Mock Music Video - Beastie Boys 'Sabotage'
 

We had a client that wanted to produce two mock music videos, both to be shown at their reception. One for the guys and the other for the girls. We are still in production for the girls Fergie- 'Glamorous' video, but the Beastie Boys shoot just wrapped up and we are pretty pumped with how it all came together.

We had 3 hours to shoot this with very minimal storyboard. One of the guys in the video owns both factories so we had full reign on where we could shoot. While we did have somewhat of a storyboard, it was very brief and most of the sequences were put together on location.

All of the tight shots were done with brevi and both on Canon A1s. Michael had a 100mm macro EOS lens and Konrad had a 50mm 1.4 FD lens.

There are a couple things I would like to point out with this little clip. What a difference in production value when you add in the 35mm adapters. We shot with 3 cams and 2 had adapters. What a difference in the frame rate- everything was shot in 24P and I just love the look of the whip pans in one of the chase scenes. When showing it in our theatre we got so many comments from clients who are mentioning how filmic some of our work is, and others who ask if it is actually film. Also note how good some of the high speed shots look in 24P- which is a common misconception that shooting in 24P needs to be done slowly, when really you just need to keep certain things in mind. The final thing I would mention is just how well the 35 footage cuts with the non-adapter footage. I often get emails from people ask if we have troubles matching the footage or if we choose to shoot something all adapter or all non-adapter. Really they are quite easy to blend together and so we always shoot as much adapter as possible.


Here is a link to Vimeo:
http://vimeo.com/936486

Patrick

dude, those costumes were great. I'd say it all cut VERY well for minimal stoyboarding. Good job!

My 3 favorite shots were:

1) stedicam moving up to the back of the car and suddenly groom(?) slides across the trunk. love the movement.

2) @ 1:39 when the "cop" comes from around some loading pallets riding the kid's bike and suddenly you see like 15 guys running behind him and

3) not much later at the "AHHHHHH" @ 1:50 the groom is running in slowmo with an angry mob after him.

I loved it.

Looked like a fun shoot. I like the trip at the end. One of the things that keeps me away from 24p is the perception that quick moves will not look that good...but you have proven it can look very good. I thought that maybe a blue tint on the footage might have given it more of a cop show, drama look...but still looked good.

-John

Thanks for checking out the clip guys.

Ethan,
You probably chose my 3 fav shots too. The one sliding over the back of the car is certainly my fav. It is interesting that all 3 shots you chose were steadicam and not an ultra shallow brevis shot.

John,
I tried a good dozen looks on this before deciding which route to go. In the end I wanted it to have a warmer feel to bring out the comedy in the piece. That also ties it together with the album or behind the scenes photos that Amina put together for the couple. I will see if I can find a link to put that up for you here too.

Patrick

To me the ultra shallow stuff really stands out on a pretty shot. The feel of that piece wasn't intended to be pretty, but rather frenetic and fun. Perfect for stedicam.

I do have to commend your stedicam op for the shot where he's running through the warehouse and on the fly pans over to a character and back again to the groom all while running. That couldn't have been easy.

Hey Patrick,
Awesome work as usual. Did you use twixtor to slow mo the footage as it was great, especially the slide over the car?

Patrick, fantastic work. Ear to ear grin on my face the whole time I was watching it.

Wow, that was amazing!! Top notch production--editing, camera work, everything!

That was a really cool video. The guy patting down the girl, HILARIOUS! Is it safe to assume the guy in the track suit is the groom and the girl at the end is the bride?

Nicely done, story board or no, well done.

Three quick questions for you, you say when shooting in 24p you got to keep certain things in mind. What are they?

Secondly, How much, percentage wise, would you say you shot using a 35mm adaptor?

Lastly, how many takes did you need to capture a good shot?

Thanks for your help Patrick, your feedback and incite is always appreciated.

Patrick, if your goal was to produce a professional-looking, fun-to-watch, creatively-shot ... freaking awesome ... video ..... well, very nice job! I have a few questions for you.

First did you make use of additional lighting or reflectors for any of the indoor or outdoor shots?

Second, I don't shoot in 24P, but I shoot in frame mode on the Canon GL2, which is "simulated" progressive. You mentioned that you have need to keep certain things in mind when shooting 24P. What are those?

Third, how in the world do you find a client that wants mock music videos produced for their reception? Just kidding, you don't have to answer that one!


Once again, I loved the video. My wife can't stand the Beastie Boys, and can't stand that song, but she loved it when I showed it to her! Trust me, that is saying something. The only shot that didn't seem right to me is at .49 when the guy with the afro stops and points his gun. In the shots before and after he is running, and it just felt out of place to me. Other than that minor gripe, though, what an amazingly shot/edited video. If I saw this on MTV I wouldn't think twice that a music video production company shot it. Great work!

Hey Patrick,
You guys did a very good job. That's was pretty good with a limited storyboard. Question. The slow motion shots, were they done in post with your A1's or did you use your EX1 for that. I remember you mentioning you did buy one recently.

Thanks for sharing
Monday

Thanks Ethan. It was a tough shot but more than anything the lack of weight in the camera made the whip pan really tough to stick. You can see the frame roll a bit at the end of the pan, which is very hard to control without more weight. The cam also needs ot have amazing dynamic balance, which is very tough to take the time to do on a shoot like this where I am constantly changing balance of the rig for the shot. That whip pan shot ad the slo mo of Ryan jumping over the trunk of the car are some of my fav steadicam shots I've done for sure.

Patrick

Hey Jason,

The slow motion was done in camera by overcranking it. Most of it was shot at 48fps in 24p, so it came out at 50%. The camera on the steadicam was the EX1. We are currently testing one out as Canon doesn't offer a camera that is tapeless and has a 1/2" chip. The A1s sure held up well side by side though, but that slow motion is awfully pretty.

Patrick

Jason,

Glad you enjoyed it. We were walking a thin line between humor and being cheesy but I think we landed on the right side.

Vladimir,

Thanks for checking it out. We have a great team that really came together for this shoot.

Randy,

Yep you guess correct for the bride and groom. The cool things is, the girls video which is done to Fergie Glamorous, ends with the brides pursue being stolen in a night club- which then leads right into sabotage.

Hi Carl,

1. When shooting 24P you don't need to watch the amount of motion as much as you need to watch the type of motion. Arcing around objects in a semi-circle helps a lot, moving the camera at the same pace as your subject, avoid slow lateral pans (a whip pan here replaces the slow pan and looks gorgeous in 24P).You also want to shoot the footage in the same speech you want it shown. If we want something in slow motion, I will shoot it that way, so I don't need to go through twixtor (which I'm not too fond of) and I don't have choppy slow mo either.

2. Both cams with the Brevis were A1s, the EX1 was on the steadicam and being tapeless, we could review our shots on site. We shot about 60 minutes of brevis footage between both cameras. I think I shot about 8 minutes or so with the EX1. It is great to be able to review a shot, delete it if it is bad, redo it if needed- then move on.

3. In most cases, we only need one. The first take is usually very usable and 90% of the way there if not more. Any shot that is more involved had at least 3 takes just to be safe, and I explain that to everybody before we start. By take 3 if we don't change the shot drastically, we are done. Otherwise we usually do 3 more with the new concept.

The long running shot where I start behind the guys then start running backwards away from them was done about 4 times as there was so much to keep in mind and timing was so tough with that many people and objects in the middle of the shoot. Though there was a cut to the feet in the middle of the shot, it was one continuous steadicam shot so we had to time them running around the one corner with me coming out the other side.

I hope that helps.

Patrick

Travis,

1. We did have a reflector with us and we also had a small hand held light for one or two shots inside the factory. We used them when we could but time was a big factor, so they only made brief appearances. Understanding light and the best way to shoot it is something that we are always working on and is an immense step forward in production value.

2. You'll find the answer to that one above. As far as I know, frame mode is not as smooth as 24P or 24F so I would be extra careful with your movement.

3. We seem to be attracting more and more clients who really get what we do and want to push it even further. As we show more and more diversity in our work, we seem to be getting more requests for these different sort of projects. After screening this Beastie boys video with a new couple yesterday, they told us of two short films they would like us to produce for their wedding- and they sound very exciting. I thin the key is trying something and then rolling from there.

Patrick

Thanks Patrick,
By overcranking the shot am I correct to assume you would increase the shutter speed and shoot normally in order to slow down in post? I think that is what you mean. Also the more away from conventional you creep I think the more business you will bring in, although it will mean more work but much more creative and fun results.

Jason,

The slow motion is done with the EX1. It allows you to do slow motion in camera, so by overcranking you are actually shooting at a higher shutter rate than 24P and it comes out as slow as soon as you review the shot. You can do up to 60fps, which is is 2.5 times 24fps so it is quite slow.

Travis,

I missed something in your post. You pointed out a shot that you felt was out of place. As is, I completely agree. When shown at the reception, all those face shots will have their names quickly flash so it will fit much better then.

Patrick

Thank you, first of all, for taking the time to answer questions. Even though I don't get the opportunity to shoot many of the things you do, I get to live vicariously somewhat through watching your work and learning about it. Thank you very much.

Second, thanks for the explanation about that "out of place" shot; makes sense now.

Finally, and not to derail your topic hopefully (if you prefer we can talk about this via PM), but you mentioned showing this video and "new work" in general to new potential clients ... and how that gets you more interest for different kinds of work.

How much time would you say you spend showing actual video material to potential clients when you meet with them? I ask because I typically show a 15-20 minute main feature from start to finish, and then a 3-5 minute highlights video, and then we go over questions. My wife is a photographer, so after all of that we go over her materials and products, and then discuss prices and packages. Overall our initial consult meetings run 60-90 minutes, and I feel if I tried to show more video that I would be potentially "overshowing" my work and making my clients restless.

The key for us is really taking the time to get to know the clients, asking the right questions, and then showing the appropriate material. Showing this clip to the wrong couple could really turn them away quickly, but not showing it to the right couple could be equally detrimental. We probably show about 30 min in the theatre, but it is completely different for every couple, and they also have a chance later in the consult to go back and view more.

Patrick

That kicked ass. Excellent execution from end to end.


May I suggest a "Snatch-style" OBB for your intended text indroducing the characters.

Cheers!

Okay, that makes sense. We usually demo our work first (video first, followed by photography) and then open a discussion with the client.

Looking forward to seeing the next music video!

When I read the title I was a bit worried because this Beastie Boys clip is one of my favorite and to have someone have a go at trying to do a mock at it, just scary.. but you come through with the goods!

I would say maybe a bit more pale colours, very light film funk and the mid action pauses with names come up will be perfect :)

I can totally envision that and it'll look pretty cool with the names written on the screen, sort of like the original video. Way to plan ahead.

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions Patrick, you're helping us tremendously.

Patrick, It keeps amazing me how clients in your country are interested for this kind of productions, I really envy you for having the opportunity to do this kind of stuff for weddings. Here in Belgium it's virtually impossible to find clients who are willing to invest time in something creative like this, and if you do they probably expect it to be free of charge.
It's sometimes frustrating to see you guys go all the way while here I get to do the same standard thing over and over again, I still love doing it but my creative side screams for more. Anyway, loved what you did taken the short time you had to film it into consideration, great job.

Noa, I can totally sympathize with you. As much as I love seeing Patrick's work, it can be frustrating at the same time because I want to do the same type of creative work.

I think the key is to constantly move your work forward, and eventually the market you are in will adapt over time and you will start getting paid for your extra efforts. I could be wrong, but that's the strategy I'm trying at the moment. I figure I can wait for my market to catch up, or I can try to speed up the process.

Here you can forget about that, Belgium is a very small country with a strong photographers tradition, they often spend way more on that part then on video. I also work in the Netherlands but same there, photo first, then video. Most of them rather have just uncle Sam videotape their wedding then spend any money on it.
Another problem is that the maket is flooded with videographer wannabees who have a full time job and doing video as a hobby and a easy way to make extra cash. They work cheap and most people don't see or care about the difference in quality that's delivered. As long as they have it on film it's OK.
Not all couples are like that, there are more openminded people but as said before, money is often a big issue, if I would be charging Patricks prizes I would be out of business within a year, no-one would pay that amount for a video.

Not all couples are like that, there are more openminded people but as said before, money is often a big issue, if I would be charging Patricks prizes I would be out of business within a year, no-one would pay that amount for a video.[/QUOTE]

Noa,
I have had this exact discussion with Patrick as my clients are willing to do these types of skits but are unwilling to pay the money for it. As Patrick stated to me; if your market isn't willing to pay you what you are worth, then stop trying in your market and target the areas that are willing to pay you what you are worth. This approach has worked for him as not everyone in Canada is willing to pay his prices so he has moved outside his area and advertised in the areas that will pay his amount. For instance he has been flown to California, Calgary, and now England, and not to mention the Dominican Republic. I don't know about your area but there are clients who have the funds to pay for quality work and if you can offer the type of quality that Patrick's WHOLE team does then there might be more business than you think.

Well, that's just the problem, I never had the ambition of expanding my working area way past Belgian borders, you have to realize that I live near the border of 3 different countries causing a language problem as well. Not for the Netherlands but For France and the French speaking part of Belgium and Germany. You guys could fly great distances an everybody still understands you.
I do know that by working in this way I am limiting myself but that's a choice I made.

Awesome. Loved the video.