New Landlord Music Video
 

Hey everyone,

Just finished a cut of a new music video I shot. It's not a final version, and you guys always give great feedback, so I figured I'd get it now rather than when it's finished and unchangeable.

Let me know what you think. The .mov file is large (42mb) and the .wmv file is more manageable (11mb).

http://www.meydenbauerentertainment....rd_Senator.mov

http://www.meydenbauerentertainment....rd_senator.wmv

Josh

*BUMP*

Must be a slow day for downloading...

He he.

The video was decent. I started to get a little dizzy twords the end. Lots of running and shaking. Could use some smoother shots. My questions would be, what was she running for and what was that building at the end? It looked like Harrods Dept Store.

I second the "decent." The shots were pretty good and it had a nice filmic look to it. You even showed one of my favorite places in the city.

The video does touch one of my major pet peeves in music videos: a band playing and a story happening that are cut together, but the two are completely unrelated. I think it would work a lot better if they were tied together somehow or more interestingly put together in the final piece.

Jennifer

I watched the 2nd one. Great work.

You should have tried COURTLANDT ALLEY that street looks cool too. There's Bamboo growing off the side of the building.

Why must a music video story have a direct correlation to the song or the band? Music videos are a chance to work with different types of storylines and shots and visuals that you may not be able to do with a short film or commercial or corporate video. I don't feel that a video has to tie together completely (such as in the infamous Men at Work video in which every word in the song has a visual partner in the video). Another example is Fall Out Boy's "Sugar, We're Going Down Swinging" which has nothing to do with the song, yet won MTV2's Video of the Year last year.

On that note however, there is a tie in to the song, but we're not making it easy. This isn't a bling-bling rap video. There's a lot more to it. The concept (story) was developed out of the song through conversation with the band. The building at the end is part of the concept of the album. The band itself has interest from a number of indie labels, so what we're trying to do is make people work for it (even if there is the arguement that people don't.) Everything is in fact connected, and a lot like the music of the album, the video is very much a "what-you-make-of-it" piece. They see the building and go, hmmm, that's interesting. if you're viewing the video from the band's website, you'll notice that the building in the end is the same building on the cover of the album.

Music videos are a chance to be abstract. We're not working in linear narratives here. They're experimental films. To suggest there's no connection in a lot of videos is to say you're unwilling to look beyond the surface. Personally, I really don't like films, videos, commercials, that are "on the nose." I'm much rather discover a deeper meaning to something because it enriches and enhances our understanding of what we just saw. I'm not saying there's anything profound about what I did, but I think there's more than just band/girl running.

Also, I know you guys always request productions specs. So, here they are.

We shot this on the XL2 with the 20x stock lens in 24p 16x9. All the story stuff was shot handheld down near Canal St in NYC. The ending was shot on a glidecam smooth shooter on Broadway and 74th, which is where the building is.

The band stuff was shot in a furniture warehouse in Queens. That stuff was mostly me operating on the zoom lens, moving in and out, adjusting focus as I went and so forth. The slow motion was shot in 60i.

We used a doorway dolly that I built. The very first shot of the singer starting to sing was achieved by dollying in and zooming in at the same time.

We also had a EZ-FX JIB for the craning shots. We had a lot of fun with that one.

And that was really pretty much it. Let me know if you have any questions.

Music videos are an open forum, no rules... That being said I think you could really use the manual lens on a piece like this, I felt at times you were being held back by the servo functions and this can cause your moves to be more drawn out than you really intend. Also, try shooting, or cutting in if you have them, some wide shots of the performance. For me, the sweet spot for the 20X OIS lens is in the longer part, from 10X to 20X.

Some more technical tips would be to use a polarity filter when you are shooting outdoors, or a black diffusion, etc. something to take the edge off. Lastly, the indoor location was pretty good but some diffusion would have really sold it for me. Get a cheap smoke machine and run it for a few minutes, this really helps capture the natural light and lets you control your image a little better.



ash =o)

Thanks Ash. I agree with you on the lens. However, I don't own one, don't know anyone that does, and the band had zero budget. We felt it would be a better investment for the jib than the lens. But yea, I wish I had it.

As for the diffusion of the warehouse, I'll remember that for next time. I didn't even think of it and neither did my DP. I'll have to look into getting some smoke. This is only my fourth music video, so I'm continuing to gather tips and tools and so forth.

As for the polarity filter, I'll try it out next time.

I in no way meant that a video had to be directly related to a band or to the song. The best videos aren't, in my opinion. I veer toward concept-driven videos without any performance whatsoever. Michel Gondry is my hero. I just thought that the video could benefit from a tie between the two different settings.

I'm sorry if I came off as attacking you - I was just stating my opinion. I personally don't like videos of the aforementioned style (including the Fall Out Boy video - one of my least favorites of the year), though it is obvious that I am in the minority. :)

Jennifer

I kind of agree with you, and kinda don't. I know why you want to break the rules. The problem is most people are expecting some correlation, and when they don't get one they are kinda disappointed. I love Fall Out Boy, but they could have done so much more with the "sugar..." video. I prefer watching the live show edit to their video. But even then the performance and the story kind of mesh in that they are playing in a hunting lodge.

To your video. I liked it. At some times your shots are a little shakier then I would have done, but I wouldn't change it. Your lighting and color effect you achieved are fantastic. Your performance shots of the band are great. Good mix of shots.

I really don't know where your story was going. I stopped paying attention and focusing more on your shots and on the band.