Music Video Shot on Z1U

N

Nikkomh

Member
Why Hello there!

I've had my Z1U for about a year and I've done different types of work with it such as weddings, tv spots, and short "films", but this was my first go at a music video shot JUST with the Z1U.

The band is called Downpour and the video is called Rain Dancer and since we are in Seattle it was raining during a few of the shots, but you can't even tell... :( Once we started to lose light everything started to turn realllly dark, but it was *slightly* correctable in post via FCP and Color.

YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXVjpHJmTvM

You can definitely tell that this is shooting on 1080i, VS shooting in p with the V1U.... but shooting in HD and downconverting to SD is still worth it. I'd prefer the CCD over the CMOS for most of the work I've done, but it isn't the best for certain applications.

I sat down with the band and we've made a few revisions that will show up on their DVD version, but I still think the YouTube version is pretty solid.

Feel free to let me have it!

-Nikkomh
 
ok here goes. from a directing standpoint i would have had the band not look at the camera during the performance in the woods. maybe the singer can look at the lens but nobody else. everybody staring at the lens makes it look like "hey check us out. we're rockin the forest."

from an editing standpoint i would make the cuts much much faster. the song is kinda mid-tempo but the cuts are like forever long. i used to make this mistake when i first started doing music vids. i think everybody does pretty much. here's a good way to do it. in fcp, play back the sequence with your eyes closed and your finger on the "m" key. just listen to the track and hit the button every time you feel a cut. cut on the beat for transitions between verse/chorus, etc. and mix on and off beat everywhere else. when you get thru the song, there will be markers in the spots you hit the "m" key. make your cuts on these lines and this often. sometimes story stuff can be a little longer but cut that performance stuff quick. instant 100% better i assure you.

an exception to this rule is a completely riveting shot or performance. when it fits the song, you can go long. see the coldplay video that is one continuous shot on the beach at sunrise for example.

from a cinematography standpoint, move the camera. music vids are your chance to dork out as a dp and throw in as many dolly and jib shots as you want. makes a not so exciting song seem more exciting. other than that, stay away from the zoom unless you are doing snaps for effect. zoom looks very very video. if you need to push in/out, do it on a dolly. big difference.

i liked the push into the door and the vignette thru the door effect at the beginning. i was thinking "this is going to be cool". but it held for way way too long and lost me. keep that clip like it is but throw some inserts in there to break it up. band, other story, establishing stuff, whatever. we don't need to see every second of what she's doing to figure it out. show the audience what they need to see and keep it moving.

keep at it. great first effort.
 
Thank you SO much for your input! I am really glad to hear it, all of it!

A couple problems with shooting this video was that the director didn't tell me what we were shooting until maybe a few minutes before we started shooting as if it were some big secret... so we also didn't have a lot of coverage to cut to.

I thank you for your input, I value this very much. Since I plan on doing all of the planning, directing, shooting, and editing for their next video I will keep all of this fresh in my mind and *hopefully* it should be much better, hehe.
 
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