Great Music Video Shot on the 7D!! Lil iLL "She Likes My Swag"

M

moviemaykr

Active member
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Hey everyone, here is a new music video I directed with a 19 yr old rapper (LiL iLL) in Los Angeles. He has never done a video before and comes from a family of 13 and is the oldest. He produced and wrote the song himself.
After he told me his story and that he hopes to get signed so he can help his family out, well I have a soft spot for the underdogs in the music world.

I wanted to do something different so we used my friend Boomer's, Canon 7D for the whole video.
I came up with a funny and easy concept that we actually shot in my back alley and the other stuff was shot on a green-screen in my studio at work.

We got it all don't in one day and had a lot of fun and plenty of laughs from people watching from the other apartment buildings.
Yes those are silk Pittsburgh Steelers boxer shorts that the thug tries to steal!!

Enjoy
Michael Chase Gordon


(Make sure you click the button to the right to watch it in HD)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gDXoOCWIgA[/FONT]
 
Really good haha - I enjoyed it. Looked like a lot of motion blur though, but concept was cool and well executed.

Kegan
 
Probably not due to the CMOS sensor, but the camera operation aka Operator error or perhaps the blur was intentional?
 
We had some shots intentionally out of focus.

We had some shots intentionally out of focus.

Also we used the Lens Baby at the beginning. I was having fun with different styles as well as using different setups. Motion blur if any could come from the lowest frame rates we shot at which at some points in the video would probably be at 24FPS.
 
moviemaykr said:
Also we used the Lens Baby at the beginning. I was having fun with different styles as well as using different setups. Motion blur if any could come from the lowest frame rates we shot at which at some points in the video would probably be at 24FPS.
Click to expand...

Shooting 24P will not exhibit exagerrated motion blur if a 1/45 or faster shutter is employed. In most cases this amount of motion blur is undesirable and a direct result of improper camera operation, but as I figured this was a desired look yes?
 
Yeah I guess we did some shots at 1/24 shutter. Im actually testing some great lens tonight on the Canon 5D. I want to see how well it shoots at night with just a Kino Barfly 200.
 
Its not really jelloing when your shooting all handheld. LOL

Its not really jelloing when your shooting all handheld. LOL

Im not sure the 7D has any jello affect anyways. This video was done all in natural light in the alleyways. Of course if I wanted I would have rigged the cart and have portable sun gun and yadda yadda but that wasnt the point. I didnt want to I just wanted to play with the camera, plus the kid had no budget. LOL

I was having fun with this camera at its most natural settings, in one day and no fuss of having to rig or set up anything.
 
The video and your project is great. For the resources and given time it looks really cool.

I am just wondering if that blur and motion issue could be avoided while using the 7D for such projects (there is amazing footage around which proves it). Probably as Kholi said, it might be simply due to the shutter speed. That would be a logical explanation.
 
It was hard to watch due to the strobe effect and I wish the rapscene could reinvent their videos. For me they all look the same - A guy rappin directly into the camera and chicks. Come on be more creative!
 
Totally love this video!

I find many rap videos unwatchable. Bling this. ***** that. Cap whoever.

This is a breath of fresh air! I wish both you and Mr iLL the best!
 
BTW: what does it mean "swag" ? Is it something referring to money ? Pile of money or something like that ? :)
Sorry for my poor English.
 
nice vid.

quite like the concept and it aint so typical for a video of this genre...apart from the babe bit...but shes nice too.. lol
 
Swag i'm guessing is like 'style'

Shooting this weekend on a greenscreen so this was fun to watch. You have a good pacing and editing through the video. Stronger grading would have really brought this to the next level and i see what others were saying about motion blur. But in all good work. You filmed a lots of shots and kept it interesting!

Curious: was this shot in WeHo ? Looks like where I use to live (any troubles shooting on the streets of LA?)
 
Last edited:
I find it really funny that...

I find it really funny that...

editman says rap videos are all the same about a guy rapping into the camera and this and that. As another poster stated we clearly didnt go that route with alcohol, booty bitches shaking butts, guns or club scenes.

I guess editman couldnt tell that this was the complete opposite from those type videos and also that when a kid or band has never done a music video and is not signed to a label, the thing you should concentrate on is introducing their face to the world.
I didnt think I would have to spell it out but in the entertainment biz "SWAG" stands for "**** We All Get", also "SWAG" can be short for a persons swagger or style, in this case the cart full of interesting things and his kindness and talent to fix cars all came into play in a comic way.

There was also the use of a positive college dance group, the UCLA Jerkers, which with the younger kids these days there is a style dance called " Jerkin"
As for the so called "strobe effect" im not sure if your watching on a 1990's monitor or something but when you play it in HD on Youtube with a solid internet connection it plays like any other video.
If anyone thinks this video was hard to watch (imagewise), I would like to know what you think of videos cut in a faster pace and more flashy effects, probably dont like those either.
Once again I wasnt making a travel video with long beauty perfect focus shots or babies playing on floors and boring shots of wheat blowing in the wind. LOL

It wasnt shot on a Red One or 35mm with a crew of 15 and a mass of lighting equipment. It was on a 7D all natural light, one 650 Arri softbox, one 300 back light in the green-screen, no budget and done all from 11am-9pm.
Hell I even art directed the cart myself!! LOL

If your critiquing this video hardcore then your missing the point of just getting out there and having fun and learning. There are a lot of people on message boards that critique a lot but never really put anything up or shoot anything of quality.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top