My first attempt
 

Ok, I've taken the plunge and posted my first attempt at a music video. I tried to shoot this through the eyes (or at least from the point of view) of a street person. It was all shot handheld to give it and edgy look. Feel free to comment. I know there is a lot of room for improvement, but , hey, we all remember our first time right! view the video at http://www.vimeo.com/627294

Man, I really loved the song... Sounded stellar... The only thing I could possibly suggest would be to make it a little grittier if possible. I'm not sure what footage you've got but If you can dirty it up at all I think it would really push it over the edge to a new creativity level... Overall I really liked it though, so coming up with a critique is a little tough.

Great job...

Thanks Doug. I think I know what you mean. I don't have a lot of footage but I'll give that some thought. I was trying to get some emotional response from "my friends" on this forum - positive or negative.

If you've ever watched the TV Show "American Idol" you know there are people who actually think they can sing but bomb big time in front of the judges because their friends were never truthful enough to tell them they suck!

Heh heh. So, to all my forum friends, should I just stick to riding motorcycles and playing golf.

Seriously, this is a new venture for me and I'd appreciate any feedback. I normally shoot boring motorcycle instruction and travel videos.

You don't suck! Excellent work.

Thanks Daniel. This was really a departure from what I usually shoot. I liked the song and thought the images helped represent the words. But, sometimes things like this become a very personal work so I was just trying to get a feel for what others thought.

Glad you liked it. I appreciate you taking the time to comment.

Very nice Jim! Was this shot in HD or in SD? beaututiful song as well!

Thanks Robert. It was shot in HD. The compression doesn't do it proper justice.
I'm still trying to figure out the best work flow to get great quality on the web.

Jim, I agree with everyone else here. Beautiful job, great mix of shots, very pro - I really enjoyed it :-) . What program did you edit with? Thanks - PK

Nice job Jim!

Great images in stark black and white; really captured the spirit of the song.

Did you use a wide angle lens?

Keep churning them out.

Best,

--JA
www.madjavaproductions.com

Thanks Jeff & Paul. I shot it with the stock A1 lens using preset 7 from the list on this site. Color looked great but somehow was not gritty enough so I used the 3-way color corrector in Final Cut Studio 6 to de-saturate it and crush the blacks slightly. I then used the secondary color correction to isolate the red in a few shots. I thought it brought a sense of reality back for a moment. I wanted to show that our lives are a result of the choices we make. Ex: is the child at the end, the girl in the beginning? Does the the color fading from the little girl mean she went on to make poor choices? Maybe it doesn't all make sense but those were my thought s at the time.