Music Video: Imagination Triumphs In Stunning ‘Betanaut’ By Betamax Dub Machine

By Keith Walsh
Inspiration and creativity are more important than budget, as clearly demonstrated by “Betanaut,” the new video by Betamax Dub Machine. Created by Ben Metcalf of BDM, the video is a stunner that won the “Best Music Video” award at the Edmonton Short Film Festival last month.

The video is loaded with brilliant concepts expertly executed. In the four minute runtime of “Betanaut,” the viewer suspends disbelief as the child protagonist travels from her backyard in a tent spaceship, to an extraterrestrial terrain.

“Betanaut,” which stars Metcalf’s daughter Skye, was made for only $250 Canadian. As Metcalf said: “That’s coz I got to pay the astronaut in ice cream and a cheese burger.” Metcalf’s eldest son plays the role of the alien befriended by the young astronaut.

The level of creativity in the video is off the charts. To get the right look, Metcalf found a location near his home of Calgary, Canada. “We shot at a place near Drumheller, Alberta that I knew had been used in a few sci-fi films,” he said. “For the space scenes I used a green screen and then used some stock space backgrounds.”

Metcalf is a self-taught video director who started out documenting his mountain bike journeys and family holidays on a GoPro. “I’ve always had a GoPro,” he said, “and edited on cheap software, then I just got upgrading. I use a Sony A7iii for shooting. As for any so called skill I just watch YouTube tutorials.” Metcalf uses Final Cut to edit his video footage.

The impact of the video is stunning, in part due to the color grading of Ethan Hill. Metcalf is color blind, and according to his Betamax Dub Machine bandmate Roberto Montoya, he recruited Hill from Facebook to handle the coloration. The color palette of the space scenes often features purples, pinks and blues that compliment the synthwave music of the soundtrack.

The music project of Betamax Dub Machine formed in March of this year after Metcalf, who lives in Okotoks, in Alberta, Canada, and Montoya, who lives in Austin, Texas, connected on Facebook. Metcalf is an established DJ under the name DJ Elite, and with BDM he uses Logic Pro software and a collection of virtual synths. Lead vocalist Montoya also plays guitar and is the frontman of the experimental Icons Of Industry.

Betamax Dub Machine are working on new music. I look forward to new audio and visuals from this super creative dynamic duo.

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