And yet another T2i Music Video...

Michael Carter

Michael Carter

Veteran
Well, the last one of these I did kinda divided you peeps - from "best music video ever on this site" to "poorly shot and edited". So go on, whack me once more...


90% of this was shot with one of those cheap $40 eBay soccer-mom screw-on wide adapters - which you just can't beat for amazing chromatic aberration and "dreamy" softness in the corners. I dunno why they call those things "HD", but the center is kinda sharp. Cool look if ya ask me, for a one-time style - that is one jacked up piece of glass, and I loved it. Most of the time screwed to a Nikon Manual 28mm 2.8, one or two shots with a 100 2.8. Lots of "Slider bolted to the ceiling" shots, too.

I need to go through and mess with color on some shots, but we'll see if I get the time. Crank your speakers, if nothing else the song was beautifully produced, recorded and mixed.
 
A lot of great shots, really nice job. Very nice fx as well..... The only question I have is what exactly did you use for lighting?
 
Thanks. Lighting... I really tried to use daylight-balanced lights for everything; the performance stuff was shot in a 3-walled "cube" I built in a spare bedroom (with a fourth wall I could clamp in place for the overhead shots). That was a mix of twin-biax flo's (2x55 per unit), a 750 fresnel with blue gels through the little "window", and an 18" china ball (one side spray painted black) with a 45 watt spiral in it. I painted the ceiling green for keying so, no bounce - lighting with the 4th wall in place was tough, 7-foot high cube under 8-ft. ceilings with an Igus slider screwed to the ceiling.

The other stuff was all shot around my house, with natural daylight, the biax flos, chinas with 45 or 80 watt flo's, and gelled 500 or 750 fresnels. I tried to light pretty flat, and keep the low-mids more open. I lit a 10' wide greenscreen with 2 biax flo's, and a 4' home depot worklight lying on the floor (twin daylight tubes) for the shots of the "guy in suit" (that's my son, he was very available and I had just bought him a suit for homecoming). Those long worklights are great for flattening a greenscreen out.

That lens is awesome in a crazy way - focuses to like 2", literally - panning across a face or a still life is like an aerial shot over skyscrapers. I was bumping Chris' face with my rod ends for those closeups.

rig2.jpg

rig1.jpg
 
wow. nice ride. very creative. i really like this. oh and the song is really good also.

what Matte box is that?
 
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Thanks. Indian matte box, baby! Without the flags in the shots above. Works fine, 2 4x4 filter stages, one rotates. The flags don't attach amazingly well, but I find I don't use them that often. About $340 I think; rods style, not screw on. For this video I actually rarely used it - that lens was just too wide. Had it on for the outdoor stuff, except where I wanted that killer lens flare - that cheap thing gets some amazing flare shapes.

There's a couple shots where you can clearly see twin biax tubes reflected in the lens, right over the singer's face - simply could not flag them off without the flag being in the shot.

I shot all the flares and smoke plates, too - seems more natural, and you can build a library of that stuff.
 
This was awesome man!

I can tell that a lot of work went into that. The only thing that I didn't like was his face seemed a little shiny. If that was a choice you made cool. just wasn't my taste (I am nitpicking by the way.)
 
Absolutely great work, and very nice result. Amazingly sharp as well.

Two questions:

* I have not yet used a Matte Box (still figuring out what benefits it gives), do you notice a difference when using it with or without the Matte Box?

* What soccer-mom screw-on wide adapters are you referring to? Do you happen to have an eBay link?
 
Taapo said:
* I have not yet used a Matte Box (still figuring out what benefits it gives), do you notice a difference when using it with or without the Matte Box?

* What soccer-mom screw-on wide adapters are you referring to? Do you happen to have an eBay link?
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A Matte box primarily does two things: reduces flare, and gives you a platform to use filters. You can achieve both without a matte box though; but you'll need hoods and filters for each lens size. and a matte box will give you a lot more control over flare in extreme situations outdoors, or when you have a lighting setup that's giving you flare.

DavidFulde said:
The only thing that I didn't like was his face seemed a little shiny. If that was a choice you made cool. just wasn't my taste (I am nitpicking by the way.)
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Yeah, I really noticed that in the edit - in the future, I need to think about using a makeup person or learning some tips (but my brain is all filled up for now). The singer's only negative comment was the "bags under his eyes", so next time I do one of these I'll see if the talent wants to pay for a makeup person.

I did this project for free - spent maybe $300 on it, so I was really watching every penny.
 
Michael Carter said:
A Matte box primarily does two things: reduces flare, and gives you a platform to use filters. You can achieve both without a matte box though; but you'll need hoods and filters for each lens size. and a matte box will give you a lot more control over flare in extreme situations outdoors, or when you have a lighting setup that's giving you flare.



Yeah, I really noticed that in the edit - in the future, I need to think about using a makeup person or learning some tips (but my brain is all filled up for now). The singer's only negative comment was the "bags under his eyes", so next time I do one of these I'll see if the talent wants to pay for a makeup person.

I did this project for free - spent maybe $300 on it, so I was really watching every penny.
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Free!????? You could have easily charged any artist $1k for this.
 
life4eva said:
Free!????? You could have easily charged any artist $1k for this.
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Yeah, but the artist needs to have that $1k lying around!

This dude is going to cover my hard costs, which were paint, some insulation panels and the girl. But this (and the first one I did) were just massive learning experiences at many levels, from purely technical, to software, to bigger issues of visualizing metaphors, etc. I just can't learn a lot if it's not an "assignment", and I really wanted to do something "cool, pretty, deep" - whatever you want to call a film that doesn't start with "are you tired of diets that just don't work??"

I've got one more of these to do - trade out for the girl who appeared in the first video, who's a cool singer songwriter, and we're in the process of recording a couple of her songs to choose (and again, I'm getting a heck of a ProTools education doing that). But man, the next one will likely be a straightforward lip-synched performance on a cool set, not weeks of thinking "what symbolizes these lyrics" and shooting tons of footage... that, to me, was the hardest thing, coming up with visual metaphors that could be achieved with people/sets/props that I had available.

However, I've been self-employed for over 10 years, I get to work out of my home studio surrounded by guitars, grip and cameras, and a lot of that has come about because I did cheap or free creative work. I generally say "let me do this how I want", and I come out of it with a ton of knowledge, portfolio stuff, and people who feel they really, really owe me - though I do tend to do that only for people who seem pretty "nice" vs. people who have "pull" or connections. It's probably a practical and real-world exercise in karma - ya never know what will come of it down the road, but it's always something good.
 
NormanBates said:
nice video

... just in case someone is thinking about getting that cheap adaptor just for toying around, if it is something like this:
http://cgi.ebay.es/Pro-58mm-0-45x-W...graphy_CamcorderAccess_RL&hash=item483c70156b
it has a secondary use: the macro bit makes for a killer DIY LCD viewfinder: very small contraption with huge magnification; I know I love mine
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That's essentially what I used, I dug around for the widest one they had.

(It's freaking hilarious they call that a "pro" adapter... it is whacked!!!)

And yes, mine screws in two, and you can also use just the diopter on your lens. Haven't tested that extensively so I'm not sure where the insane blur & chroma stuff comes from. I'll keep mine in my bag though, ya never know.

I do think I'll get the Nikon-mount Kiev fisheye at some point - Ken Rockwell tested it and (as I recall) at 2.8 it's a joke, but stopped down it's actually sharper than the comparable Nikkor. And it's under $300.
 
Awesome video... the opening shots are pretty sick... especially the overhead shot of the girl in bed... that's a perfect shot in many ways... How did you get the great highlights on her and the bed sheets? Also, the room is very cool.. it looks like a fake room made on a set.. so small... The question is... is that a screengrab you manipulated in photoshop and then rotated it in your video editor? Because in the other scene, the room is alot bigger... Im also puzzled by the window, its next to the head of her bed in one scene and on the side in the other scene, with bookshelves next to it... Very creative stuff, congrats!
 
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