View Full Version : kind of 70k USD music video


Andzei Matsukevits
June 2nd, 2008, 04:11 AM
The band needed the video but had almost no money. So, we used all contacts and hommies we had, in order to get it done. After shooting the video, we started calculating how much we would actually had to pay, so all expenses summed up-$70 000(60k of it would cost location rent)

anyway, the video is here in 576p and 720p versions:
www.fff.ee/slidefifty

and youtube:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Cv9P-Br8O_Q

what i also learned while doing it: gain on camera is not always a bad thing. We wanted to get dirty, a bit stoner style video, blown out whites etc...and +12dB gain did a great job...

Simon Denny
June 2nd, 2008, 04:48 AM
Really liked that. What did you edit on? and how much color grading did you do?
Cheers
Simon

Andzei Matsukevits
June 2nd, 2008, 05:25 AM
thanks Simon,

I edited it on my 3 years old PC, using Premiere Pro 2 with Raylight. Most colors where done on set in camera, lighting came only from top and its pretty much one color video, so it was easy to get good colors on hvx. In post, i didnt do much, just balanced colors and added just a bit contrast(could not more, otherwise smoke would disappear), a bit noise and lot of masking...

Jamal M. Johnson
June 6th, 2008, 09:10 PM
Whats good!

I loved the video, I love the gritty darks feel, your performance scenes and your b-roll was top notch!

Job well done and look forward to seeing more of your works.

Jamal "Jag" Johnson
Http://www.MusicVideoTrainingCenter.com

Craig Parkes
June 6th, 2008, 09:31 PM
Really good use of location to up the production value, I presume it was a steadicam shoot?

Andzei Matsukevits
June 7th, 2008, 04:43 AM
thank you,

we used dolly and a wheel chair for moving shots. Wheel chair is not good for such things...

Craig Parkes
June 7th, 2008, 04:51 AM
thank you,

we used dolly and a wheel chair for moving shots. Wheel chair is not good for such things...

Ahh, interesting, so lots of dolly track then? I think you did a fairly impressive job with some of the shots if all you had for them was a wheel chair.

Good work.

Ash Greyson
June 21st, 2008, 06:03 PM
Nice job, I would not sell it as a $70K video though. Better to say you did it on the cheap than say you pulled off a $70K video for next to nothing. I am doing lots of $5K to $15K videos these days and if you know your stuff, that money can stretch pretty far.




ash =o)

Pietro Impagliazzo
June 21st, 2008, 07:13 PM
After shooting the video, we started calculating how much we would actually had to pay, so all expenses summed up-$70 000(60k of it would cost location rent).

Oh...
The power of having friends!

:)

Andy Graham
June 21st, 2008, 08:02 PM
Liked the video well done, but im amazed you spend 60k on your location.....what was it , it looked like a large open space like a ware house.....why on earth did it cost 60k? (i had to double check to make sure thats what you meant). Iv done music videos before on large budgets but the bulk of the cost usually goes on equipment and wages for the crew......you could probably have bought the place for 60k!. I agree with Ash, say you did it on the cheap.....people will be more impressed.

Congrats on a job well done and if the client is happy then its all good but personally i could shoot a feature movie on that budget no problem.

Andy.

Nathan Quattrini
June 22nd, 2008, 11:09 AM
I thought it was very well done, but very bland. I'm a fan of old school storied music videos. This is more of glorify the musicians style which I find doesn`t give the video maker much creativity, and isn`t very interesting for the viewer. The shots look awesome, I just think musicians need to let you get creative and really spread your wings of talent.

Andzei Matsukevits
June 23rd, 2008, 01:02 AM
thanks for comments.

Yeah, i know, it would be ridiculous to spend that much money on a music video in our country, it will never make money back for a band. If we really had that much money, i think we would shoot on a film also, real budget was $2000, so no film...

The place where it was shot, is a huge concert hall(last week e.g. Def Lepard, Lenny Kravitz were performing there), that it is why its so expensive...

Ash Greyson
July 12th, 2008, 12:14 PM
I thought it was very well done, but very bland. I'm a fan of old school storied music videos. This is more of glorify the musicians style which I find doesn`t give the video maker much creativity, and isn`t very interesting for the viewer. The shots look awesome, I just think musicians need to let you get creative and really spread your wings of talent.


I agree Nathan but that is what most bands want and for CERTAIN what most labels want to pay for. I get 4 more generic videos approved for every creative one I push through.





ash =o)

Andzei Matsukevits
July 15th, 2008, 01:32 PM
not really sure, but i think if director is real badass and talented and has some good creative videos in portfolio, then its not that hard to convince band/label to shoot a creative video...

but im not the one, so i dont know

Philip Gioja
July 25th, 2008, 11:24 AM
I thought it was great - very cool look. I agree with Ash's assessment on how to sell it - don't tell a client 'I can do this for $70000...'

James Hooey
July 25th, 2008, 12:31 PM
I thought it was well done. I don't watch music videos nearly as much as I did 20 years ago but this has enough good shots/editing and concept that I watched it the whole way through and got interested about the song/band. Didn't like a different video/song I found on youTube from the same band.

Ken Beals
August 8th, 2008, 09:21 PM
Really like the whole package Andzei !

The track, the Artists, the location, the concept, the shots and the editing.

The free rolling dolly was was an interesting choice.

Curious ~ what camera did you use ?

Nice work.

-K

Andzei Matsukevits
August 9th, 2008, 03:08 AM
thanks again,

i used HVX 200 with Redrock M2 and canon lenses(20,50, 80-200mm)

Guillermo Ibanez
August 22nd, 2008, 09:36 AM
hey, great video, I really like the shoots and the songs but I am curious to know....why would you spend 60K on a location that you cannot see? surely you could have hired a massive warehouse for a tenth of the price? Also, why did you choose to shoot on a wheelchair considering the amount of money you had?

Andzei Matsukevits
August 24th, 2008, 02:10 PM
read my first post more carefully or my english is just so bad...but of course i didnt spend that much money on that video, whole budget was around $1000

Andzei Matsukevits
August 24th, 2008, 02:12 PM
even if i had that much money i still would have chosen a wheel cheer. just imagine how much track you would need for a dolly. like 150m or so. And just imagine to push a heavy dolly whole day around...

Caleb Epler
August 25th, 2008, 03:03 PM
thank you,

Wheel chair is not good for such things...

I know exactly what you mean... :]

great job