A7s Dance video went viral over the weekend... on accident

timmilgram

timmilgram

Active member
Had an interesting experience over the past few days; figured I'd share it with you guys.

Over a month ago I released this video I shot on the A7s. It really wasn't getting a ton of attention (maybe 60k views on YouTube up until this past Thursday).

Then 5 days ago somebody tagged me on Facebook asking "is this your video??". And it turns out some DJ/group-of-DJ's took our video, cut out all the logos/credits at the beginning and end and put some remix of a completely different song they did on top of it, and then uploaded it to Facebook without anyone's permission. When I reached out to them to ask them to take it down, they seemed extremely apologetic and asked me what it would take to keep it up since it was getting tons of hits. I reluctantly agreed to let them keep the video as long as they tag/credit me, the dancers/choreographer, and link to the original video on YouTube. Over the weekend it has gone from 100k views when I found out about it to about 8 million views, and sent a good amount of traffic my way. So far it's been featured on Huffington Post, Elite Daily, and Nylon Magazine. It also got the attention of a well-known music video director I've looked up to for a while, who reached out to me about representing me as a director, which I'm definitely excited about.

So although I have mixed feelings about having my intellectual property ripped/shared on the wild-west-of-videos known as Facebook, my choice to let them continue promoting their remix using my video really worked out in my favor.


More importantly than all the above background weirdness, let me know what you guys think from a cinematography/editing/coloring standpoint! Shot this in just under 4 hours with the Letus Helix Jr. Gimbal and Tamron 24-70mm VC lens.





And for those curious about what it looks like to their remix, check out the viral video on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Karetus/videos/922847041100236
 
Last edited:
The dancers are awesome, the video is very nicely shot, it deserved some attention. It's a pity that it took theft for it to get it, but well, at least you were lucky enough to notice soon enough. Overall, I'd say: Congrats!

Do you have the link to the stolen version? Just to see if they improved it somehow, or just have the clout to bring the visits.
 
Dude, I f*cking loved it!! Sick stuff... Shame they took the liberty of stealing your material, but it seems to be beneficial to you. Did you use any reflectors? And what about focusing whilst flying?Or was it wide and stopped down enough without the need for any focus pulls?

Keep up the great work!
 
Last edited:
Those girls are very talented. The video looked great. Very well composed and shot.
I'm glad to see your work is getting the attention it deserves.
 
I cought this off your website about 2 weeks ago (clicked on your link when you replied to someone's directors reel). Saw the facebook one last week and wanted to point you to it but did not remeber your username.

I thought it was done pretty well. I have actualy watched (your version) a couple times checking out your edit points. Good luck on the future.
 
WOW!! I really enjoyed that Tim. Awesome job. Have to watch it again! How did you focus with the Tamron 24-70 and A7s?
 
Last edited:
I like the cool grade with the complementary orange lift on the skin tones. Also, I think the camera movements and the edits added to the choreography. I notice on many high budget work were the camera/editor doesn't know about dance, the edits and final product take away from the choreography. You clearly are in tune with what the dancers are doing.

I also really liked the funny faces the girls were making from time to time. They have a lot of character.

What lens you using? Also, was this crop mode? Did you use external monitor or recorder?
 
The dancers are awesome, the video is very nicely shot, it deserved some attention.
Click to expand...

+1

So much that I could say....first off, the ripoff Rianna audio isn't really in sync with your video. The way they clipped the opening titles, bottom feeder tactics. It's lame, but like you said, Wild West of the internet. Hopefully in a roundabout way, this event will bring you good attention.

I like the background. Great location.
 
Samuel H said:
The dancers are awesome, the video is very nicely shot, it deserved some attention. It's a pity that it took theft for it to get it, but well, at least you were lucky enough to notice soon enough. Overall, I'd say: Congrats!

Do you have the link to the stolen version? Just to see if they improved it somehow, or just have the clout to bring the visits.
Click to expand...

Thanks man! Yep the link is actually in my original post at the very bottom.

Andrew C said:
Dude, I f*cking loved it!! Sick stuff... Shame they took the liberty of stealing your material, but it seems to be beneficial to you. Did you use any reflectors? And what about focusing whilst flying?Or was it wide and stopped down enough without the need for any focus pulls?

Keep up the great work!
Click to expand...

Thanks Andrew! I had 1 assistant with a reflector. As far as focus, I had the lens set to 28mm for most of the shoot and fstop set to around F9. If I needed a tighter shot I would switch to crop mode which instantaneously gave me a 45mm equivalent with the same DOF. I love working like this, it's fast as hell.

awomias said:
WOW!! I really enjoyed that Tim. Awesome job. Have to watch it again! How did you focus with the Tamron 24-70 and A7s?
Click to expand...

Thank you! I'm glad you like it. Read the one right above this for what I did in terms of focus.

abreu-canedo said:
I like the cool grade with the complementary orange lift on the skin tones. Also, I think the camera movements and the edits added to the choreography. I notice on many high budget work were the camera/editor doesn't know about dance, the edits and final product take away from the choreography. You clearly are in tune with what the dancers are doing.

I also really liked the funny faces the girls were making from time to time. They have a lot of character.

What lens you using? Also, was this crop mode? Did you use external monitor or recorder?
Click to expand...

Thank you! I really appreciate you saying that. As a dancer myself that's how I got into filming so that connection to dance/movement is something I take pride in. The lens I was using is the 24-70mm Tamron VC, set to 28mm for most of the dance shots. I switched to crop mode only when I needed a tighter shot. No monitor/recorder. Just PP5 with Pro color.
 
timmilgram said:
Thank you! I really appreciate you saying that. As a dancer myself that's how I got into filming so that connection to dance/movement is something I take pride in. The lens I was using is the 24-70mm Tamron VC, set to 28mm for most of the dance shots. I switched to crop mode only when I needed a tighter shot. No monitor/recorder. Just PP5 with Pro color.
Click to expand...

Nice video! I read what you said about how focus was handled, so did you use auto focus at all or did you just leave it in manual focus all the time and let it be figuring that most of the scene would be in focus anyways at f9 28mm?
 
joker454 said:
Nice video! I read what you said about how focus was handled, so did you use auto focus at all or did you just leave it in manual focus all the time and let it be figuring that most of the scene would be in focus anyways at f9 28mm?
Click to expand...


I could be wrong but I don't think A7s does auto focus. I mostly just kept the focus distance at around 4 feet at f9-f10 and that did the trick. Yeah 28mm is wide enough that you get a solid 10-15 foot area that's pretty dang sharp.
 
timmilgram said:
I could be wrong but I don't think A7s does auto focus. I mostly just kept the focus distance at around 4 feet at f9-f10 and that did the trick. Yeah 28mm is wide enough that you get a solid 10-15 foot area that's pretty dang sharp.
Click to expand...

It does but only with Sony lenses. It's not terribly fast like the Samsung NX1.
 
This s*%t is so dope! Firstly the girls can crank! I love the both tracks (Big Sean & Rhianna), and the grade is buttery. I hope you get a ton of work from this bro because you have an eye that corresponds to rhythm, i've seen a ton of these videos shot for Nick Bass, Mischa Gabriel and other big names (don't judge me) but there is camera choreography that goes with the choreography that most people miss, and you nailed it. Congrats!

Edit:

Maaannnn you did the joint with the young girl from work it too??!!! Should have known. I hope you're strapped in because you're getting ready to blow lol!! I bet J. Kahn is the guy wanting to rep you...he'd be crazy not too.
 
Last edited:
cinebuddy said:
This s*%t is so dope! Firstly the girls can crank! I love the both tracks (Big Sean & Rhianna), and the grade is buttery. I hope you get a ton of work from this bro because you have an eye that corresponds to rhythm, i've seen a ton of these videos shot for Nick Bass, Mischa Gabriel and other big names (don't judge me) but there is camera choreography that goes with the choreography that most people miss, and you nailed it. Congrats!

Edit:

Maaannnn you did the joint with the young girl from work it too??!!! Should have known. I hope you're strapped in because you're getting ready to blow lol!! I bet J. Kahn is the guy wanting to rep you...he'd be crazy not too.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the kind words! I've actually worked with Misha on a project, so it would be pretty funny/ironic if you were referring to that vid... lol. Either way, thank you so much!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top