California (music video)

Re: California (music video)

I think it was awesome. I really liked the coloring a lot.

I would agree with John about the car stuff. It changed the mood a bit for me a little. It seems the car scenes in music videos are getting a bit played out. But if the client wants it, then what can you do.

Great job.
 
Re: California (music video)

Hey everyone, thank you for the tremendous response. I'm really glad most of you like the video.

John- Thanks man, one day I will get the 5 out of 5 stars. (fingers crossed) As with any project, some things work, some things don't. There were some additional unshot scenes before the car sequence that may have made it more motivated, but the lack of a budget and time cost us in story.
Thirsty- Thanks, I'd be totally open to some PR stuff for Panasonic, but they don't seem to have much a presence on this site. Maybe they could help get me a camera in exchange, I'm growing tired of always borrowing or renting the DVX for these projects.
Carrington- We used the old DVX100. I don't think I've actually seen a DVX100a. As far as broadcast goes, I'm really unsure of what to do with the video. I was leaving that up to the artist and producers, but it'd be great if it went somewhere! I've used Magic Bullet in past, but haven't been happy with the results. There seemed to be a lack of control and I like to be in after effects as little as possible. the film look plugs I used didn't actually do anything to the frame rate, they just altered the look of the image. 55mm gave me the extra options to adjust the image, to what I had envisioned. Even though the video was always is broad daylight, I wanted to have a good portion of it in shadow and dark, like the storyline.
DVXShooter - Yes, 55mm is made by Digital Film Tools. If you have a link to Rob's video, I'd love to see it.
Rich Lee - I'm with you on the cliched hip-hop videos. I actually shot one back in January and couldn't have been more unsatisfied with the results. I'm really happy the artist on this video was willing to go with a very dark storyline, which had caused a certain amount of controversy within our production group. People dropped out / tried to convince me to go with another storyline, but the artist seemed to have faith. It was a nice change. As far as MTV goes, I approached them back in january and it took about a half hour to get a rude intern/receptionist to tell me "We don't accept anything from Indies". The FUSE channel seemed more receptive, perhaps I'll send it to them.
DerekB - Agreed.
Araujofh/Gabe - Thanks guys!
HansK - Well... there's a funny story behind one of the car mount shots, but due to potential incrimidating evidence, I'll refrain from sharing on the net. But yes, I was nervous about the rig. You can see it in the Behind-the-Scenes photos. We built it ourselves and cost us about $200 in total. The suction cups hold a good amount of weight, but the area in which you apply them has to be spotless. We also rachet-strapped it to the car. And yes, we shot it in Oakland over 2 days.
Mark - I agree with the overuse of cars in these kinds of videos. We had to try it out, get it on our reels. A guilty pleasure, that did serve the original storyline. We originally had an Impala scheduled for the shoot, but it couldn't make it to the locations due to it only be able to drive for 50 miles or so... or that's what I was told. The camara was last minute and is a lot more obnoxious than an older car, in my opinion. But I'm glad you liked it anyhow, thanks for checking it out!

Thanks everyone, truly. This board rocks.

-CJ
www.arkhamfilms.com
 
Re: California (music video)

Amazing work as always CJ

The car stuff looked outstanding. I got more used to it being in the video after a couple of watches. But amazing stuff all round.

A
 
Re: California (music video)

I do pro music videos out of Miami. Great stuff. Disciplined handle of camera and movements. I was hoping you would share how you got the white bleached streaks on the girl getting raped shot. Please fill us in. Also, where can one get that filtered look you spoke about? Magic Bullet just came out with a Mac version.

I went crazy over your Light of Day Video. That mirror shot where his reflection is singing to him blew me away. I was more impressed with the creative aspect of it than the technical one. I have to admit that I will want to use that idea in an upcoming video. (Sorry, I couldn't resist!). Did you toggle back and forth using your ATW to get that blue effect in the bathroom shots? How did you achieve the Sephia look for the guys master shot in the bathroom. Light of Day moved very nicely. The pacing and mood was great. Excellent visual and creative direction.

Quality work overall. By the way, are you into Mark Romanek at all?
Check out his website www.markromanek.com He is considered to be THE music video guru. Check out the "Hurt" video he did for Johnny Cash.

Best,

Tony D.
Dark Room Pictures
 
Re: California (music video)

Hey Tony,

I'm glad you liked the videos. First, I did not make Light of Day. It was done by a friend and extraordinarily talented director from Toronto, Chris Pickle (www.chrispickle.com). We exhibit his work whenever he has something new for us, and it's always fantastic. I informed him of your question and he should respond shortly.
as the for the California video, I used 55mm's "streaks" filter to get the streaks on the girl, during the rape scene. You can get the 55mm filter set at www.digitalfilmtools.com . It's a great set, and I had been using magic bullet for the mac, on AE for quite a while, but 55mm has been my set of choice as of late.
And yes, I love mark Romanek. He constantly blows me away. I loved his NIN work, Johnny Cash and the Linkin Park video he did where most of the video was behind the band, during a performance. Great work. Can't wait for his DVD collection to come out.

Thanks again.
-CJ
www.arkhamfilms.com
 
Re: California (music video)

To get a 5 Star Rating on the Hudson Scale I have to want to watch it over and over and forward it to my friends and save it and show my wife........

Well you get the picture. This is pretty damn near a 5 except Im not a fan of Rap/Hip Hop.

Not that a Hudson Rating means anything. :P
 
Re: California (music video)

Hey DarkOne, thanks for the kudos on "Light of Day". CJ has been great at showing our work on his site. He rocks!

The various colour treatments on LOD were done mostly in post, although I did favour blue slightly incamera on the shoot. Sometimes I will just cheat the WB a bit, or just slide the colour towards blue incamera.

The mirror was pretty simple lock-off and split screen. Actually, my editor suggested it. As a director I tend to work more from gut and story and then look for technical/slickness from my editor, Jordan Krug, or fellow director, Nick Shields.

As far as the DVX100. It rocks. I had a chance to work with famed music video director Darren Doanne in LA on a few vids. This was when the 100 was just slightly available to the public. I was amazed. As soon as I got back to Canada, I tracked one down very early. I recently produced a large budget commercial series with the big brother, the SDX 900. It looked great, but required SD edit. I could just as easily shot them with the 100 except the size of the cheque that the client was writing didn't match the size of the 100. Anyway. Thanks again.

Cheers,
KOF
 
Re: California (music video)

Very cool. There is few I can say to add to what has been said about it, and that's all complements! But I did miss seeing the gun in the final cut. I got that he was reaching for it way before the shots, but it felt strange... I tought it would payoff later on, maybe he dropping it on the floor, etc... But it was great, nonetheless!
 
Re: California (music video)

Dude, i love it, i really need to get my own dvx and a steadycam. Did you use a steady cam btw?
 
Re: California (music video)

Sketta- Thanks for checking out the video, no we did not use a steadicam. The shakycam was handheld and everything else was dolly or sticks.
The DP is a steadicam operator, though we didn't feel we needed to use it.

-CJ
www.arkhamfilms.com
 
Re: California (music video)

[quote author=ArkhamFilms link=board=Clips;num=1089530703;start=0#6 date=07/11/04 at 11:24:48] skin smoothing for the actress, (we used harsh lighting on her) etc.


[/quote]

ooh whats this effect? i was curious how videos like britney spears allways look airbrushed, is that heavy makeup or using an effect?
how did you do this effect? (i.e which program?)

thanks!
James
 
Re: California (music video)

May I ask what brand and/or model did you use for the tripod and dolly?
 
Re: California (music video)

Oh, also, did you use a anamorphic adaper or squeeze mode when you made it?
 
Re: California (music video)

[quote author=James Sutton link=board=Clips;num=1089530703;start=30#32 date=07/16/04 at 03:32:52]
ooh whats this effect? i was curious how videos like britney spears allways look airbrushed, is that heavy makeup or using an effect?
how did you do this effect? (i.e which program?)
[/quote]
James- I used a select focus filter within 55mm's filter set for FCP. It worked out pretty well, I think.

Eqwalker- We used two different tripods. One comprised of very old sachtler sticks and an o'connor head. The other tripod was a piece of crap generic video tripod. Frankly, I use whatever I can to get the shot. A lot of times I rested the camera on a sandbag.
As for the dolly, it's homemade. Metal pipe, plywood and skateboard wheels. There wasn't a budget, so we couldn't rent any kinds of dollies.

Also, we did not use an anamorphic adapter, everything was straight out of the box. *Edit* We shot it 4:3. No squeeze, no matte. I did all the matte work in post.

Let me know if you have any further questions.
Thanks.

-CJ
www.arkhamfilms.com
 
Re: California (music video)

CJ

Home made dolly?!! It looks great. Wow man. You really inspire. Awesome.
 
Re: California (music video)

Excellent work C.J. ! I not the biggest fan of shaky cam unless, that is, if there is a lot of confusion going on. I can even tolerate a few fast zooms then too. But you, you come along and make this thing deserving of broadcast. I'll see you on the RED CARPET sooner or later so get your tux out.

Did you do the muzzle flash in post ?
 
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