I'm really getting to like this camera. Most of this was shot with a super-cheap eBay "wide" adapter, which has a really gorgeous chromatic aberration and blur in the edges. A real wreck of a piece of glass and perfect for this song. No, It won't become my go-to wide lens...

Chris Holt - "Cosmic Joke" - Canon t2i video on Vimeo

Coming form a musician/videographer. Cool song/cool video. Shared with my old band mates! Way to go!

I like this a lot! Amazing to see what the T2i in good hands is capable of... and the wide piece of 'broken' glass is amazing! Good song too!

I'd really like to see a making of... how did you get the rotating shots? And the smoke was superimposed later, right?

All in all, great video!

Funny, I just got an email "reply" notice for this...

The rotating shots: I have an Igus slider, 48" long; I mounted a 2x4 to the ceiling (found the joists first) and screwed the slider to it. I'm really getting to think of the slider as a killer mounting platform whether you slide it or not.

That "cell" was framed up foam insulation that I painted with an HVLP gun - screwed the three walls together, and for the overhead shots we clamped the 4th wall into place - so the singer really was imprisoned for 40 minutes or so... good sport (Chris is an awesome guy). I had a laundry pulley at each end of the 2x4 with rope on the slider - I had to tug it over to a ladder at the side to get it rolling, slid it back into the center (a grip manned the rope on the other side). Had a small monitor clamped to the set wall with a superclamp & flex arm. I was using a crap monitor at the time and those shots were terribly under exposed, really had to push 'em and de-noise 'em. (That little Marshall 5" is the SH*T - it's got blue only!!! $550 and worth every penny! Wish I had it back then...)

I shot all the smoke plates - I used the smoke-in--a-can, and things like a stick of incense off-camera. The stuff I shot 720p looks really gritty due to the crazy aliasing. I've got an HMC150 now and I use that for plates & effects.

I even shot all the lens flares; poked a hole in black foamcore with a 1K fresnel behind it. That wide lens gets amazing flares.

All of the multiple-creepy-guy shots - those are all my son (he just got accepted to UT film school in Austin - go dude!!!) Keying Canon footage is hard - and it was the first time I lit a green screen perfectly flat. That aliasing is a bitch, man. It's hard to get it beautiful - took a LOT of smoke and blur! The shots of him from the bridge were just multiple takes locked down (funny how much shadows change in just ten minutes though). The shots of three of him on the sidewalk, walking towards the camera near the end - same thing, static camera locked down. BUT... I filmed a plate handheld of just a tracking marker, tracked it, and parented the comped footage to it - I think the handheld look on that shot really sells it as "not an effect". And it adds some urgency.

That's a big thing to remember - shoot "handheld" effects shots locked down, and shoot a reference plate of just the motion you want to use, even shoot it on set or location. Parent your layered up comp to just the motion data.

Overall, other than the "cell" footage, I had no plan or idea or storyboards - just grabbed people and shot stuff. Never again.

not only an awesome video but cool song as well

Wow, crazy awesome vid. Thanks for sharing all your setups and info on production and post.

Amazing work!

I'm starting production on the most insane music video I've ever done. There's over a grand in vintage stewardess uniforms and bustiers piled up here... it's gonna be a trip. Lots of green screens so using the HMC150 vs. the Canon. The song is called "I wanna be the meat in a girl sandwich". Artist is the famous punk rocker Samee Skumn. Can't wait!

That was great. Loved all your choices.