New A7s Video Going Viral on YouTube

timmilgram

Active member
Hey guys! A couple months ago I posted a dance video which I shot on the A7s, that went viral: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...video-went-viral-over-the-weekend-on-accident

Yesterday we released a new follow-up video and it seems to be doing quite well as it's starting to get picked up on various online media outlets (Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, Popsugar, Nylon, and other female-oriented websites I only recently learned about... lol).

Just thought I would share it with you, and get some feedback on the film side of things. This edit took quite a bit of time for something so short (40-45 hours total), as there were tons of minor imperfections and thus tweaks to be made (ex: half the cabinets were bright green, covering up certain outfit malfunctions, slowing down and speeding up portions of 24fps footage in the intro, hiding a person who accidentally was in one important shot, bringing focus to certain objects to distract from others, using mattes with keyframes to adjust lighting, etc)

Let me know what you think!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXNgq4j7la4

 
Considering all of the really well executed visual tricks in this piece I would say it was a well spent 45 hours. Really nicely done and hope it does well for you.
 
Once again great video.

Same set up? Internal recording, letus gimbal, tamron lens?
And what about lighting?

I'm curious how you arrange the dance routines. Do they come up with the choreography for the track, then on the day of shooting you adapt the dance to the environment/location?
 
* Congrats on a new success
* All those tricks you did in post worked really well: I watched the video before reading your post and I didn't notice anything at all, well done
* Some really nice shots there
* But still I liked the previous one better: you set the bar too high!! XD
 
Once again great video.

Same set up? Internal recording, letus gimbal, tamron lens?
And what about lighting?

I'm curious how you arrange the dance routines. Do they come up with the choreography for the track, then on the day of shooting you adapt the dance to the environment/location?

Yep! Same exact setup. Only difference is editing in Premiere CC 15.... which made coloring a lot easier but holy crap is it buggy.

Lighting consisted of two daylight Cool Lites (similar to KinoFlo Divas), and a hand held LED ringlight + natural lighting and the dimmable overhead lights in the office.

Two days before the shoot, the choreographer and I went to the location and spent an hour mapping out the different setups while playing the music on her phone. People were working there that day so we looked crazy taking over the meeting room like that. We did all the blocking and timed out the long tracking walking shot for the intro then as well. She then choreographed the majority of it later that day and taught the girls the next day.
 
* Congrats on a new success
* All those tricks you did in post worked really well: I watched the video before reading your post and I didn't notice anything at all, well done
* Some really nice shots there
* But still I liked the previous one better: you set the bar too high!! XD

Thanks man! I agree... I think I like the last one a little bit better for one specific reason. The IDFWU video had considerably more wide shots, which restore your sense of place every time it cuts to one. This video on the other hand consisted mainly of mediums and closeups, and even the wider shots we did have were on the tighter side. This was due to being in an enclosed space with very little room to move around. The wides in this video felt like short-lived breaths of fresh air every time they happened, which to me signals that there weren't enough of them.
 
The other one is majestic. Starting a music video with a first shot that is held for more than 30 seconds and still feels dynamic is no easy feat. This one is very nice, but as I said: you set the bar too high!!
 
Inspiration!! Great, great work :)
Your colour grading is quite unique, I think I could guess your work just by looking at few shots now ;)

That opening shot on ronin when girl enters the office - was that lit in any way?

Tim, question to you and others: how do you feel about aspect ratio bars emerging and disappearing shot by shot? (how it's in this video).

I'm currently editing music video and had that dilemma - put bars and make it instantly a little bit more cinematic or just live it at 16:9 aspect ratio and show more body and movement of dancers.
 
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Inspiration!! Great, great work :)
Your colour grading is quite unique, I think I could guess your work just by looking at few shots now ;)

That opening shot on ronin when girl enters the office - was that lit in any way?

Tim, question to you and others: how do you feel about aspect ratio bars emerging and disappearing shot by shot? (how it's in this video).

I'm currently editing music video and had that dilemma - put bars and make it instantly a little bit more cinematic or just live it at 16:9 aspect ratio and show more body and movement of dancers.

Thanks man that's so good to hear! The opening shot, the choreographer held a LED ring light to add a bit of fill. The overhead lights were dimmed down about half way if I do recall. And natural light was coming in from the windows outside (which made it a bit tricky to get the right exposure for both the dark beginning and the bright end of that shot).

Also I think it's interesting that "Ronin" has become the Kleenex of gimbals. (I used a Letus Helix Jr. for this shoot)


As far as the aspect ratio bars.... I would have used them the whole way through if not for the fact that all the shots (including the wides) were so damn tight that you lose the choreography. I only used the bars in places where it did not hinder the choreo. I still have mixed feelings on the bars coming in and out a couple times in the video, but I thought that the cinematic look for the intro and the chair scene outweighed my negative feelings of them appearing and disappearing so I said "f*** it".
 
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