept behind the video was inspired by some initial images which Kylie emailed me…Man Ray, Rodchenko, images of Carol Lombard and Lauren Bacall.

“It’s also influenced by Fritz Lang, Art Deco, Powell and Pressburger, The Wizard of Oz, and Busby Berkeley…. I thought it would be nice to approach it as if Busby Berkeley had been alive today…what kind of video might have he made? I came up with some extensive storyboards, and, lo and behold, ended up ditching them through lack of post time!!!

“Since leaving Colonel Blimp earlier this year I was lucky enough to get the job of working on tour visuals for Kylie, as well as for various other artists including Paul McCartney and Mika. The Kylie visuals involved working with William Baker and Blink TV right from rehearsal stage, planning out the visuals and creating imagery for a wide range of different tracks – particularly Heartbeat Rock (Stars and Stripes to the power of 1,000 000), Wow (a neon fest) and In Your Arms (the Testcard gone crazy).

“It’s great fun working with someone as iconic as Kylie. She looks great against any colour scheme!!!”

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Source: Becoming Bert Stern (2008) IMDb staff.

Fuelled by a raging libido, methamphetamines and a drive to find inner peace, Bert Stern is one of a few remaining Golden Age photographers still working today. This feature-length documentary, BECOMING BERT STERN tracks Stern’s dazzling rise, fall and remarkable comeback to reveal an important life, replete with untold truths and never-before-seen photographs. This film is the first to record the wild life of an accidental artist, from his humble beginnings in Brooklyn, to his rise from a mail room clerk at Look magazine, to sitting on the top as one of the worlds most sought after photographers. This iconoclastic artist is best known for shooting Marilyn Monroe in The Last Sitting and over 40 VOGUE covers where Stern employed vision and tenacity to produce his stunning innovations with impunity and hilarity.

See the trailer here

Yazzi: As a huge fan of Bert Stern’s work I’m very excited to find that this documentary is coming out…and it’s even better that our Kyle’s will feature in it! Bert is a legendary photographer and responsible for some of Kylie’s best shots. Check out the movie - it’ll show you ‘behind the scenes’ of an amazing artist and the world of stardom. (Ps) Thanks Tim Bo for the heads-up x 

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