Hypnogaja music video on dvx

R

Ronster

Well-known member
So here is my latest music video.......

http://homepage.mac.com/rizzinator/iMovieTheater20.html

this is my cinematogrphers website.

I tried some things with filtration and shooting in low level night exteriors....lets get some feedback....be critical....want to hear what you all have to say

I'm really impressed with my dvx

thanks in advance for the critiques.

Ronster
 
Hey Ronster,

I really liked you latest work. Are there any on set pictures from the shoot? Are those just work lights in the background? I liked the streaking effects. Filter?

What skills do you trasnfer from shooting 35mm to DV24p? I am planning on shooting a 16mm music video soon, with some help. I can't even load a film by myself.

I watched your reel and the 35mm stuff looks so great on the outdoor shots, not to mention the sexy dof and camera moves.

I don't understand the video but it looks great.

Peace.
 
escozooz, I think he got the streaking affect by increasing the shutter speed to 1/500-1/1000.

You have a great reel Ronster. How did you get started as a cinematographer? Did you do great work and get noticed, start at the bottom and eventually get mentored, or did you know a friend of a friend that got you your first gigs? Were Hot Water Music | Yellowcard | Macbeth | Hypnogaja all shot with the dvx100? Did you use a steadicam or glidecam for the chase scenes in any of those flicks?

Could you give me some insight on lighting your night set...the do's and don'ts? I posted this on the lighting thread:

For my next music video I'll be shooting from 12:00am to 4:00am outside on a wet stage. I'll have 1" of standing water for the band to interact with. I'll have the camera in an underwater housing so the band can stomp/slide/slap the water right next to me as much as they want. I was planning on shooting lights off the water so when the band moves the lighting reflects their movement back onto them. Does anyone have any suggestion regarding lighting a stage like this? I'll be doing plenty of tests the weeks before the shoot, but any ideas would help. I can get access to lots of different lights. I'll be sure to update this post with test grabs.

Thanks

-Kevin
 
The DP is Mike Rizzi, not Ron. But they work together all the time. lol
The lighting effect for the performance part looks like a star filter.

The video was cool, all the city stuff is very michael mann style, I thought that was a nice touch, even tho the running is way overdone after 20 years of music videos, but there is a pay off at the end. I thought that clone thing was cool. I see you have something with peeling other's people s faces off! The performace part was on point. It kept my interest for the whole video.
 
cool...love the feedback...but wasn't harsh enough...i like it when someone tries to tear it all down...the dvxusers have gotten way to nice....lol

esconzoz: I met my dp mike rizzi at film school and dare say I helped start him off on his dp path...he is a solid shooter and i kept using him as my dp because he is a nice kid...yes, hot water music, yellowcard, hypnogaja, and the macbeth spot are all dvx....those are all my spots I directed except the macbeth spot....the trick for a dp is to team up with some decent directors really! Oh no glidecam or steadicam used...all handheld

35mm is a bit more complicated but in a weird way easier too...it is easier to make stuff look great on 35mm...you could point and shoot and your stuff can look amazing...video takes a little more work in tweaking and lighting...the great thing about video is that it is immediate and you can tweak there to make it work...the lights are just home depot 30 dollar lights yes, and the streaking is acheived by a streak 3m filter from tiffen.....hope that answered those questions

Kevin: yeah the higher shutters do make lights streak...but the streak filter really accentuates and exaggerates it.....you are onto something with that higher shutter....but you need a lot of light to do it so keep that in mind for your shoot....your idea sounds really cool to be honest with you.....do some tests and you will figure it out...throw a **** load of light in my opinion

frank: star 2 point filter would do the same thing as the streak...i was chatting with Chris Soos about that...he is a huge dp and shot the new white stripes and audioslave video....i told him about the streak and it was funny because he was like..hmm haven't used that one.....but he said on audioslave he shot with the star 2 point filter so their you go.....I actually took the streak idea from the new NIN video in the room with the lights streaking but I went way more crazy with it.....

thanks for the micheal mann reference.....i was watching collateral and he touched on all the LA locations...i just drove around and found anything I thought looked cool and fit....only available light.....shot at a 24 shutter...which i hate!!!! Franck do you know mike rizzi? Yeah he is a cool bastard...we are shooting another video at the end of september should be really cool...can't wait to post it for you guys

Ron
 
Ron check you PM.
As far as harsher criticism...
Did you shoot all the exterior stuff 60i? It looks like it. Looks too "video-y". Or is it because of the 24 shutter?
Also the dark hair guy is not very convincing. He's not very menacing looking. I wouldnt run away from that guy.
And again, too much running, maybe you could have used some suspenseful hiding shots, and then start the running again.
 
franck,

nice criticism....all good points and i agree with you...yes 24 shutter...hate it.....but it varies it up from the band perf....but still i think the locations are pretty killer....better than most vids i see (at least in terms of locations)

the menacing part isn't really suppose to be the point...the point is it is a world of people that are the same and this one guy is different...but i agree I didn't do a great job selling this one person world....

agree on the last point as well...the running go repetitive....but tried to get you some cool locations...all in all i say a B video.....
 
dude it was better than a B video
the editing was seemless, performance was awesome, locations were great, it has too much good stuff going for it, to be a B video!
 
damn...thanks Franck...honestly super nice of you to say

but I think I can do better...or maybe I just hope I can...lol

but it is my Fourth favorite vid I have made so far...i got another one that I am going to post in about a week that is totally different...spec vid for Midtown...don't know if you heard of the band....but that is my art video that I did...way too arty for my tastes....oh and I have a zombie short I did for the dvx contest that will be up soon...I actually like that one a lot too....but it is 24 shutter...need to get away from 24 shutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
nice vid and impressive website. I like the streak filter too. natural lighting outside? straight up!

Did sdsu have a 16mm program in the TV/Film Dept?
 
SDSU still does have a 16mm film program and it is amazing.....not just because I went there....lol....but for price and location you just can't beat it....but super hard to get into the major......
 
Do you use 1/24 shutter to boost the ambient light or lack thereof? Do you dislike it because of the motion blur or another reason?

-Kevin
 
yes to both of those kevin....I am usually run and gunning and need to go to 24 shutter to get a good exposure at night with no lights. The motion blur to me makes it look more like video.

Franck...when did you go to SDSU? I graduated three years back, but have taught there and am actually going in to guest lecture on Wednesday. I don't ever remember a Frank in my years...what films did you make or what years did you go?
 
Yeah man I'll chime in as well, very nice video. The streaking looks "ubber cool". Very nice work, solid performance shots.

As fort he running around.. repetitive? Perhaps, but like you mentioned the cool locations helped. If I got tired of watching them run I just started looking at the backdrop and found myself on more then one occassion muttering "Nice."

I too have a music video about to drop of "guy running around city" stuff. I shot a ton and eneded up using very little because of the repeatativeness. We found some cool locations to try and keep in interesting and change it up. In the end I went for alot more full zoomedrack on run" focus shots that I has shot at 1/250 shutter just because the compressed image had so much more energy, but I liked your wides (just not my own... Hmm)

Anyway good work, there are so many hack directors in music videos it is just nice to see when the people behind the camera actually care. (which could be said of almost all the music videos posted here, even the ones that ina technical sense arent stellar, atleast more often then not the filmmakers gave it their all. Skill comes with time and practice, heart is something you have or don't)

So ends my rant, and here is a pat on the back. Nice work my friend.
-Tizzy
 
ron check your personal messages
i graduate sdsu 2 years ago, or was it one.... jeez i dont even remember
 
franck,

i checked the personal message area but there was nothing?....one or two years ago you went to SDSU....i taught 122 last year actually.....one of my students Brian is on these dvx boards too...we just made a zombie short together for this competition on dvx user.

What are you doing now Franck?
 
I work with Miguel and Kevin Joelson a lot. We form a little production company together with Kevin. http://www.mediamilitia.tv
I worked with Rizzi too a month ago, on that reality cruise, man that was fun.
I'm the same generation as people like Mark Ream, Beau Yarrow, Ryan Copeland, Melanie Capacia, worked with Stefan Mentil back then too.
 
I was going to ask what kind of lights you used in the background but could tell later on in the video that they were worklights. I would have liked to see more light on the singer, seemed like he was lit from those worklights from the back.

How did you get that greenish tint? Color Correction? Magic Bullet?

The sideways shot of them running down the street was a cool angle/effect but I would have left out the pan. Would have had them run through the frame then cut to a different angle of the same sort of shot.

Liked the snap zooms that you slowed down for a more dramatic effect.

Oh yea I liked the shots of you running along with the guys giving us that non steadycam feel. There was one shot where the camera was right in the guys face as he was running. Were you running too or were you shooting from the back of a pick up truck or something? I am talking about the shot of the guy running through the tunnel and then he looks back at the person that is chasing him.

Not a bad job overall. It kept my interest!
 
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