New Video "D7000" Shot in Baltimore.

This is basically two shots, cross-fading back and forth. It's 1:20 into the video before something - anything - different shows up. My attention span was challenged before the :45 mark.

I'll be honest with you... the Interwebs are now saturated with rap/hip-hop videos, and that includes the DSLR forums here. The majority of these videos that are at least decent all follow a pretty standard formula and it's hard to tell them apart. Others just don't stand out because they have little/no development (quickly produced, not much variety). It's going to take a lot to stand out in such a crowded market.

Try storyboarding. Assemble a plot... some sort of story line that parallels the lyrics without acting them out in the literal sense. Give it some substance and you'll be in a better spot.
 
I too am a bit 'saturated' with this type of music video. As a learning exercise, well, getting out and shooting is a good thing.

The most immediate thought I had was... did you forget to change the pixel aspect ratio, having shot the footage with an anamorphic lens?

On the other hand... if this was some sort of attempt to recreate a 8mm 'home movie' type style, there was something missing... and that has been done quite a bit as well... so the use
of scratches, streaks, dust and flutter transport are pretty 'seen that done that'...

In terms of camera position, as mentioned the first long section is pretty much at 'ground level'. I would have at least gotten some shots on a step latter, or picked a narrow walkway with some sort of stairs, ledge, balcony of a friend's apt. whatever to get something going from a different prospective.

I don't think the flashlight works, at least for how much it was used.

I would have worked more with the setting that you had later on, where the guy is sitting atop some sort of ledge, more moving 'down' the street, or the like.

The final Che poster, if the 'words/images' were attempting to point to economic systems that should be changed, cause discontent, etc. didn't work. I would suggest looking at 60's vintage political activists' films to get ideas about how to assemble images to get a message across of that nature...
 
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