Taiyo Na - Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother) - GH1 720 / 24P

gmoe

Well-known member
Hi everyone.

It's been a while since I've posted since I've been super slammed at work and then I also have been hard at work editing this documentary style music video for New York based artist Taiyo Na for his song Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother). It's a music video dedicated to not only immigrant mothers but all our moms. It was completed just this past Thanksgiving weekend and done in time to commemorate and give thanks to our moms. And I wanted to finally share it here.

The process of this film was a community based one so much of the footage was shot by youth and adults who had very little experience using a camera. So in many respects this piece is a different kind of music video not that aesthetics are thrown out the window but that it is a much more process driven creation. The piece was shot with two GH1s with much of the stock lens footage on auto focus. Although I hate working with autofocus, we just didn't have the time to teach people how to use the camera, the goal was more here's a camera point and shoot with it. So in a way this is an experimental process, so yes from a technical stand point some footage shows some of the GH1's issues and problems.

But I wanted to post this MV to show that sometimes we focus too much on the pixel peeping and the things that suck or are lacking about a camera and not enough time on the content or heart of a piece. Ultimately, we've said it many a time. We are telling a story. If that story is powerful enough I think then sometimes we can look beyond the negatives and see the real possibility of doing a lot with so little.

And that's sort of what we did with this music video. Looked at using what we got now and to push it as far as we could to tell a compelling story. As many have said many a time in this forum, it's not the camera but what you do with it that counts.

I hope this little piece can inspire others to go out and shoot with the little you have and not get trapped in the trappings of always having to have the best camera, the best rig, etc. etc.

Quite honestly, I came to DVXUser a few years back as a doc filmmaker with no formal training and have learned so much from this community. Lots of talent and giving people who have inspired me both technically and creatively. This piece definitely could not have been made with out you all.

Special shots outs to Barry and Kholi who test the limits of current gear, give thorough accurate information based on experience, and provide encouragement and feedback so that we all can go out and make our films right.

So as this MV is about saying thanks to our moms. I just want to say thank you to the community here at DVXuser. You all are helpful and "lovely to me".

Much respect,

Gary

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I AGREE


Panasonic GH1 720 / 24P
14-140mm F4.0-5.8
Canon FD 24mm F2.0
Canon FD 50mm F1.4
Canon FD 85mm F1.8
indiRAILSpro MP
indiSLIDERmini
Wondlan Pegasus II DV Stabilizer
 
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Right on. The only thing that mattered here was the story and the song. Beautiful job.
 
I am just humbled by this beautiful heartfelt song.

Thanks guys! I too was very humbled by the experience. Really this is such a special piece and goes to show simplicity and beauty makes a lot of impact to what we do regardless of the camera we use.

This is one of those songs that reminds us of where we came from and the beauty of life.

Please pass it on, share with friends and family. Glad that I could share it here in the DVXUswer forum where I learn and share my skills each and everyday. :)
 
Really great work, beautiful song, excellent editing that keep me watching till the end.
congratulation.
 
Very nice work here.

It's got a purpose and delivers it in a wonderful way. I never really thought about the camera/image, nor even critiqued it from a GH1 user point of view.

One of the other dvx members on this forum, in his signature reads that "filmmaking is the art of being invisible." I think that comes across here. The story is way out in front. Shots were well done and in done in a very "straightforward" manner - you didn't use/overuse "cool" shots for the sake of using them, you just got out of the way and let the real image & music tell the story.

Heck, the autofocus wasn't a problem, I'd rather see autofocus than an out of focus image any day of the week, it's all about context - for this video I think everything you guys did worked and it was a proper use of the GH1 as a tool to tell the story...after all, cameras are just tools and can accomplish very little without an operator. This video has a lot of heart and it all really comes through, and I almost wonder if it would have, had you NOT used inexperienced camera operators. Had this been shot in an overly professional/polished way (and I'm not criticizing your work here!) it might have actually detracted from this piece - this has a (forgive me) "grittty smoothness" that is just wonderful and fully appropriate.
 
As many have said many a time in this forum, it's not the camera but what you do with it that counts.

Absolutely - the pros and real artists know that it's not the camera...it's never been the camera. A camera can only set the parameters/boundaries within which you create art, and great art can be the size of a postcard or a 50x50 mural with anything in between.

Would your film have been better had it been shot on 35mm film with Zeiss master primes? Would it have been better had it been shot on a RED? "Better," can be defined subjectively - but "better" in terms of doing what it is trying to do? More moving? More heartfelt?

I think the answer to all of those questions is NO.

In fact, once again, I think the opposite may be true. The fact that the GH1s form factor is so unassuming is also a big strength and definitely has an impact on the mindset/comfort of the user. It's not intimidating, it's not complicated. My guess is that your "filmers" only had to think about how to best tell the story and could focus on the people in the film, making powerful images and compositions and rarely thought about the camera, and that's a good thing here. I doubt you could have made this film the way it is with nearly any other camera.
 
Very, very nice work. I'll share it with my partner who is also an immigrant mom and her daughter.

A beautiful celebration of such unsung heroes.

Well done.
 
Geez guys, thanks so much for your kind feedback I really appreciate you all for taking the time out to check the piece out and for sharing it.

Very good points thisisapocalypse

"filmmaking is the art of being invisible."
In this particular case, we had to be both on the street in Chinatown shops and businesses and Love Park. With these smaller DSLRs like the GH1 people think you are just taking a picture of something and there's a different sensibility that most folks in front of a still camera. So on the shoot no one waved into the camera or ran through the shot as if they were trying to get out of the way. People were generally their normal everyday selves and with a shoot like this we needed that feel of catching real life moments. It was wonderful to be somewhat invisible when I'm so used to the complete opposite with a larger camera.

Would your film have been better had it been shot on 35mm film with Zeiss master primes? Would it have been better had it been shot on a RED? "Better," can be defined subjectively - but "better" in terms of doing what it is trying to do? More moving? More heartfelt?

I think the answer to all of those questions is NO.
Absolutely, I couldn't agree more. There is no way that we could have gotten some of those intimate moments with having a larger camera like a RED or even an HMC150/HMC40 especially for all the mom shots. Like I said, the GH1 is small, light, and has a pretty decent autofocus.

I simply gave the GH1 to a few trusted youth and community members, gave them a 15 minute simple run done of how to point and shoot , set it on auto and showed them where to press record. I had a little $20 stabilizer that they used to help get steady shots but that' s really it.

Couldn't think of having the operator with even a 5D let a lone primes and a follow focus. Too many variables. I needed the operator to be relaxed and themselves. It's their mom that they need to connect to as they were shooting. They were in charge. I needed them to focus on making their moms be as comfortable as possible and at the same time the operators needed to feel comfortable too like they were using their own home video camera.

Was there a lot of shaky footage? Some, but not a whole lot and actually not a lot of autofocus issues either. I think I got lucky and chose some folks who had a good eye and could pick up the camera like it was an extension of their body.

One of the lessons in creating this work for me is to let go. I had to trust that my camera would come back to me for one but also that these sons and daughters who were filming their moms and grandmas would get into it and find beautiful moments which they all did.

Overall, I think the GH1 is one of the best documentary cameras out there currently for these reasons. Invisibility, ease of use, the ability to track your subject, and with some simple training you can place the camera in the hands of an untrained professional and you get some very nice results depending on your prject.

I hope in sharing this piece others can be inspired. Sometimes we just got to go back to the roots. :)
 
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