Our First Self Directed Video

1- The only good shots are the ones with the all black background (Like the shot @ :15 with the light silhouette). Everything else looks VERY cheap. Like a documentary for a local rap group.
2- One thing that could make EVERYTHING look WAY better is the editing. I suggest learning how to or handing the footage off to someone that knows how. The avg video cut at the LONGEST is about 3 seconds. You have shots that seem to last 10 seconds. I sit and think 'Is he ever gonna cut?'
3- The shots of random people on the street would just come in and go away with no kind of transition, overlapping the SAME SHOT of the artist rapping. Not only should they have been their own shot, but if you were going to overlay them, then the footage you layed them over should have changed as well... I feel.
4- And on some shots of the people looking @ the cam, you can see them look up, stare, blink, then go back to doing what they were doing (Like the tattoo artist). You should cut the before and afters of the look off. And I study music videos as well, I understand the CashMoney-esque, southern grime look that you were going for with the common-folk stares. When you look into the eyes of those people in those videos, you can FEEL their struggle, and strife. That their life is REALLY messed up. But even looking @ the cam involves either REAL depression or good acting skills. The guys you have looking in the cam look like friends that you walked up to asked to look in the cam sadly for about 5 seconds. They did bad job.
5- Who uses a Cross-Dissolve in a grimey rap music video?
 
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Damn...... Lol

Damn...... Lol

WhiteWood said:
1- The only good shots are the ones with the all black background (Like the shot @ :15 with the light silhouette). Everything else looks VERY cheap. Like a documentary for a local rap group.
2- One thing that could make EVERYTHING look WAY better is the editing. I suggest learning how to or handing the footage off to someone that knows how. The avg video cut at the LONGEST is about 3 seconds. You have shots that seem to last 10 seconds. I sit and think 'Is he ever gonna cut?'
3- The shots of random people on the street would just come in and go away with no kind of transition, overlapping the SAME SHOT of the artist rapping. Not only should they have been their own shot, but if you were going to overlay them, then the footage you layed them over should have changed as well... I feel.
4- And on some shots of the people looking @ the cam, you can see them look up, stare, blink, then go back to doing what they were doing (Like the tattoo artist). You should cut the before and afters of the look off. And I study music videos as well, I understand the CashMoney-esque, southern grime look that you were going for with the common-folk stares. When you look into the eyes of those people in those videos, you can FEEL their struggle, and strife. That their life is REALLY messed up. But even looking @ the cam involves either REAL depression or good acting skills. The guys you have looking in the cam look like friends that you walked up to asked to look in the cam sadly for about 5 seconds. They did bad job.
5- Who uses a Cross-Dissolve in a grimey rap music video?
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True I don't have a wealth of knowledge I'm looking for some books now on editing ( can you suggest any) this is our first video that we have done ourselves so we are happy with the the process so far but sure we will learn and get better with the help of good constructive critisism and hands on training. :dankk2:
 
Stylistically, it was OK. I could see what you were going for.

The first thing that stuck out to me was that you don't have your singer/rapper framed. If you had him framed properly (think law of thirds) you could've given him much more of a commanding presence. The way it's shot makes him look vunerable (which might be what you were going for, but I doubt it). Not having shots framed also screams amateur (hand-held camera shakes don't help either).

Second, the edit was very rough (and by rough, I mean hard to watch). Definitely take note of what WhiteWood said, as much as you might not want to hear it, most of his comments are spot on. One thing that bugged me was the overlay shots, or how they popped in & out. Like WW said, you may have wanted to make them their own shots OR at least give them fades in & out.

Editing isn't easy. It's extremely tedious at times and you have to have a good sense of timing & feel. A great place to start your editing education is with the...
film "The Cutting Edge"
book "In The Blink of an Eye" by Walter Murch
and/or get the interactive training books that go with your NLE.

I use Final Cut Pro and am nearly waist deep in the training books, which is great for learning the interface and improving your skills.

Good Luck
 
My #1 Music Video teaching tool is MTV Jamz (A 24/7 hip-hop & R&B, commercial-free music video channel.) Watch the videos for more than music. Probably on mute might help. For 24 hours a day like I do. I only turn when nothing's on MTV Jamz. And you'll notice that most of what is done in music videos can, in one way or another, be done in your editor. Learn to freak-out the basic tools of yoru editor and create signature usage of them.
 
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