Music Video

taubkin

taubkin

Veteran
Hey guys...

Well, this is a strange post. Probably I'm only posting to ease off my anxiety. Tomorrow I'm going for a music video shoot, on our good friend, the DVX. I'm going to DP it, probably doing it all very indie style. I did manage to rent some complimentary lighting, such as a litepanels (for a style effect) and a caselight. That togheter with my 3 650W fresnels will have to do.

Well, not having done a music video before, I'm a little worried I'll have to be blazing fast to finish on schedule, and on the other hand, music videos are supposed to be flashy and visual interesting, so I won't be able to settle for less than perfect. Since it's a pseudo-narrative video (no band, for now), I'm concerned. Okay, I'll admit, I'm worried sick.

I'm also not sure of how to get this to look 'edgy' enough, yet still look good. I'm taking inspiration from who I consider to be one of the most talented music video DPs in this forum, judo. It's been some time since last time I saw a post from him, but I still watch all his clips for reference... (maybe I'll drop him an email)

One thing I have to say, I really have high hopes for this project, and I honestly feel I can make it look amazing. I'm just not sure how to do it in so little time. But I won't settle. I'm aiming high. Let's see if I'll be able to bear the dissapointment...

To help me with the "flash factor" I'll be bringing along my M2... So at least If it all fails, I'll still hear people saying my clip has 'great DOF'... hehehe

Well, Anyway, keep posted I'll be posting my experiences and some grabs, and hopefully soon, a cut.

Thanks for tuning in...

Cheers!

.taubkin
 
im in a similar position.

Except, i already shot the Video i have problems editing.

I know a Commercial director, he does the Coca Cola, and Turkish international Tourism ads in Turkey, Music videos for the Top Turkish Pop Stars ETC... ( Big $$$ jobs)

He says what ever you do, make your star/product look good. your whole job is to create teh illusion that they are the Coolest person/object in the world.

FAst editing, and only using the Best part of aclip is key. Shoot twice as much as you think you need, this way you get to select the Choicest footage to edit with.

Watch Mark Romanek Videos. He is good at this. JAyZ's 99 Problems Video, 3 and a half minutes long, Had somethign rediculous like 600 hours of 35mm Footage. They also went through 7 editors before it was done.

Hence the "only the best part s of the footage were used". That video was a string of the coolest clips possible in Bed-stuy. However... aparently , 599 hours and 56 and a half minutes, were not so great.

Thsi is my new mantra when it comes to music videos.

:)
 
Little Update. I'm beat, after a 17 hour day. Got there at 6:00, left at 23:00.

It's incredible how something can start so good and end up looking like a pretty piece of crapola. Okay, not that bad, but the video kind of find it's own way after a while, and it's not that pretty.

Good news is, we're coming back next weekend, so I had more time to work today, and I can always reshoot some stuff it it's bothering me.

About the guys that were kind enough to drop by...

Cheese, dude, Honestly I have no idea what the Manuok video is about... I shot a film for Zombiefest that was probably the only work I posted on this boards... But no biggie, and thanks anyway!

And Timur, great advice... I feel bad I only shot an hour of footage today... Maybe I skipped some of the worse shots...

But you're right. If this video first cut smells reshoot all over it, I'll be the first to chime in.

The problem is not having any money. Todays work was a real stretch. We had to make due with so little, I'm surprised we did what we did. Anyways, I'll be postng some preliminary grabs over here, as soon as I get a copy of todays master.

Thanks for chiming in!
 
Wow, well I've spent the last hour looking for the post that proved you were a filthy liar, but I found it, and it wasnt you :) so I guess your not a filthy liar and good in my book again.

hope the video works out and if you havn't seen it, check out the Manuok video, It's one of my favs :D
 
Okay, latest update.

I saw the images. It's coming pretty good, actually.

Problems: Too soft. Most of it was too soft. It definately needs more nurturing than I thought. Appliyng sharpening filters are great, but they also bring up the grain quite a bit. So now I'm thinking if I should make them go through grain surgery and then applying some sharpness... But it's not going to be a sharp video.

However, the softness is not all bad, since it's a music video and it can be perfectly incorporated as style. It was always my objective to make the video look like old photographs, kind of a "vintage" look. I think I got that.

Anyway, here it comes some stills for your pleasure:

cozinhamaster6wa.jpg


Okay the kitchen sequence was the first we shot. I think it's the best one. I didn't have the master shot file, so this is my wider shot at the moment. It can give a good feel of that sequence. I think everything here was straightforward. Focus is good, exposure is like I wanted.


tvmaster6gd.jpg


Then we went and shot this sequence. The shots of the TV are left for our next day of work. I was worried sick about this sequence, as there was too much light coming in that location, and we didn't have enough black cloth. So I had to throw in more light than I had, and in order to do that, I had to throy in harder light. I was worried with the shadows that was causing, and in some shots, I have some visible double shadows. But I'm betting the editing will make this shot be so fast we are not going to be able to see it... Still...

quartoperfil5qf.jpg

quartomaster6jp.jpg

quartomcu5vd.jpg


Then we went into the dreadful bedroom sequence... And that was somewhat hard to accomplish. I didn't have enough light and had to do this sequence pretty dark. Contrast will have to be sweetened in post, since it varies with each shot... But I think there is some chance this works out okay. The director and Prod. Designer flipped, but I'm not ecstatic about that, really.

quarto2master8kq.jpg


Then there's the really shi*ty part, that is the bedroom/night sequence... Besides not having anything near the ammount of light I needed (It was too underexposed, and milky), the sequence was just too soft. So now I'm going to have more grain, from the underexposure, and from the sharpening that is probably going to take place.

But since it's the end of the video, we're thinking about doing some weird effects, and the image quality difference might actually work. Contrast is going to decrease from beggining to end, and I think it might come out alrgight.

Next day of shooting si confirmed to be on sunday, and this time, I'm renting some lights.

The first day was shot with 3 650W fresnels (with CTO gels!) and one caselight.
Sunday I'll rent two PAR HMI 1200W. There is simply no miracle in the world. When you need more light, you really need it.

Cheers!
 
i understand your frustrations, but i think it's looking kind of cool. i'm with you on the softness of it all, but it's mainly noticeable on the last still.

i think the lighting on the first still is really nice, and i like the second still as well. i agree that maybe that second one is too bright but not bad at all. you could always push the blacks a little in post.

i'd like to see the final cut when your done.

hang in there!
 
Okay, so this is the development...

I went out and rented two 1200W PAR HMI for yesterday's shoot. I made some weird non reccomended wiring and was able to connect only one of them to the main curcuit board, that featured a good'ol three phase system with 60A fuses. It looked much better than I thought, but unfortunately one HMI never left the case. Even so, what a difference. I really felt like I had the light I needed. Much better indeed. Never again I'll skimp on renting what I think is necessary.

Well, we shot some sequences in a wider space this time, and the extra light was very well appreciatted. I think I was able to really stick to the mood, and keep my F-Stop high enough in all the day sequences. The only things that look fishy are two shots that we had to do at night, because, well, again we took too long. What bugs me is that I was - unlike the first day - blazing fast, decided, quick and preemptive. And I was always the first to be ready. The director was a friend of mine, and although inexperienced he was good, or at least fit for a music video (because his actor communication skills wern't exactly commendable...). But he was oh so confused, and had this horrible AD crew, and no production assistants or prod. designer assistants, we lost too much time. And who had to be moving furniture, as well as helping my electricians out? Yours truly.

Anyway, we did some free camera coverage that I think looks dumb for most part, and I'm not sure we've got anything in focus. But let's wait and see it in the final edit.

Then we did a pretty decent night scene, this time with enough light.

A cheap rental that would be a perfect light kit for this situation (narrative, indie, small to medium locations, some camera movement) :

1 Disto. Box to make sure everything will work!
2 PAR HMI 1200W Cheap brand (magnetic ballast, even)
or 1 PAR and one 575 Fresnel.
2 Lowell Caselights 5600K 55W Tubes.

If I lived in the states, where I could buy used/ancient HMIs for relatively cheap, I'd certainly invest in such a kit. All used with Mag ballasts, bought from people such as Pyramid films, or even BH used. And the caselights are awesome. So versatile, and just so good.

Anyway, when I get the new grabs I'll post them again. And when I get the first cut, I'll upload it to the Footage forum, where I'll hopefully get a little more feedback.

So far, thanks for the people who posted, and thanks Cinemek for your encouragement, and support. I'm more and more confident that the final balance of this job will be positive.

Cheers!
 
So, sorry for the delay. The thing is being edited, in a slow pace. I like this process best, anyway, but I have nothing to do with editing this piece. Anyway, I managed to get more screengrabs from the second day of shooting (also the last day!), a frenzy of 22 hours straight. Holy independent filmaking Batman!

Good news is that I have more focus than I thought, and the free camera part was edited and it feels alright. I'm really relieved about that.

My HMIs were great. I feel much better off now. I took my lessons, like always suspecting there's something wrong with your M2 (because more often than not there is!), backfocus, wrong positioning, stopped GG, you name it. And bringing enough light. Let's see the development:

We first shot this corridor sequence, it was the caselight inside for key, and an HMI outside the door for a splash of light. We lost a lot of time for some shots that featured frontal views of the exit door (repeated camera angles with different clothes, coverage, ect). Then before the sun went down we finished this other sequence:

telefonemcu2vh.jpg

telefoneecu7hf.jpg

Everything went allright. I think this looks pretty good don't you?

Then we started to loose daylight as the sun went down. Hopefully it was a different sequence in the same location, so it worked. I guess the 1200 PAR HMI really was able to fale some sunlight for us.
corredormcu8sf.jpg


Then we shot this, pretty straightforward, again only with one HMI and a Caselight.

relogiosmaster5hb.jpg

relogios66ti.jpg


Then we got back in the bedroom and did some coverage that we missed the first day. This is a shot when the character covers his window with a black plastic, because he's sick of the outside world. Anyway looking pretty good, again thank for the HMI...

quartojanela5pt.jpg


So as it comes to an end, and to a finished piece, I hope, I feel much more at ease. I'm going to advertise this post in the screengrabs section, because I think this forum is not as popular. Anyway, maybe people don't care about SD anymore... :)

Thanks for listening.
Believers, keep dreaming!

.taubkin
 
yea if youre using a 35 adapter you have to light the hell out of it.

just from experience with 35 adpaters, its better ot over light an bring down the levels in post to achieve a dark look. it eliminates noise ,and looks better and sharper.


What lenses are you using? soft footage from an M2 should not be a problem. it has one of the sharpest pictures possible form a 35 adapter. make sure youre using high quality lenses. Nikon Canon etc. dont go with non brand name. Also measure your focus points. the "softness" could very well be , a slightly out of focus picture.
 
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hehehe, just an off topic, I recenlty saw that video again. I had seen it when it was posted and I also love that piece. So congrats again, Kovarova! :)

Oh, and Timur, I missed your post. I totally agree. Overlight and bring levels down in post. That´s what I did for the second day, and boy, what a difference!
 
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Hi Taubkin,
Hope you don't mind for asking.. but what are your Scene Settings when shooting with the DVX100.

I am amazed with the quality of your shots. I am not a DP and I currently looking for one but for the moment I have to stand for one. I am willing to learn because I am going to shoot my first music video soon.

------------------------
Hi Guys

I have also been reading about the 35mm adapters. They are lots of them and I am not sure which one is the sharpest. Something I have noticed that they come really noisy but that kind of maket it look a bit film-like. Not necessarily that desireable. Any opnion on the 35 adapters.
 
Jeez, Ed, Scene file settings? I really don't mind you asking, but let me see if I can remeber... I guess it was standard F6 except for detail +3. Master PED was changed for a few of the shots, but let me tell you, that's not the most useful data to try to mimic that look. Basically I already told you how I lit it, and that is much more important IMHO.

I'm glad you liked, by the way, if you really are commited to learning cinematography, I suggest checking out some books. Cinematography, by Blain Brown is great!
 
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