Another First Music Video.
 

Filmed with a Panasonic GS400, 35mm 'spinner' adapter for some shots.
New Zealand Hip Hop Crew K54.
Edited in Premier Pro with a bit of Photoshop on some still shots.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AZiAHrGUbI

or for a 66MB better quality version at:
http://files.filefront.com/K54+The+N.../fileinfo.html

Cheers!

Thats as good as any million dollar MTV music video . Your editing was superb and your lighting was beautifully done.

Great job.

Andy.

Cheers for that!

Dennis, you've posted in the wrong forum. This is a forum about people showing their fledgling efforts at video production, which you've obviously mistaken for the Sony Music Finished Works forum;).... DUDE THAT ROCKED!
I love stuff like this because it shows what can be accomplished with digital video when you get creative. You mentioned you used Photoshop. If you didn't use After Effects, you'll want to start getting into it now. I REALLY dug the use of graphics in your video, very tastefully done and really added to it.
Next time get those girls to dance together and start making out with each other... Did the band tell you that they would kill you if you didn't do a good job? (I wondered if that's why you worked so hard on it!)
Really great video, congrats!

Cheers for that!
I haven't used After Effects, but you're not the first person to encourage me to get into it. It's definitely on my 'to do' list.
Thanks for the positive feedback!

Dennis, if you want a "can't miss" way to learn After Effects, just check what version you have (currently After Effects is up to version 7.0) and then buy Chris and Trish Meyer's book "Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects" that is closest to the version you're using. Right now their books are written for version 6.5, but it works fine for version 7 too.
Then just go through the books cover to cover, and you'll have a great understanding of how to use the program. You'll love it.

Thanks for the head's-up on that. I'll definitely head that way.
Cheers,
Dennis.

Wow. That is impressive. I was really unaware that the GS400 was capable of footage like that.

I would love to know more details about the production of this video, from how you lit the members and the dancers, to the size of your crew (if any), to any processing or tweaking you did in Premiere. I am about to shoot a video for a friend's band, and would love to know what you did to help make your first music video a success.

Ok, the lighting was really basic: 500watt halogen worklights. Sometimes I put the lid from my gear-bin in front of them to diffuse the light (it's opaque white plastic). Mostly three point lighting. With the girls, I think it was just 2x500watt halogens above them and cheap black cloth at $6 a meter on the wall behind them.
The size of my crew is one haha. Just me.
I used a home-made dolly (skateboard wheels at 45 degrees on PVC pipe type thingy. On a lot of the shots, I film it first with the tripod, then the dolly, then handheld and just see what looked best afterwards.
I made a 35mm adapter based on the http://www.mediachance.com/dvdlab/dof/index.htm one to add shallow depth of field in some of the shots.
In Premier, I used Magic Bullet on a lot of the scenes, plus posterising time at 22 frames a second. The rest of the graphics I did in Photoshop.
Other than that, it was easy as the guys were pretty hard out with everything, and a buzz to work with. We just threw ideas out there, filmed them, and if they looked good, kept them, if they didn't, threw them away.
It was really ad-lib and an open forum in terms of generating the ideas.
Spent ages editing. Actually, the editing wasn't that long... it's the damn rendering! Aaarrggghhh. I wish renders were instant!
As far as sucess goes, we're still doing the getting it on national TV (New Zealand) thing. I'm completely new to all this, so I'm still very much at the initial learning phase in all aspects but having a hell of a good time.
I hope this was helpful?
Cheers.

Damn good. Who knew you could get that out of a GS400. An excellent tribute to what well done DV can look like.

Dennis,

You have some serious talent. Somewhat sad to say that you are probably more talented than your Crew.

That was very well done. I have no doubt that it will attract more business for you from other groups.

Dennis, this is brilliant editing. It's just one solidly creative idea after the next, and usually several at once. Very very impressive.

If this is your first video, what did you do before this to know Premiere and Photoshop so well?

This is a good study of contrasts. Busy backgrounds vs solid, color vs black and white, several different Magic Bullet presets or tweaks, motion vs still, close-ups vs wides, A LOT of speed changes, 4 or 5 different MAIN venues to intercut, the dancing girls, pan shots vs handheld vs tripod, but the transitions are king. Silky silky smooth. Many shots have layers and a combination of this bag of tricks going on, not to mention all the Photoshop stuff. Plus the stutter effect from taking a few frames out all over the place. Put all that to the beat, add mad talent, and you have a terrific video.

You didn't plan any of this out? Like...my favorite transition is right after the K54 cd cover (:40 in), when the two guys are holding up that graffiti thing and the first rapper is strobing all over the place until he smooths into his part. Did you plan any of that? What exactly did you do to achieve that effect?

Great work!!

Wow, thanks for the positive feedback y'all!!!
That transition with the rapper strobing was from an idea I had of the first verse being like someone was breaking through into our dimension to 'spit his rhyme'. It was like he had to force his way into our reality, and it takes him a few seconds to 'break through'. That was the best way I could deliver that concept with the knowledge that I have thus far with editing.

My previous experience with Premier is very limited really. About 8mths? I did a little stream of consciousness thing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX0duhz4gAw (Youtube messes hard with the quality dammit!) which was really a crash course for me in trying to get what was in my head filtered through software (Premier). I've come to realise the best software for editing is my brain... nobody else can see the movies I play there, so I have to learn to use these tools which mean many hours reading the help files haha!
I gained a basic confidence and a certain intuitive feel for the program by doing that little stream of consciousness project.
My Photoshop experience has been running a part-time hobby photo restoration business for the last 4 years, doing the odd business card type thing as well. That was helpful in terms of being familiar with basic graphic elements I suppose?

I just had visions of scenes that weren't a part of our reality so messed around with time and choppy cuts and angles. I find it hard to explain.

I'm looking forward to my next project where I feel confident that I can get the concepts in my head more faithfully represented in the film. There just seems an endless supply of options and so many avenues to explore that at times I find it exhausting. The feedback that I have got has encouraged me no end to keep on going and develop the ideas further. I really appreciate it!

Excellent.
 

So I have a few questions, then we'll get to the only two basic problems with the video. Two problems that in my estimation can be fixed in about five minutes with your editing prowess.

Keep in mind that all styles of photography are relative, and this is something that I am just saying in respect to my style as suggestion, and not as canonical. However, I have been shooting on 'big cameras' for ten years professionally.

1. What was the editing system you were using?
2. What were you using for video compositing?
3. Do you really have any idea how talented you are for putting all of that work into a simple music video? A lot of people don't just have the kind of patience to put that kind of compositing and edit time into a video. It's all about the sweat equity.

An old shooter's addage: "Skill is in the shoot, but God is in the edit."

What I wanted to see more of...

-The pitbull on the treadmill. If slowed down tight shots of the pit's mouth, and running the mill would really work to set the grittyness. It was too interesting to cut so quickly from.
-The dancing girls needed to be more of a representative shot than a literal one. I would like more of a lack of seeing a face, more shutter or slomo for the movement, and something that represents a hip, or a shoulder exposed, or a flick of the hair, giving an edge instead of seeing some rapper's girlfriend. However, if this is your client's girlfriend, then there might be an insistance for that. If you play with harder backlight in that situation, you might be blown away from all of the things that you get. There is a video called "Supersexy" in HD that does this same thing, and it looks incredible. It really works with representation. It also makes mediocre dancing look fantastic.
-Less of the same representative shot. You're staying wide to kill sway (in my estimation) or show background. Not the best answer. The audience will get it, and you don't need to push that clean. Instead, go for the throat with your camera work. When it breaks the plane of the comfort of the audience, then you'll see what I mean. It's okay if it bounces a little, if you fill the frame with five men flexxing, then it won't matter, and you should push for feel instead of cleanliness, unless of course, that is your thing.

Overall, a superlative effort.

Only one technical problem, which really isn't a problem at all. Your last shot instantly goes to black. When you're playing this on a video channel, you need a trail out shot, so the BET rap city group or whatever can wipe, cut, or dissolve out of the video, so get a nice ten second trail shot ready when they ask for it.

You're very talented.
Make more videos.

I used WinDV to capture, Premier Pro2 and Photoshop to edit. This is on an AMD based system.
I don't know if that answers both questions?

Yeah, I see what you mean. With the girls, I actually felt a bit uncomfortable 'directing' them. I felt like a pervy old uncle in a way haha. I'd handle that more confidently from now on as I realise they just did their thing and were not worried about it. I'd definitely push for sexier stuff next time and get closer. I like what you said about the representative shots.

That was interesting what you said about the black ending. I wouldn't have even thought of that.
Thanks so much for that feedback and encouragement.