Local EX-gangsta' wants to help the youth.

MattinSTL

MattinSTL

Sound Modulator
Another DVXuser member (D.L.) and I shot a video for a local guy, who's goal is to reinvent, repackage, and renew the schoolhouse rock concept, but with hip-hop. This guy, Robert, has a great heart and so we decided to help him out. I think he's got a good concept, and as soon as he can afford to spend some money on these things I think we can bring it.

The lighting is mine... with just a couple tools... and the dolly and crane shots are mine from my DIY versions of those... and the handheld dynamic moves are mine.

We shot this with 2 DVX cams in an afternoon.

Considering the commitment... I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I didn't do the edit... there's 9 seconds of black at the beginning... but anway, I feel pretty strongly about the concept, and this guy is out to motivate and help kids... so anytime that's the case I'm onboard. I do a lot of charity stuff, but I think this could become more then that once it gets some wheels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cCfb1JpJ1A&fmt=18

The guy on the right of the chalkboard is Robert... that dude is actually bad ass... he's the one who wanted to do this, but what you can't see is this guy's two bullet wounds, or the prison tats, etc. This dude is a bonifide reformed bad-ass. I can't wait to use him in something less educational. :)
 
Matt. Thats freakin awesome! Very nice for such a low budget. Heck it looks great even if it had a relatively large budget. I like the concept too, and the execution is great. Thats a pretty catchy little tune.
 
D.L. gets the edit credit, but I do think that most of my lighting and my shots are pretty decent... you know... considering.

Thanks guys. I do a lot of this kind of stuff... and I don't usually mention it on the forum, but I think this guy is the real deal and I'd like to see him get some hits on you tube.

I think our budget for this video was about $200. So... not too bad, I'd say.
 
Terry_Lasater said:
Will Hugo Montenegro be entitled to compensation?
Click to expand...


I'm not touchin' that... I didn't put the video up and I didn't write the song, or pull the music bed.

I'm cam 1 and lighting on this one... that's it. No ownership or anything... I'm just a dude shootin' with a dude who's shootin' for another dude. :costumed-smiley-047
 
Good to see Ol' school hip hop again. Back in the day Hip-Hop was used to educate about life in the ghetto as well as about self esteem and other things. It was also very political. People were deathly afraid of it. Now that it's all about gansta's bling and booty it's makes millions and no one's afraid of it. Irony. I think I just figured out what's wrong with this country.

-Nate
 
Great job, Matt! :thumbsup: Keep up the good work.

One suggestion: Can you have them cut the 9 sec. of black at the beginning and re-up the video to YouTube? It's the only thing keeping it from being perfect. And better to do it now rather than after it gets a lot of hits (hits don't transfer).
 
I thought the same thing. I thought Youtube was messing up again but I saw the numbers moving. But either way, great vid. Dude had a nice flow too.

-Nate
 
Nathyn said:
Good to see Ol' school hip hop again. Back in the day Hip-Hop was used to educate about life in the ghetto as well as about self esteem and other things. It was also very political. People were deathly afraid of it. Now that it's all about gansta's bling and booty it's makes millions and no one's afraid of it. Irony. I think I just figured out what's wrong with this country.

-Nate
Click to expand...

Yeah I got your point there Nate... but we're working on it. :beer:

About 50% of the video I do is either charity or at charity cost (gas, food)... if I believe in the cause... but I still try to stay a little bit detached from another person's mission... because everybody likes to recruit partners for their goals... and you gotta' strike a balance. That's what this is about for me... I wanted to put this on here because I think it turned out good enough to share my involvement.

I've shot a lot of stuff that you won't see me sharing on here... even though that stuff was also effective for the purpose and budget.

About the extra black at the beginning? Yeah... I think we have too many hits to push the reset button on that now. I've found that the first hundred hits is as hard to get as the next 200-1000 hits. Otherwise I could tell him to fix this and then all you guys have to look at it again. :) Just to load it up and bail... enough to get a hit.

I'll probably support this guy (Robert) for a while... if I can give somebody a day shooting (I like shooting better then sound anyway)... and it's for a good cause AND I DON'T HAVE TO EDIT... then I'm pretty easy. :beer:

You can expect more from this guy (or should I say "us")...
 
Oh, so now its "us", eh? When I made the Montenegro comment it was all, "hey, I'm just a dude with a camera helping a friend helping a friend...". ;)

Just messin' with ya, Matt. Consider this a bump with a razz. :)
 
What was up with that dude on I dream of jeanie anyway? All she wanted to do was _____ and that dude was always annoyed by it. That's probably the perfect formula for a sitcom... wait a minute... it really is... look at Married with Children, etc. etc. There's always a hot chick wanting some action and nobody around to do it.

"Dammit! They just found out our secret!" -tv executive


Terry... if I'm a cam op while you karaoke Bruce Springsteen, and then hand you the tape at the end of the day... and you cut a nice vid for youtube... it's still YOU that are indebted to Bruce... not me :)

I have no idea what's happening at that end... but with all the crap out there already doing this... I would find it amusing if people came down on a guy that's trying to do something cool for the exact kids people are talking about when they say "no child left behind"...

But honestly... beyond feeling that the video turned out pretty good... this 'aint my baby... and I don't care that much beyond my contribution of time and gear. I paint the houses... if a bird shi*s on it after I leave that's not my problem :)

"Us" means that if this guy asks me to... I'll probably paint another house for him.
 
I always wondered why the dude didn't spend every bit of his free time getting it on with the beautiful Jeannie in her lavishly-furnished bottle. Made no sense to me why he always tried to score with everyone but her.

Yeah, I understand the legal responsibility isn't yours. Then again, my question wasn't accusing you of being legally responsible, but since you're the one I can communicate with, I asked it of you. Again, I'm just messin' with ya. Take my razzing in the spirit it was intended. No need to overexplain the situation. :)
 
haha, its 4am here in Toronto and I just saw what I think was a spot on CNN about this video. It had kids in uniforms, but singing the same song and it was educational rap.

Just thought that was really cool,

Kegan
 
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