my 4th music vid... check it out

N

Nobody356

Well-known member
Hey everyone,

Its been a while since my last music video but I just finished shooting this one about a week ago. Getting videos has proven itself to be difficult recently but I've got a few more coming up. Unfourtunately I feel like this one was a step backwards in many ways as opposed to a step forwards.

The problems started right off with the label calling me last minute wanting to do the video and we didnt have an agreeable treatment till 3 or 4 days before the shoot, didnt have a location till the day before and actors till the day of. It was the first time that I havent been my own producer though, I was working with the producer and it was nice to not have to do everything production wise although a good portion of the production was a disaster.

The band really wanted to do a party scene for the storyline and I was against it from the start, but I eventually caved in by trying to add some backwards moving stuff to make the party more interesting although I think the vid still might be kind of boring(you let me know). But the party itself was a disaster, the beginning was fine because I had control of everyone in the shot, but as time went on the people not in the shot started to get more and more out of control. Unfourtunately there was noone to control the people who were elsewhere while I was directing the shots so after time things snowballed and EVERYONE got out of control. The people were trying to have a real party while we were trying to shoot. There are so many things I could say about what happened but I'll just leave it at "it was a disaster."

The next day was the preformance section and it went much smoother because I had control of the situation. The only setback was that it was about 90 degrees in the top floor of the warehouse/factory where we shot so that made things tougher. In the end I think the label got what they paid for but unfourtunately nothing more :(.

So pretty much I'm really not as happy with this as I wanted to be. It was the biggest video I have done yet and the first time I'm getting paid any real money. It will also be my first video on TV, which is another reason why I am disapointed in the way it came out. I'm pretty frustrated about the way my whole music video "career"(if you can call it that) is going. Maybe its the fact that I just graduated highschool and people dont take me seriously, or maybe I just dont have what it takes, after this vid I am starting to doubt my skills. I'm also beginning to doubt that I'll ever actually "make it" but that wont stop me from trying.

Anyways, please take a look at this and let me know what you think. Its a preliminary version so give me any suggestions you have, its not too late to change things around a little. I really hope that you all can give me a few ideas that can help this vid out so I'm not embarassing myself.

Video is at:

http://tv.isg.si/site/filebrowser/cfaulisi

click it and go to the file called "ICBB prelim.wmv"

Sorry for the click through but the site does not allow direct links

Thanks,

Chris
 
yeah man i though the music video was dope i really enjoyed alot of parts of it im actaully in a hurry right now but will take another look at it an throw inmore of my opinion later i promise umm but yeah you did a great job with camera movment i loved it. props. but yeah let me take another look when i have time. oh yeah dont give up kid u know whats up
 
The camera angles were really good. Although, I felt something was missing though. In the party scenes. They lack energy. I understand you really didn't want to do those scenes. The rest of the video seemed interesting but when it got to the party I was snoring. Honestly, I don't enjoy this type of music. Sort of is, "run of the mill" whiny boy music.
 
Shouldn't be so hard on yourself, dude. The video looks great. You obviously know what you're doing. Sometimes things just don't go right. A good director realizes this and rolls with it and just keeps on solving the problems. Filmmaking is a great deal crisis management and troubleshooting.

The performance stuff is pretty darn cool. I think that was the strongest part of the video. I like the concept of the party going in reverse and the reveal of what got the guy all pissy. That was a nice touch. But the execution seemed a bit off. It just wasn't as strong as it could have been. From your description of your problems though, I can understand why.

Hang in there. You got the chops, Bro.
 
ok i gave some looks at it and yeah mna u know whats up like some of the party stuff i kind slow and not very exciting but hey that what they wanted so dont be to sad over that maybe try reworking the party with out reversing and just see what happens maybe u can make it more exciting through different cuts and stuff but good job overall
 
MojoTrancer said:
Shouldn't be so hard on yourself, dude. The video looks great. You obviously know what you're doing. Sometimes things just don't go right. A good director realizes this and rolls with it and just keeps on solving the problems. Filmmaking is a great deal crisis management and troubleshooting.

The performance stuff is pretty darn cool. I think that was the strongest part of the video. I like the concept of the party going in reverse and the reveal of what got the guy all pissy. That was a nice touch. But the execution seemed a bit off. It just wasn't as strong as it could have been. From your description of your problems though, I can understand why.

Hang in there. You got the chops, Bro.
Click to expand...


Agree with everything said.
 
Hi,

I think the tech stuff is roughly o.k.. Editing could be a bit more rhythmic.

But in terms of "getting it played" it lacks a lot. Seeing a band performing is not new, but of course the band needs te be presented to the audience, but the performance is not the best and the other mixed shots do not at all appear as a functionality to stimulate people to keep watching because nothing happens. Also the party does not really makes sense to me... The lighting is technically correct, but simply because it's so standard, you are competing with other clips with same concept that have 100 times more quality simply because of more time and budget, call it professionalism.. whatever. Reverse shots were great, but also mandatory to let the viewer at least see something exciting.

So good job on what you could do technically!!

I must admit that I am adressing this because it's exactly the same thing that I am experiencing. I made 4-5 clips as well among which unmanageable crowds and I find that difficult too. Sometimes the band got 30 girls together on voluntary basis, but then I am stuck with the problem (some ugly or none-dancing girls). Or stuck with people of the band that dressed like **** etc etc . How to solve.... I guess the best thing is to take control and start shout if needed and make them hate you if that's what it takes to do the job.
The only way out is to climb higher on the video ladder and this can only be done by shooting the very best video you can at that moment, and build from there... That means you better start shouting if needed when people are screwing with your valuable time.

Secondly as I am a label owner and promotor to MTV(etc) , usually "us" being/having/promoting unknown bands, we have to come up with a reall good story board of original/unique concept. The more we try to look with a simular setup like famous artists' video's, the more difficult to compete with the Aquilera's and Pharrel's etc.

Recently I was on business trip in Italy and spend few hours looking to a local MTV-like sender. The amazing thing was that I had no prejudice as I didn't know any background of those Italian artists, so I got a real good neutral mindset. I noticed really a lot of music videos that had brilliant ideas which were quite manageable in terms of budget. They were simply based on good simple ideas.. Just like the music! ( Of course they also played crap video's, but then the song was great and must have been hits.)

So how I work now as a label owner and filmer:
- I push the band to come with a very good concept/idea/story first
- I force the band to do a simple testshoot/simulation with a simple handycam or digital still camera with video. This really saves time and is superefficient. It eliminates a lot of problems on forehand, like lighting, clothing, location etc etc..

And what I also learned is:
- try to make perfect shots, better spending more time and rehearse
- better just a few perfect people than a crowd with ugly people

Well... it became a long story anyway and I should go to bed as it's 1am here....

I hope this helps!


Sjors.
 
congrats
the footage looks clean and the dolly and angles are great
the backwards narrative appeals to those of us who dont really care about what they're saying (me) or how they're saying it

overall great
 
Sjors said:
Hi,

I think the tech stuff is roughly o.k.. Editing could be a bit more rhythmic.

But in terms of "getting it played" it lacks a lot. Seeing a band performing is not new, but of course the band needs te be presented to the audience, but the performance is not the best and the other mixed shots do not at all appear as a functionality to stimulate people to keep watching because nothing happens. Also the party does not really makes sense to me... The lighting is technically correct, but simply because it's so standard, you are competing with other clips with same concept that have 100 times more quality simply because of more time and budget, call it professionalism.. whatever. Reverse shots were great, but also mandatory to let the viewer at least see something exciting.

So good job on what you could do technically!!

I must admit that I am adressing this because it's exactly the same thing that I am experiencing. I made 4-5 clips as well among which unmanageable crowds and I find that difficult too. Sometimes the band got 30 girls together on voluntary basis, but then I am stuck with the problem (some ugly or none-dancing girls). Or stuck with people of the band that dressed like shi* etc etc . How to solve.... I guess the best thing is to take control and start shout if needed and make them hate you if that's what it takes to do the job.
The only way out is to climb higher on the video ladder and this can only be done by shooting the very best video you can at that moment, and build from there... That means you better start shouting if needed when people are screwing with your valuable time.

Secondly as I am a label owner and promotor to MTV(etc) , usually "us" being/having/promoting unknown bands, we have to come up with a reall good story board of original/unique concept. The more we try to look with a simular setup like famous artists' video's, the more difficult to compete with the Aquilera's and Pharrel's etc.

Recently I was on business trip in Italy and spend few hours looking to a local MTV-like sender. The amazing thing was that I had no prejudice as I didn't know any background of those Italian artists, so I got a real good neutral mindset. I noticed really a lot of music videos that had brilliant ideas which were quite manageable in terms of budget. They were simply based on good simple ideas.. Just like the music! ( Of course they also played crap video's, but then the song was great and must have been hits.)

So how I work now as a label owner and filmer:
- I push the band to come with a very good concept/idea/story first
- I force the band to do a simple testshoot/simulation with a simple handycam or digital still camera with video. This really saves time and is superefficient. It eliminates a lot of problems on forehand, like lighting, clothing, location etc etc..

And what I also learned is:
- try to make perfect shots, better spending more time and rehearse
- better just a few perfect people than a crowd with ugly people

Well... it became a long story anyway and I should go to bed as it's 1am here....

I hope this helps!


Sjors.
Click to expand...


Lots of great info in there, Sjors. Thank you for your unput, as I'm sure it will help out many people on these forums.
 
I didnt understand that there was an actual 'STORY' being told in the party scene. The party scene looked like heavily glossed/blurred footage shot with a reg camrecorder. Was that 24fps?...are you sure?...If so, add some Detail, man. Extra gloss to me makes it look like the director was trying too hard to be 'filmy'..if you notive, music video's aren't that filmy. But as for the Band's performance, you did a HELL of a job with the camera! But the band trying to rock out...THEY need more skill. And their band wanting to have a party scene...pretty much, the BAND ****ed your video up..if you feel that way about it. Don't rag on yourself so hard...just stay away from whiney bands with bad guitar kicks.
 
Hey everyone,

I really appreciate the fact that you watched this and took the time to respond. Although I would like to hear some suggestions on how to make this one better at this point. I'm going to work on the final edit starting soon so any suggestions would be very welcome. And I know how I can make the next one better, but I want to know how to make this one better.

Also as another comment, I've got to defend the band a little bit here. Now I totally understand if its not everyones type of music, and its not exactly my type either but honestly what do you expect me to get band wise? I apologize that I'm not doing videos for Pearl Jam, U2, or (insert famous band name here) but its a little out of my league. In all honesty I feel like these guys have a pretty decent stage presence and they have over a million plays on their purevolume, have been on fuse, mtv2 and mtv, so I feel like they are a pretty decent band for me to be working with at this point in my "career". I dont know what everyone expects for people like me to find band wise but if you all have some secret to getting famous or insanely talented bands to work with you I'd love it if you shared. For now though, for me at least, its not about loving their style of music its about doing my best with what I have and getting my work seen by the most people I can.

Thanks again for all the feedback, and please keep it coming.(Just add some suggestions too :) )

Chris
 
Matty_g said:
i'd take the diffusion off the party scene. there's no real need for it.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll play around with it. I might juwst lower it or add some detail rather than totally remove it but thanks for the suggestion
 
Nobody356 said:
Hey everyone,

I really appreciate the fact that you watched this and took the time to respond. Although I would like to hear some suggestions on how to make this one better at this point. I'm going to work on the final edit starting soon so any suggestions would be very welcome. And I know how I can make the next one better, but I want to know how to make this one better.

Also as another comment, I've got to defend the band a little bit here. Now I totally understand if its not everyones type of music, and its not exactly my type either but honestly what do you expect me to get band wise? I apologize that I'm not doing videos for Pearl Jam, U2, or (insert famous band name here) but its a little out of my league. In all honesty I feel like these guys have a pretty decent stage presence and they have over a million plays on their purevolume, have been on fuse, mtv2 and mtv, so I feel like they are a pretty decent band for me to be working with at this point in my "career". I dont know what everyone expects for people like me to find band wise but if you all have some secret to getting famous or insanely talented bands to work with you I'd love it if you shared. For now though, for me at least, its not about loving their style of music its about doing my best with what I have and getting my work seen by the most people I can.

Thanks again for all the feedback, and please keep it coming.(Just add some suggestions too :) )

Chris
Click to expand...

I don't know this band as I'm from another country, but my biggest concern in terms of performance was the mic handling of the lead singer, which was not consistant with the recorded vocal (or even when doing this live). Also the lead singer does not sing the chorus while the recording sounds like he is or at least like 2 guys singing. The guy that does the chorus is looking constantly in a strange direction. So basically performance not 100% in line with audio and simultaneously the frontman focus changes temporary to a guy with less charisma, while it's in fact the most important part of the song.

Sorry for being to critical...but note that I LIKE THE SONG A LOT !!!

O.k. how to make it better at this point :
Try to mask the above with some quick close ups if you can. Try to sell the frontman if you have some great unused shots of him left.

About "how to get there ASAP"?
It depends if you are forced to earn short term money to make a living. If not: try to make a free video for the most famous (commercial) band/artist you can find, provided they know a good story/concept, and work like hell to make this the best video you can.

Sjors.
 
I liked it. I'm not sure what the party scene has to do with the song for the most part, but I think it looks good.
 
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