Am I headed in the right direction?

Azmyth

Azmyth

Veteran
I haven't shot a whole lot on my T2i, mostly just "tests" and home video stuff. This is my first attempt at anything semi serious with it. I am doing a freebie hip hop music video for a friend of mine. We used the T2i with the kit lens (thats all I have for now) and I shot hand held for most of it on a monopod.

I don't know if I'm headed in the right direction or not with how this "looks". Does it look music videoish? Also, a big problem I have is figuring out how to light outside. For this we didn't even light it at all, because it was overcast. I broke out the reflectors at one point, but they didn't seem to be doing anything.

Here's a few stills, Id like to get some tips and pointers on how to get better looking footage.. more cinematic if you will. The artists chose the locations, so that was out of my control.

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Hi,

I am not the most experienced filmmaker on this board to say the least, but I do want to give you some advice that suits my 'taste' more.

Everything in film production consists of artistic choices and there are no rules. I am simply giving my opinion.

Three things that I think can be improved are

- Framing
- Depth of field
- Light

For the framing I think you shouldn't take shots that wide like in the first still. There is too much too see in the frame so your attention doesnt go automaticly to the artists. 2nd and 3rd are much better in that regard.

Depth of field is the biggest 'miss' of these stills for me. What looks more 'filmic' (also for music videos) is when the background is (a bit) thrown out of focus and thus making it blurry, while the subject (artists) is sharp.
You can do that by opening up the aperture as much as possible and by putting the artists further away from the building, and then shooting arround 50-85 mm on your zoom lens. That should leave you with a nice background blur (also known as 'bokeh') and puts the attention to the artists, as well as creating a more 'magical' and 'professional' look. Try it out.

If the 50-85mm doesn't cut it, you need to buy a lens which enables for a higher maximum aperture. That can be as cheap as $100, namely the Canon 50mm F1.8 II.

Tip: The further the actors are from the background (the building) and the longer the lens in combination with a big aperture, the shallower the depth of field.

Light is the last point. I have to admit I am pretty new to that myself so I leave that advice to somebody else. I just see that it could be better...


The 550D is capable of beautiful looking videos so you got a nice camera. Hope my advice helps!
 
Thanks for the tips. I honestly didn't even notice the depth of field, until after I shot it (not sure how I did that) but to me thats the biggest thing about it that doesn't look right.
 
Just a quick note, but be SUPER careful shooting against brick walls. It's going to give you something called "aliasing" that will will create this weird effect that looks like arcs across the bricks due to the tight parallel lines.
 
Another advantage of swallowing your DoF is that blurred backgrounds tend not to alias as badly.

Your first frame definitely has too much going on. Composition is the most important part of this. You can improve by practice and studying art; any kind, composition has been the same concept since people first put paint to rock.
 
yeah, part of the problem too is that "they" picked the locations. I sort of just showed up and shot it. I would have chosen somewhere else, had it been me. This is my first music video of any kind, so Its a learning process. I'm just trying to correct my mistakes as I go, so I don't make them later on.

Luckily these shots are only minor parts of the video, and I haven't shot the other more narrative stuff that will be the main focus of the video. I did this one for free because I know I was just trying to learn to begin with. I actually totally forgot about the aliasing. I haven't noticed any in my footage, but I would have told them that brick wall = bad idea.. had I remembered.. I'm new to DSLR's so I totally let that slip my mind.
 
Oh you can think about aliasing and completely miss it, too. Every time I shoot, I find something else that sucks for aliasing. Blinds, vinyl siding, power lines, shingles on a roof...
 
There is nothing wrong with a wide shot ( like the first pic ) but it was just framed wrong in my opinion. To much of the floor is being shown + the artists are all bunch up. Finally if you were doing this Music Video for free, this is the time where YOU can be most creative and try new things.
 
Yesh indeed, I agree with what the others have said. Now a couple of points:

One, it seems like you're on a budget, but if you can afford it, I would get the 50mm f/1.8. I use as my primary video lens, and I think it works quite beautifully. It's under $100 usually, and it gives you the ability to shoot in low light, as well as shooting with narrow depth of field. If you can't, or don't want to, that's cool--nothing wrong with the kit lens.

As for composition, there are a few quick things you can do for these shots. I think your location is fine here, you just need to "work" with it a little more perhaps.

In shot 1 you have all of your artists right in the center of the frame, with even spacing between the top, bottom, and sides. This is just kind of a boring look. Try putting your artists more to the bottom of the frame, and just a tad to the right. Second, all of your artists are clumped together and symmetrical. Try giving them more dynamic posing; Maybe have your left man with his foot up on the cinder blocks, maybe the guy on the right sitting even--just something to spice it up.

In shot 2 you've got you front man, and he's looking good, but you've framed him right in the center again, with his forehead almost being cut off at the top. Try opening a little space on the left and bringing his eyes so they're 1/3 of the way from the top. You've also got him closer than I would recommend to the background; If you want that poppy music video look, you need to bring him far from the background, set your lens to 50-80mm, frame him, then focus in, and you'll find that your background is nicely blurred and your subject really pops.

Shot 3 isn't bad, but to me it's framed too tight. Your lead artist has got his forehead touching the top, and the other two are almost at their necks. Again, bring them out from the background, set your focal length to about 50mm, and frame get everyone nicely in the frame. That might mean having him step down, backing up, or just shooting from a lower angle (which I would recommend, as it'll bring everyone more in line with each other).

Here's a nice video that covers a bunch of different techniques to get a nice product:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZA9r0iWbdw
 
Shot one actually could turn into a good shot if you used the space you had to your advantage. Aligning them in z space(maybe whoever had the lead in the foreground in a medium shot with a full shot of the other two in the background) could help spice this angle up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk2JOON_Xgw at :48-:51,:59-1:04 are good examples of this. As far as dof goes I'm pretty much in agreeance with everyone else. bring your subject away from the background then use a long lens to compress the space and then you will have the background you want along with a more pleasing image because of the added bokeh. As far as lighting goes you could use a reflector to reflect in some of the sunlight from above and behind the building you're at(At least I think because shot one is showing flare so im guess the sun is aiming directly at the camera) but you dont have to if you introduce more depth but it would add more umph to the shot. Other than that you're good.
 
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