SHU - Music Video - HVX/M2

escozooz

escozooz

Well-known member
Artist: SHU
Director: Dawude Gaston "Ooh"
DP: Matt Workman

20061106-01.jpg

AC: Mike Dispenza, Gaffer: Neal Dhand, Electrician: Jarod Su, Grip: Roman Posyavin

Three day shoot. Two music videos, one artist. Nice grip and electric package. Tungsten, Kino, HMI, etc. 8-10 hour days. The last day we had amazing catering. The best I've ever had period.

Watch Highlight Reel:
http://www.mattworkman.com/dp-v2/work-shu.html

Set Photos:
http://www.mattworkman.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=369

The color corrects aren't final for the video but they are for the highlight reel. Enjoi.

Cheers,

:beer: Matt
 
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man.... Its a good video for sure, nice shots, nice compositions, I can tell you are a good DP

but jesus...

the boasting and pure cheeseball factor is HARD to ignore in vids like this....

I know it probably wasnt youre idea for the rap dudes to throw money and pop champagne bottles but damn.... its just laughable what hip hop has become

that said, good work man.... I can tell youre a professional and you have a good eye

(although some of the magic bullet was a bit much, it kinda screamed magic bullet, if you know what I mean)

anywho, nice work bro
 
Hey Matt, stuff looked great. How'd the HVX/M2 setup workout for you? I saw you had an onboard? Was that your varizoom or did you rent an HD one? I'm still curious about the focusing issue- it looked like you did alright from the footage I saw. What was your (or more likely, your AC's) approach?
 
hoofandmouf said:
man.... Its a good video for sure, nice shots, nice compositions, I can tell you are a good DP

but jesus...

the boasting and pure cheeseball factor is HARD to ignore in vids like this....

I know it probably wasnt youre idea for the rap dudes to throw money and pop champagne bottles but damn.... its just laughable what hip hop has become

that said, good work man.... I can tell youre a professional and you have a good eye

(although some of the magic bullet was a bit much, it kinda screamed magic bullet, if you know what I mean)

anywho, nice work bro
Click to expand...


Says exactly what I was thinking. Borders on being completely amoral... Worst type of message and even has a kid in there too... WOW. Looks nice, but we wonder why our media culture is so messed up. The barbarians burned Rome for less than this...
 
The quality looks great!

It's funny though what had happened to Hip Hop. As I hosted one of the first Hip Hop Tv shows in the states in the late 80's the music has really lost it's edge. Last year I helped out on a video for a known Hip Hop group's video. All the money was fake, cars were leased for the shoot and they had to get a cab to get to the locations becuase thier cars were all broken down.

It's just funny to know how most of these rappers really roll...
 
rastagate... now that's funny and so true. I've worked on a few shoots and everything is borrowed, rented or stolen. So many times when I used to do that kind of work, I'd get paid in 5's and 1's... such obvious drug money. Was so dirty and disgraceful.


I've even heard that they rent the cars for MTVcribs as well... Now that's some bad apples....
 
Cliche

Cliche

Matt

The shots are good but the concept of the video is sad. It's a shame and disgrace how hip hop has become associated with the foolishness in the video. Money, girls and the glorification of material things is not art! It's embarassing to say the least.
 
Hi Guys,

Thanks, I think the photography is pretty decent. We shot 2 music videos for the same band in three days. Playback was a full time job.

Noah. After blocking, we figured out the camera movement and instead of measuring focus like in film we did it by eye. Then marked the focus disc, then dolly position. We are planning an SD export. If we were going HD I would have insisted on a 23" monitor and wouldn't be shooting HVX/M2.

As for the other discussion that this has turned into I have a few things to say:

1: Its been over 10 years since Paul Hunter and similar directors showed up and did the Puff Daddy videos. I don't think there are many people of the MTV generation who don't know that this formula is tired. Your not enlightening anyone, except for maybe yourselves.

2: Any claim of "KNOWING what hip hop is" and commenting on its current state I can almost disregard. How many friends of yours are living in the city unable to afford college and who are doing what they can to better there situation in a society that clearly wants to keep them down? If you KNOW what hip hop is and where its at TODAY, you wouldn't be saying this stuff.

3: WHO has created this enviornment where girls, money, drugs, etc. sell? There is a reason people emulate this. Its becasue it sells. Of course this is pretend, so is ANY music video. Its fiction, its an image, it sells. Its not the artist as much as it is who buys the music and who has created this market.

4: Who has heard of Jurassic 5, A Tribe Called Quest, etc. "HIP HOP" artists who have a different image. If you have heard of them when was their last hit? Now who has heard of 50 Cent, Paul Wall, Dem'Franchise Boys?

5: Cribs is a reality TV show. If you are so disillusioned by the fact that they rent cars to show off then I hate to tell you that The Real World, Fear Factor, etc. use similar tactics to get idiots to watch it. Cribs isn't CNN and they don't send a copy of it to their accountants at the end of the year.

I'm not disagreeing with anyones comments, but take a step back before you make any snap judgments in the message box.

Cheers,

:beer: Matt
 
Well Matt you have good points. What I tried to do is push the artists to try new things... Somethimes the Video can Inspire new thoughts and styles. I hope that what was once great, fun and meaninful music can be once again. For me I am not broke anymore, I dont live in poor neighboorhood anymore, I don't host a Hip Hop Tv show anymore, so to your point, I can't relate anymore.
 
Nice photography, I enjoyed the video. My comment is more regarding the use of the M2 and DOF... I just happened to think about it for my own work as well, so please take it more as a topic for discussion that a critic. But I do feel that many of us who use a 35mm adapter tend to go a bit overboard with DOF. I think it's great to have DOF here and there to emphasize a character in a story, or to use as a cinematic punctuation, but when it's everywhere and all over the place, it looses it's special quality.
 
there comes a time (and I believe that time is now) when artists have to accept personal responsibility for their music and who it impacts and what kind of cycle its perpetuating.... Mos Def sells records..... Common sells records...... maybe not as many as 50 cent but I can assure you this.... they might be selling less records but they are doing WAY more for the state of hiphop and they are doing way more for the struggles that inner city youth face everyday

and I'll leave it at that...... I'm not trying to thread hijack over here

again, nice work
 
This vid was just average, IMHO.

There were weird focus issues throughout the vid. The DOF and rack focus seemed to be really odd, and almost seemed like it was created haphazardly with software in post. It was pretty distracting...Maybe the M2 wasn't the best choice, or you should've tried less specific choices.

The composition wasn't anything too interesting, and the camera movements seem to be just a series of tracking shots, or dolly moves strung together with multiple locations, without any real thought to it. Even the babes weren't that hot, IMO. And for a t&a gangsta' vid it's all about the fly honeys. For this kind of vid to get attention ; it needs either a thematic thread or more dynamic and creative choices...

Besides all that, there were some nice exterior shots, though.

The content didn't bother me, but the lack of creativity did. Sorry if this review was harsh, but I'm not the type to wag the dog...

Cheers. :beer:
 
Justyn said:
rastagate... now that's funny and so true. I've worked on a few shoots and everything is borrowed, rented or stolen. So many times when I used to do that kind of work, I'd get paid in 5's and 1's... such obvious drug money. Was so dirty and disgraceful.


I've even heard that they rent the cars for MTVcribs as well... Now that's some bad apples....
Click to expand...
F what you heard. Alot of these rappers hustle is crazy, take for instance Peedi Crack http://www.rocafella.com/Artist.aspx?id=22&avid=126&idj=476. Most of you don't know who he is, but his burn on the east coast is phenomenal. I shot a video for a song he did with some cats in Delaware. They paid him $2500 for 16 bars on this song. I know, I know... doesn't sound like much, and I laughed like damn he's rushin' down here for $2500? I'm thinkin' that's peanuts for a "made" recording artist, but I didn't factor in the 8 other songs he did for various local acts at $2500 a pop, plus he got a ridiculous fee to host a friggin mix tape...i.e. talk **** over the tape. He managed to rush down in a very nice S600 too. He charged them another $3500 for an appearance fee in the video, and 1500 to perform the same measley 16 bar verse. Two other acts he recorded songs with were there and paid him to perform with their groups. So lets talley...9x2500=22,500, 4500 for performances totalling not more than 3 minutes (of which he forgot his lyrics for one of the songs), 3500 for the video appearance. That's 30g's for one month, and the act I shot the video with could'nt come up with the 10 grand clearance for Def Jam/Rocafella. Peedi doesn't even know when his albums gonna drop, but he makes a damn good livin'. That's just one exampl of a semi famous rapper that i've delt with, but with all the dope money floating around in the record industry.
 
He's got lots of change for the tolls then with that amont of it. Good job. Getting paid is always admirable.
 
I like the photos from the shoot. Gives a better perspective of the production. It's great that Matt shares his work. He sounds passionate about hip-hop. Since he's a newyorker, i give him the benefit of the doubt as to what's real or not in hiphop today. Clipwise, it looks pretty good. The lip syncing is way off though, and if i ever saw that on tv i would think it was wack. I'm sure he will be fixing it. I also feel that Matt's inner knowledge of life among the marginalized, could yield some deep stuff. The attitiude in this video though is like cheep porno; apparently a lot of people buy it. On the positive side, I'm going to newyork next weekend, so I'll PM you if i need to pick up any gear
 
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"Music videos are one of two things. They're either simple performance showcases or attempts at making cinematic art. Hiphop's overrated, overly sexed up four minute montages known for their booty shaking bimbos, have not only made urban legends of directors, but, in some cases, outcasts of the artistic class. And, as with any art form, there are always those shining stars that bubble up to become the exception to the rule."

Unleashed quote about Joseph Kahn
 
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