Judge my new music video

N

Neutral

Active member
Howdy,

Video I recently directed came out today. Would love some feedback on what you like and don't like about it. Just like with everything I direct, SO many things went wrong on shoot day but did my best to make do with what was available. Definitely one of the hardest projects I've done.
So let me know what could be improved next time around or just tell me how bad I suck and how I should kill myself. Cheers! (:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjX3J9EpAr0&t=59s
 
First off, great work! The camera work is excellent with beautiful lighting. Would like to know if you shot this on RED or ? Who did the grade? It's beautiful. I couldn't direct a music video to save my life so take any nits I have with a grain of salt.

1. I don't really get a story beyond the visual metaphor of oppressed people? Atmospheric videos without stories can totally work but I didn't get a sense of what is going on much beyond the band's performance? I much prefer videos with a story/plot/quirk/twist. Stuff like Tame Impala's "The Less I Know The Better". Crazy visuals but definitely a plot and little story too. I kind of like music videos that wait :30 before the music starts to set a mise en scene
2. The female acrobat/main girl. This will sound dumb, but I hate the color of her leotard, it seems out of place with the rest of the wardrobe/production design and makes it hard to pick her out amongst the movement.
3. Edit is good, other than I wish there was more to look at than just a performance clip and some posing/acrobatics.

You definitely don't suck, you're talented as was your crew and post. Like I said, I am far from a music video connoisseur so what do I know? I make documentaries, about 180 degrees from music videos. Keep posting as you get new commissions and direct more music videos and spots.
 
Reggie Brown said:
At 38,000+ views, 4,000+ thumbs up and several comments I think you've gotten plenty of feedback on your video. Are you posting it on this site as clickbait so you can get more views?
Click to expand...

Yeah..... I'm not really looking for views, nor would this be the place for that...
I post on here to get feedback from film makers, not random people, that should be pretty obvious.....
 
puredrifting said:
First off, great work! The camera work is excellent with beautiful lighting. Would like to know if you shot this on RED or ? Who did the grade? It's beautiful. I couldn't direct a music video to save my life so take any nits I have with a grain of salt.

1. I don't really get a story beyond the visual metaphor of oppressed people? Atmospheric videos without stories can totally work but I didn't get a sense of what is going on much beyond the band's performance? I much prefer videos with a story/plot/quirk/twist. Stuff like Tame Impala's "The Less I Know The Better". Crazy visuals but definitely a plot and little story too. I kind of like music videos that wait :30 before the music starts to set a mise en scene
2. The female acrobat/main girl. This will sound dumb, but I hate the color of her leotard, it seems out of place with the rest of the wardrobe/production design and makes it hard to pick her out amongst the movement.
3. Edit is good, other than I wish there was more to look at than just a performance clip and some posing/acrobatics.

You definitely don't suck, you're talented as was your crew and post. Like I said, I am far from a music video connoisseur so what do I know? I make documentaries, about 180 degrees from music videos. Keep posting as you get new commissions and direct more music videos and spots.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your thoughts! The b-roll and pseudo storyline stuff was just meant to be eye candy. No real direction. That was one of the aspect that had the most problems came shoot day so I took a big hit with those shots.
I edited and colored myself. Shot on Alexa mini with leica lenses.
 
Great grade, lighting, editing, overall quality of image capture, etc.

There were at least a few ideas that felt like they were just intense concepts thrown in without really flowing with the rest of the ideas in a meaningful way. The one the distracted me the most was the Tarantula on the face. It felt a bit like shock value for the sake of shock value.

But really, this is very good work on many levels, and that's coming from someone who's not really feeling the song (although their performance is totally solid).

I'd love to hear more about the following if you are willing to share:

1. What were the problems on the day of?
2. The lighting set up.
3. What did you personally find to be the most challenging aspects.
4. How (if it was you) did you conceive the ideas, storyboard it, etc?
 
Reggie Brown said:
At 38,000+ views, 4,000+ thumbs up and several comments I think you've gotten plenty of feedback on your video. Are you posting it on this site as clickbait so you can get more views?
Click to expand...

Seriously? Do you know what click bait even is?

OP: looks good.
 
Production value was excellent. And it looks great. For me, the only real weak element was the speed of the cutting. Without having more than a second or so to dwell on anything presented, I found it hard to find any real link between what I was hearing and what I was seeing, which made it feel a bit like a flurry of images for the sake of having a flurry of images.

I get that it'd be hard to cut slower with such high-tempo music, but that's the main thing that stood out to me.
 
Neutral said:
Thanks for your thoughts! The b-roll and pseudo storyline stuff was just meant to be eye candy. No real direction. That was one of the aspect that had the most problems came shoot day so I took a big hit with those shots.
I edited and colored myself. Shot on Alexa mini with leica lenses.
Click to expand...

I guess moving forward, assuming you want to direct more music videos, would be to keep shooting, learning and getting better. Most great music video directors have directed hundreds of videos. I would say you are there technically, you have chops, you know how to hire and direct talent, work with a good DP and crew, edit, grade, etc. Just keep working on either more conceptual set pieces (Kendrick Lamar's MVs are great for this, sometimes a story, sometimes not, but the Lil Homies and Dave Meyer always kill it with certain scenes that are visually incredibly interesting) or actual stories. Study the greats like Mark Romanek, Dave Meyers, Hype Williams, etc. and see how they create visually arresting images. Even if you are super low budget, look at Spike Jonze's work with Beastie Boys like Sabotage, etc. It's more about the concept, not always about the execution.

Plenty of great music videos are "sloppy", messy, disorganized chaos but a storyline, throughline or concept that holds it together. I think that's what this video lacks, it's not the quality or skill of your production or the band's song or performance which are pretty pro level, it's that the video doesn't have a distinct concept, storyline or visual idea, it's just kind of a little of this, a little of that., if you know what I mean? I think in music videos, you either nail it, you know it, crew and editor know it, the visuals are so amazing, clever and interesting or you do what you did on this one which was, everyone did their job well, it's a good effort, but the end result doesn't make you or anyone go "WOW!". Gotta get that WOW factor, but that's an inexact science. I've also noticed that traditional bands seem to always want a performance element in their MVs, which to me is pretty limited. If nobody has ever seen them perform, sure, performance video is good. But some of the coolest heavy music videos like Tool never even show the band, they all showed quivering puppets from the Quay Brothers. Those videos built a kind of mystique around Tool because they were never in their music videos and you began to wonder what the hell was up with them. Same with Gorillaz, which is one guy who is a "band" but all of their videos are animated. To me, for most artists, performance videos are boring as hell. We've all been looking at performance music videos for a few decades now so unless the artist is so visually arresting that they must be shown, who needs to have the band lip syncing?
 
It may very well be the best music video posted on this forum. It is an excellent production. I would not be concerned with a story, as some have mentioned. A story depends on the type of song and the lyrics. This song is pure emotion. Anger and hate predominate. You captured the emotion well. The band is also exceptional in that genre. Which is fortunate for you. Everything you did fits well with the music and is really pleasing to watch. Keep doing what you are doing. Great job.
 
Thanks for sharing. My thoughts are along the lines of very nice job. Great quality visuals but I did not want to follow the story and the items did not seem connected.

I would like to ask an outside question if that is ok? How is the business of making music videos these days? Is this a profit project for you? I noticed the camera used and production values are high but it seems these days videos only play on YouTube and a website etc... I don't see where the revenue comes from? The band's pocket? The "record label"? Just wondering because it seems like these projects are like a sprint to the finish line on the one single opportunity to cram it in on a day... All because money is tight. I would like to hear your thoughts on the project form a business point of view. Thanks!
 
Bassman2003 said:
Thanks for sharing. My thoughts are along the lines of very nice job. Great quality visuals but I did not want to follow the story and the items did not seem connected.

I would like to ask an outside question if that is ok? How is the business of making music videos these days? Is this a profit project for you? I noticed the camera used and production values are high but it seems these days videos only play on YouTube and a website etc... I don't see where the revenue comes from? The band's pocket? The "record label"? Just wondering because it seems like these projects are like a sprint to the finish line on the one single opportunity to cram it in on a day... All because money is tight. I would like to hear your thoughts on the project form a business point of view. Thanks!
Click to expand...

great questions, how about a write about the process, gear and schedule as well.
 
Bassman2003 said:
Thanks for sharing. My thoughts are along the lines of very nice job. Great quality visuals but I did not want to follow the story and the items did not seem connected.

I would like to ask an outside question if that is ok? How is the business of making music videos these days? Is this a profit project for you? I noticed the camera used and production values are high but it seems these days videos only play on YouTube and a website etc... I don't see where the revenue comes from? The band's pocket? The "record label"? Just wondering because it seems like these projects are like a sprint to the finish line on the one single opportunity to cram it in on a day... All because money is tight. I would like to hear your thoughts on the project form a business point of view. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I'm happy to answer anything I'm allowed to talk about.
To be honest I haven't been doing this very long. I bought my first DSLR about 4 years ago and had never shot or edited anything. I'm still young I'm 27. So I'm still learning the ropes. But from my experience music videos are tough just like most other fields. With TV pretty much being obsolete it's harder for people to profit off them. You can still profit but they're also largely used as advertisement and marketing. For example to help boost first week sales of a bands album release.
As far as the film making side of it, you generally having nothing to do with that. You're given a flat fee (your budget) for the project from a record label or directly from an artist or band if they're self funding. You generally don't see additional money unless you have some kind of other agreement. There's definitely money in it. A lot of money? I don't think so. But I've been lucky enough to work on some big sets with people like Director X. That guy definitely has money and makes money doing music videos. He's top tier though.

I can't discuss what the budget was for this particular project but I can tell you what the process was.
About a month-month and half of pre production planning. Mainly myself and my 2 producers. 2 day shoot. We used the alexa mini with leica lenses. Ronin for stabilized shots. Anything handheld was a simple shoulder rig with some handle bars. And a 21 foot jib. No dolly's or anything. Fairly simple when you get down to it. Lighting wasn't too complex either. Had 3 tube lights that could change a few colors, used wraps on them. The rest was HMI's and lycos with gels.

If anyone has any other specific questions I'm happy to answer.
 
1. Size of crew is always interesting
2. How much shooting time for the band, how much for the b-roll?
3. How was your shooting ratio, what percentage ended up in the final cut?
4. How many music vids have you shot so far?
5. All on the job training or any formal (film school) education?
&. Was there a vegan option at catering:)
 
Spartacus said:
1. Size of crew is always interesting
2. How much shooting time for the band, how much for the b-roll?
3. How was your shooting ratio, what percentage ended up in the final cut?
4. How many music vids have you shot so far?
5. All on the job training or any formal (film school) education?
&. Was there a vegan option at catering:)
Click to expand...

1. Crew: Key grip, 2 gaffers, DP, Camera operator, 1st AC, 2nd AC, Jib operator, 2 producers, 4 PA's, SFX, sfx assistant.

2. Band performance was 12 hour day. Probably shooting for 7-8 hrs. B-roll was 14 hour day, shooting for probably 10-11hrs.

3. Almost everything shot ended up in the cut.

4. A good amount, but not A LOT. My better stuff can be found on my website: www.naughtymantis.com

5. Non whatsoever. I went to university of Youtube ;) All self taught.

6. I am vegan so of course there was vegan friendly catering ;)
 
1. Playback speed for audio and frame rate you shot at? A lot of MVs seem to speed up playback, shoot at 50p or 60p and then conform to a 24p timeline to get that fluid almost slow motion look but not slow motion. Did you do that?
2. Playback system used? Boom box or PA system or ?
3. Lens package used, which was your favorite lens and focal length and why?
4. Any issues with flicker?
5. I will check out your website but have you directed MVs in all musical styles or just rock/metal? If you've done different styles, which is your favorite and why?
6. Any optical filters used on shoot?
7. Your favorite rental house and why?
8. Stage you shot on was in Hollywood or LA or ?
9. Who is your idol/role model MV director and why?
 
puredrifting said:
1. Playback speed for audio and frame rate you shot at? A lot of MVs seem to speed up playback, shoot at 50p or 60p and then conform to a 24p timeline to get that fluid almost slow motion look but not slow motion. Did you do that?
2. Playback system used? Boom box or PA system or ?
3. Lens package used, which was your favorite lens and focal length and why?
4. Any issues with flicker?
5. I will check out your website but have you directed MVs in all musical styles or just rock/metal? If you've done different styles, which is your favorite and why?
6. Any optical filters used on shoot?
7. Your favorite rental house and why?
8. Stage you shot on was in Hollywood or LA or ?
9. Who is your idol/role model MV director and why?
Click to expand...

1. No but I've done that in almost every other video I've directed. Check out any MV on my site and you'll probably see that effect. This one was shot in 24fps for most performance. Aside from some occasional slowmo in 120fps. All b-roll was 24fps or 60fps.
2. PA system
3. Leica lenses. Honestly I was upset about this, the whole thing had been planned to shoot with anamorphics and the deal fell through last minute. But can't complain the lenses still look good. Shot with 19mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm and 85mm. 19 was my fav simply cause it helped show off the location and depth for a lot of the shots
4. No real flicker issues, made sure ahead of time we wouldnt run into this. Occasionally depending on how close we were to the LED wall there would be some flickering but we fixed easily by adjusting shutter.
5. Mainly rock/indie/metal.
6. Yes, we used a device that looks like half of a magnifying glass, you can see the effect scattered through out shots in the video. Very simple, just waving it infront of the lens manually, so half the image is in focus and the other half looks a little distorted.
7. I don't do a lot of big production stuff yet so I haven't been able to work with that many different rental houses. The ones I've used on this and some past projects have not been easy to work with.
8. Near downtown LA.
9. Gaspar Noe. He directed Irreversible and Enter The Void. 2 of my favorite films. Mind blowing acting, and storytelling and amazing camera work and movement and visuals. His cinematographer (Benoit Debbie) is unbelievably good and a huge inspiration. If youve ever seen Neon Demon you'll know exactly where I got inspiration for this music video and a lot of the camera movement.
 
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