Indie Video Rough Cut

[overnighttolondon]

I'm in the process of editing an indie music video for the Russian electronic group Time Is Up (www.timeisup.com).

It's pretty close to being done, just have to do a little bit of CC work and have to rescue the getting-into-the-cab scene (0:50-1:10), which I think you'll agree is pretty terrible right now (the lighting was just awful, I think I'm going to find a way to scrap it altogether).

For a number of the scenes in the video, we were experimenting with projecting footage onto the actors with a digital projector. I was worried that things would be washed out, but I was actually quite pleased with the contrast of the results, even from an older projector.

Any feedback would be most welcome - particular scenes you think need a lot of CC, edits that work or don't work, etc.

Oh, and I know it's a little long for a music video - client wanted to use the whole song though.

Thanks

"Left By Time" by Time is Up
5:27 / 640x300 wmv / 50 Mb (fast server)

 

[taubkin]

It's very nice, Overnight!

I have a couple of notes, but overall seems like a really well done video.

1- A little corny. Well for my tastes, this whole love story melodrama for me didn't quite work, still, it is there, and probably who made it really like it.

2- The intro/makeup set piece was way too long, and without the adequate ammount of coverage. A lot of repetition in camera angles makes it really hard for it to keep it's interest for 30 seconds. That is a lot of screentime.

3- You said it, it should have lasted 3 minutes instead of five, the whole piece seems to long. It gets boring in the end.

4- Scene in arthall needs serious CC.

5- Scene in the subways need serious CC.

6- Getting into cab didn't bother me that much. I think a little effect here and there will save it. Maybe multiply a shot of some headlight flares, or something, like you do over the timelapses (good stuff BTW)...

7- Should really have some more nudity in the pseudo/sex scene, even if only implied and not shown. This contributes for the corniness of it, IMHO. I know that suggesting more nudity is a delicate issue, but I honestly feel it could have helped.

Overall very nice effort. It looks not half as indie as you made it sound. Good work!

 

[overnighttolondon]

Thanks for the feedback and kind words.

Yeah, the lighting in the subway was really strange, it was mostly fluorescent but every once in a while there were these little tungsten pot lights in the ceiling. I think I'll push those to the green rather than the other way around.

Producer said the same thing about the love scene at the end. One of our issues is that one of the members of the band is sensitive to that sort of thing for religious reasons... but I've still been hearing that pushing it further would be good.

I'll try some effects on that cab entry scene. The worst is just that shot where she comes out of the building and takes her hair down, the lighting is really rough. I'm hesitant to do away with the shot though, cause if we don't see her actually take her hair down, the change in hairstyle will mess with the continuity, the audience might perceive the cab as happening at some totally different time.

Some people I've showed have suggested lengthening the party scene to communicate her feeling of boredom better. What do you think?

 

[craigbowman]

A complete recut would tell a much more interesting story. I don't need to see four different shots of someone putting on makeup to get the idea they're putting on makeup. Too many repetitions of similiar shots close together. Editing by temporal grouping from a location for a music video, particularly a really long one is very difficult to watch.

To build a better story totally change the order. Why do I need to see the makeup scene at all? If so then why not juxtapose shots that get the viewer asking some mental questions. Like a sleuth gathering clues. This story was out of the bag way too early. Which made it agonizing to watch the same kinds of cuts over and over and over and over. The Art gallery might come closer to the end. The juxtaposition with the lover footage against her alone in a crowd makes a stronger emotional statement than when she is secluded in the Taxi. Then maybe end with that shot of her looking into the mirror. Stick the makeup application if you must in tiny segments interwoven perhaps against coming down the stairs in the subway somewhere in the middle. Keep mystery. Show a bit of her coming down the stairs, even starting the same shot a couple of times after a break to light streaks and then later she's a bit further down.

The exposure light streaks for the cab and the subway should act as early ribbons to draw the mind into the music and then flop into harsher lights in the station, lights on the street, down the stairs, in the car...

If this is going to last 5 minutes, then don't answer too much too soon.

Besides the cc, you have some good footage to work with. I always want to recut everything so don't take it personal!

 

[overnighttolondon]

Not the greatest thing to hear, Craig, but only cause it means a ton more work for me, hehe.

Your advice is really interesting, I hadn't really thought of doing it out of chronological order (guess I'm just used to making fiction shorts). You definitely have a good point about it not needing to be so straightforward. The reason I included the lengthy shots in the beginning, at the gallery, in the cab, etc was to establish the profound boredom and aimlessness of the lead character, a sort of unfocused, deep-seated dissatisfaction with her life; it's not just that she's applying makeup, it's her listless, hypnotized stare that's important. Again though, maybe that's a technique better suited to the short film format, where you can afford to make your viewer stare at a scene for a while and just take in the character. Music videos have a bit of a different mandate, and I don't think I was really taking into consideration the differences between the formats when I was planning this.

 

[Smithhouse]

Not much to say other than what has already been stated... I really did enjoy the music and I did get into video in spite of some of the shots that may have held too long... Good stuff my friend.

SmithHouse