T2i Music Video! Tips Please

W

wooMARVIN

Member
So yesterday i helped film one of my friends music video with my new T2i and story boarded the first half of the video then the rest of it was just all over the place.


Could i possibly get some tips, pointers, feedback, and comments in where i could improve in production and post production? (don't sugar coat your comments!)

The video was edited in Adobe Premier CS5 with some color correction/grading. I rendered this video in H264 HDTV 1080p 24 quality and when i uploaded it up to youtube, it had this pixelly look to it. Any tips on how to render the video quality higher?

I only used natural lighting and was shot using the kit lens. All hand held planning to get a stabilizer soon.
 
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The good thing is that it's very consistent. A few shots seem out of place, like in that room with the flower (and it's too orange compared to the rest of the video), but other than that, I wouldn't say there's anything wrong outside the established tone of the video. With this video, it really is a high school rap video, through and through, but I think the positive thing is that there's no shots that are bad in the white balance, there's no shots that are dull, no shots that look camcorder-ish in the perception, and overall, to my eyes it looks like you have a knack for rap videos and that this is rather just a beginning. This video works consistently because there's both a good standard about it for capturing things like sun flares, keeping the color tone even, ect ect , and there's also an established tone right away that of coarse, it was filmed as it was (naturally) and that it was probably leaning toward practice, giving it a bit of freedom. Doesn't mean that your video is what an official video on TV would look like, it's just that I always believe that if you're creative and you have fun doing something, it's going to turn out pretty fun and interesting to watch, no matter what the shooter's experience level is, and I think this video really keeps true to that. There's nothing "wrong", it's just more like this video fits really well into a high school music scene, and I wish that more shooters would get practice doing stuff like this because it's both possible, pretty easy, and fun.

And honestly, I like how shaky the video is (it's not really that shaky!) and I didn't see any screen wobble, I think the handheld look fits the song and actually, the only shot that got on my nerves was the only still one (the one where the subject is in front of the other two performers in the background, that classic 'rap video gang' shot) - I felt it was too suddenly still, and I also kinda thought the performers were being goofy in that shot. Other than any of that, to be honest, it's a pretty good video, it's very consistent, it seems to fit the purpose and song perfectly, it's great for the local music scene that these performers are probably in, and it's simple, natural, and fun. And I didn't even notice at first, but I like the aspect ratio as well.
 
^ Thank you good sir for the feedback!

I have a question... How did you know it was like a high school music scene?? We shot this video at our high school aha! So im guessing if i film at a "school area" it will look a school area.. am i right?
 
The main problem of this video , is it's not believable. Just like a Director telling a movie, once we are taking out of the suspense of belief it can no longer hold our attention. This song was originally performed by an artist names "Nas" who takes his message very seriously. To have a bunch of kids playing around in front of the camera is not only a disrespect to him, but to the culture of Hip Hop as well. So when you say "what you can do to improve:, I would tell you, you need to take your art more serious & do some research on the actual music that is being recorded.

 
So hip hop is ice skating and poor people?? oh damn

And we aren't we are on his level bro and this was like our first video so.... taa taa for now!
 
hey Marvin,

I like the quick cutting/jump cut style. It works and goes to the beat well, the video starts off strong but doesn't hold up as well. The reason that I can see is mostly shot composition. You're almost always at a medium shot with your subject fairly centered in the frame. Try shooting some close-ups, get uncomfortably close and cut the **** out of it like you do at the beginning of the video. I agree with the lose the gum comment, doesn't read as good syncing otherwise.

Also don't be afraid to get more gritty when you're grading the shots, they seem very washed out and dull. Pump that contrast up! It's hipHop that and it will probably make some of the shots look better, add a vignette on the graffitti shots, just darken it in general and it will feel more intense.

The low-quality of the song (there are some weird skips/clipping in the song) doesn't help but thats not the videos fault.

You said you're editing with adobe premiere, have you played with LEVELS? Its under video effects "adjustments" play with those, they will make the shots POP a lot more.

Lose the lame white background with flower shots... shoot outdoors more.

TL;DR: Shot composition and grading as well as keeping the quick editing pace from the beginning are key.


Keep shooting!
 
Thanks for sharing man. Feedback below.

1) pretty good editing. I've seen music videos posted where they just didn't have a variety of angles and didn't edit to the beat enough, yours cuts pretty good.
2) biggest problem with your video is the cinematography. What I am saying is that you just need to make an effort to light it better. The indoor stuff would have even looked better if you lit it with more contrast, something darker and grittier. I'd play with light. Even hanging a single lightbulb over the guy rapping indoors would have helped the mood. What you have is flat.
3) play with color timing in post.
4) I hate the shot with the guys indoors. (the one with the vase in the background) Pick better locations.
5) use your environment to gritty it up, especially for rap. Shoot between the fence, ect.
6) everything counts, if a guy in the background isn't doing something in character then the shot doesn't work. If a guy is rapping in the foreground and the guy in the bg is kind of not doing anything worthy then he's blowing your shot. The last shots are out of character.

Overall pretty good for a first try man. Look forward to more work. Thanks for sharing your stuff and thanks for listening.
 
I am in no means a video pro... but I agree with the comments above. Loose the gum, make it a little more gritty, street locations, bump the contrast some. To me it seems that the lyrics are a little too out of sync, probably hard to hit dead on with rapping, but I would pull some face time and get some creative fill scenes that mean something to the artist or fit the mood of the song. Keep them in a more serious state of mind, the joking is fine for some videos but can goof up a hard rap song. The cam looks pretty solid though, shake wasn't too noticeable and fit the scenes. Thanks for sharing & keep it up!
 
Thank you all for the comments and feedback! I am really going to put all this advice into good use for my next video! Thank you!
 
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