Music Video M2/HVX

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darwinandpaine

Well-known member
Okay, here's a first cut of a music video I shot last weekend. We had no budget, and very little help, so I was extremely limited in what I could do (there are shots in the video where I'm pushing the dolly AND pulling focus --- insane!).

Please right-click and download. Please! (46MB)
http://15minuteslatermovie.com/postal.html

P.S.: There is one weird thing about the compressed video. There's a side shot of hi-hat cymbals being hit, except once I compressed the FCP file, you can no longer see the stick hitting the hi-hats (despite the fact that they're both 24fps). If anyone has an idea of why, please let me know. I was thinking I'd just double that one frame.
 
It didn't work as a download, had to use your bandwidth...Nice colors, beautiful B&W, I liked the subject-on-dolly Spike Lee shot even if it was only in there for a little bit...the highlight flares in the backlight were cool. The stutter cut on the trailing "missing the point" line seemed a little too jarring for the music, as did the jump cuts preceding it. But that's a question of personal style I guess.
 
Awesome lighting!
And the B/W stuff really rocks!
How was your lighting setup (and how big was the lightsource/softbox)?
Any special postprocessing for the B/W?
What I didn´t like:
The outside shots didn´t cut it for me, different mood, no real motivation (adding nothing new to the "story"...
Too many close shots, but this probably is artistic choice...?
Evan doesn´t sell it, no offence.
Her look is just a bit too neutral, has no real stand and emotion.
You did all to make her look beautiful, but IMHO she wasn´t doing her part.
I guess its her first vid?
Any how, criticizing is too easy, great video, nice song - good work!
 
Yes, first music video for the talent. And you're right, there are too many close shots, but that really was beyond my control.

As for the lighting, I love to backlight stuff and did that with a Lowel Scandle and Caselight. Out front I frequently used an Alzo 2000 with a 36 inch soft box and my Flo1400 Flolight. Both of those were pulled back quite a bit and put up high, close to our white ceiling so that they'd be a soft and broad as possible. Every now and then I'd bring in a Lowel pro-light to give an accent or bring up the backlight even more.

No special processing on the BW, I just slid the saturation slider all the way to the left. In fact, there's really no CC on any of the shots --- I think I took down the blacks in one shot, but can't remember which.

Thanks for the kind words.

P.S.: You're right about the download. Feel free to use my bandwidth. I don't think it'll kill me.
 
The B/W Studio stuff is amazing! What lens is that?

The lighting was pretty nice on the INT setups. Although I think the post flare is a little much.

For the high angle CU - (opinion) I think that you chose a very wide/unflattering lens. I'm guessing 35mm? Old school way of thinking is to use a 85mm or 105mm if possible.

I would cut the outside stuff also. It would feel more coherent if it were just the BW and INT locations.

I'm really missing a WideShot of the B/W studio stuff. One long dolly out would do it for me.

Looks great. What lenses are you using?

Matt :beer:
 
Looks Great

Looks Great

It looks great. I really liked the outside shots, just for the record.
I liked the song a lot, too.
Seamus
 
escozooz said:
The B/W Studio stuff is amazing! What lens is that?

The lighting was pretty nice on the INT setups. Although I think the post flare is a little much.

For the high angle CU - (opinion) I think that you chose a very wide/unflattering lens. I'm guessing 35mm? Old school way of thinking is to use a 85mm or 105mm if possible.

I would cut the outside stuff also. It would feel more coherent if it were just the BW and INT locations.

I'm really missing a WideShot of the B/W studio stuff. One long dolly out would do it for me.

Looks great. What lenses are you using?

Matt :beer:
Click to expand...

What can I say, I just wanted that "Amelie" look for that high-angle CU. It was a 24mm.

I was very limited in what I could do. The instruments being played are being played by me --- with no one else to help me. And because this was done under a deadline, that's just the way it's gotta be. I think you guys are right about the outdoor stuff. I had my doubts as well, and now you've confirmend them.

I really only used three lenses (all Nikons), 24mm f2.8, 50mm f1.4, and 85mm f2. All the instrument stuff was done with the 50mm and 85mm.
 
BTW, Evan's album is availabe on iTunes --- Evan Bethany, It'll be Alright. It's really a terrific album for a first-timer (or forth-timer for that matter) who just started singing a year-and-a-half ago. FYI, all the string arrangements were done AND played by her. She's also an absolute sweetheart.
 
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Great use of the M2!!

Im feeling better everyday about my investment in the HVX & am looking at the 35mm choices out there. Your work is very nice and displays the M2s potential quite well.

I love the song too. Very nice composition.
 
Great Job! Very nice lighting! I think the outside shots are really good, they just need to be more throughout the entire video, otherwise they don't keep with the flow of the video. Otherwise very nice job..
Dolly? Jib?
Did u pull focus urself?

- - Justin
 
Thanks Justin. I'm going to meet with her tomorrow. I may just pull the outdoor stuff.

I used an Indie Dolly and the EZFX Jib Junior (both of which, I love!). And I not only pulled focus myself, but pulled focus and dollied myself on one or two shots. I think that's about as "Indie" (ghetto?) as it gets.
 
great great proof that you can make a gorgeous video with no money!!!!
i loved the song and downloaded it from itunes moments after watching it:D
 
Hi darwinandpaine.

Loved the clip. You have done a top job on the lighting, and the fact you did it alone makes it even more the achievement. I tend to agree with the others, and yourself, regarding the outdoor shots. There's nothing wrong with them persay, it's more the placement (edit) that is creating the problem. You could try bringing in the first outdoor shot right on top of the outro chorus 00:01:46, as that would at least give the change some motivation, then leave out the final melancholy interior shot that is now the ending and finish on her sitting in the chair which leaves the clip a bit more open/expansive.

What were your HVX settings?
Also, in this Jpeg, what was the lighting setup.

Thanks. Great work.
 

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Thanks Peter.

In the jpeg, there's a Lowel Caselight on the right lighting up the backgroung, and there's a Flo1400 in front of, and to the left of Evan with a silk on it. The Flolight is flagged so that it's only hitting her (you can tell if you look at the wall on the right). Then, the backlight is my Alzo 2000 (2400 watt tungsten equivalent) with a small reflector on a boom. That light is flagged severly so that the light really only hits on her back side. This was a difficult shot as the 35mm lenses are far more prone to flarring and ghosting, especially when there's a light pointing at the camera.

I used a couple different settings for the various looks. I'm always at +3 to +5 on detail settings when using the M2. And for this project, I kept the master ped anywhere from -3 to -10 depending on what the shot needed. I also tend to set the chroma phase all the way towards the green as I think the HVX is noisest in the reds (-7). And I tend towards the yellow on the chroma temp (-3). Finally, I used the Cinegamma D setting with the Flourescent matrix. That's about it.
 
Thanks mate.

Are these your own lighting units or do you hire? What was the most complex setup you had in the clip? Were you running off standard power?

darwinandpaine said:
I used a couple different settings for the various looks. I'm always at +3 to +5 on detail settings when using the M2. And for this project, I kept the master ped anywhere from -3 to -10 depending on what the shot needed. I also tend to set the chroma phase all the way towards the green as I think the HVX is noisest in the reds (-7). And I tend towards the yellow on the chroma temp (-3). Finally, I used the Cinegamma D setting with the Flourescent matrix. That's about it.
Click to expand...

Interesting. That's some serious in camera tweaking. It seems to give the clip a more organic look than some of the more colour corrected clips that I've seen.

What is you view regarding trying to get the look as close to the finished look in camera verses shooting flat and tweaking in post?
 
Yes, my own lights. I have 11 total, and they all run on standard power.

At most, I used six lights --- two back/side lights (a Lowel Caselite and Scandle), two soft front lights (Alzo 2000 with 35-inch softbox, and the Flo1400 --- usually set way back and raised up high enough to bounce off the white ceiling), and a couple small accent back/whatever lights (Lowel Pro lights).

I like to do as much in-camera as possible. That's just my personal preference, but I do think that extreme color correction generally degrades the image and often calls attention to itself.
 
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