Music Video for Japanese artist: Tim Toishi

[Dennis Hingsberg]

I directed this music video a couple weeks ago for artist Tim Toishi, shot with the F3 of course. : )

Tim Toishi - Only One [Official Music Video] - YouTube

[Dennis Hingsberg]

Anything liked or disliked about this video I worked on, or areas reco'd be improved for next time?

thanks

[Alister Chapman]

There are a few shots where the focus just doesn't pop, I think a few shots of the singer show the mic in focus but not him. Some of these are followed by wider shots of the girl where she is in very crisp focus and this draws your attention to the softer focus shots. Maybe a little post production softening of the crisp shots would help. A post production pro-mist style filter might help soften the shots overall and help with the less than perfect skin. Not keen on the grade myself, I find the white suit against the dark room a bit harsh and skin tones are a bit green and sickly looking to me, but that's just personal taste.

[John Cummings]

Ok Dennis, don't be mad at me.

I'd say the lighting on the artist on the stage was too harsh. The white suit did not compliment his complexion nor did it do you any favors. It looked like you lit him with only two large instruments with little or no diffusion. The fill/backlight didn't wrap the face nicely at all with a hot spot on his nose. I know it was supposed to look like stage lighting, but I think an opportunity was lost there. He looked very pale and too shiny at times. I also second the observation about the sickly overall green cast of the video. There were also cuts between similarly framed shots that bothered me. The camera float could have been smoother....looked a little jerky for the tempo of the song.

The writing at the piano sequence in front of the curtains was nicely balanced, but again with the weird green cast. There was a lack of interesting shots and angles...you had an open piano, you could have riffed off of the strings or done some ecu's on the keys. I would have used some foreground elements to add depth. The sidewalk sequence was nice and looked very clean with the low light, but I noticed a circular grade artifact on the moving shots there. I did like the shadow pattern on his face as he turned to look at her.

Sure, It's a sad love song, but I would have gone for a warmer look. The F3 makes amazing color. This just looked bleak and sickly. I hope Tim feels better soon.

[Dennis Hingsberg]

Thank you Alister and John. Good feedback.

Yes the white suit was a surprise to me too but it was too late and I had to roll with it. I usually advise against white and suggest a tone equal or darker than the skin color so the eye is drawn to the face and not the clothes. With flat lighting its less important but this style lighting was quite contrary to flat.

There are some mid-tones removed from the red channel leaving more blue/green to be present. I definitely didn't want a warm look to this. With more budget I would have done an isolated CC on the subject vs. the rest of the scene leaving a little more red in places where it could have been used.

I'm always curious what "others" will see outside of my own observations and what I know had to be left in for one reason or another, so thanks again for watching and commenting.

[Dennis Hingsberg]

Let me know if this vimeo version looks any different than the youtube version in terms of cast. I am noticing some more green on another video recently uploaded to youtube, and the original is definitely not "as green".

Tim Toishi - Only One [Official Music Video] on Vimeo