First Music Video, please check it out, would mean a lot!

[Alison Parker]

Hey guys... here is my first music video... I had nothing to do with the pre-production or even the production itself, just the editing... i was there filming the behind the scenes video and then ended up being the editor for both...

it was really fun tho and a great learning experience, i've now shot a second music video with my company Get Famous Productions and it's totally awesome....

But would love to get some editing feedback if possible on this one... (please ignore the white flashes, if possible.. I never wanted them and don't plan to use them again.. long story.. ha ha...)

So, please check it out at this youtube link, lemme know what you think, ways i can do better with editing, would really appreciate it.. altho i do ask, if you think it sucks and you wanna tell me so, put your comment here and not on youtube.. thanks!

YouTube - Che Pablucci Ft. Andres - "Se Me Escapo"

oh yeah, filmed on a DvX100b with 35mm adapter, for those interested... in Vancouver, BC.

Alison
Get Famous Productions
Get Famous Productions
MySpace.com - Get Famous Productions - 27 - Female - Vancouver, CA - www.myspace.com/getfamousvancouver

[Jeff Harper]

In my humble opinion the editing was excellent with what you had to work with. Didn't seem to be enough variety of shots, IMO. To me it came across as low-budget but professional.

[Alison Parker]

thanks for checking it out! it WAS very, very low budget.. i think it was many people's first attempt... but it was a very good learning experience.

[Dennis Murphy]

You've done well with what you had in my opinion, but that guy with the glasses was off-putting. He almost seemed like someone doing a parody of a rapper. I spent half the video feeling embarassed for him.

[Alison Parker]

well thanks for checking it out, despite your feelings about the singer!

it's kinda hard to get feedback on editing cuz people just look at the people and listen to the song and think about those things... but, i guess i didnt do anything really crazy with the editing anyways so that in itself is feedback... gonna start trying some new things and try to get more creative with it... like that slow motion thing where everyone is in slow mo but their lips are still in sync with the song... i REALLY wanna do that.. gonna try a test shot of that this weekend and see how it goes...

[Sam Rosado]

the video was ok, the music was good.....the girl dancing was out of shape! the girl he kissed on the bench was butt ugly!!!! i liked the switches between scenes. overall it was an ok video.

ps.....I have been in professional recording (audio) most of my life with a dab of video. my opinions are from that point of view, as the audience.

[Alison Parker]

Hey Sam, thanks for your feedback and taking the time to check it out, it is much appreciated!!!

Your feelings on the physical appearance of the cast really has no effect on me, since that wasnt up to me at all.

I honestly can't wait to show you guys my SECOND music video, for which i was the executive producer as well as editor. that one, i DID have a say in these kind of things, and I'm extremely proud of the results... just waiting for the artist to have her video release party before I upload it anywhere...

[Ali Jafri]

Fun video, Alison, with some nifty editing. I like all the different elements that come into play with the different locations etc. and the storyline too. I must say, however, the acting could have been a little more believable in some sequences.

Sam has some interesting comments about the presentation of some of the female cast. Although directors usually cast female characters that look like pin-up models I believe that the performance has to be strong and in the case of the dancing lady, I think she was having fun and letting herself loose and that sorta covered for her less than perfect physical attributes, which would still be appealing to a lot of men! The lady kissing on the bench is fine, she was just lit poorly. I don't see how that can be fixed in post.

I know you've asked us to ignore the white flashes but I would still like to comment on them. The reason they're distracting is because they spill out of the letterboxed area. The rest of the video is widescreen and then suddenly we're in standard 4:3 for that fraction of a second. Very distracting! The camera you used isn't widescreen and I understand that music videos usually look better letterboxed - but then do make sure the flashes you've put are also in the 16:9 ratio. The flashes in some ways lost the otherwise "big production" feel you are trying to maintain. All you really have to do is to crop them to fit a 16:9 frame and you're set! They won't look distracting anymore. Also, I personally don't see the dissolves working in this video. I know its a matter of personal taste but I would have stuck to straight cuts, the dissolves didn't work for me. I thought it also took away from the big production look. Otherwise the shoot is really well done (minus some lighting issues here and there).

All in all it was a wonderful first edit (much much better than my first edit let me tell you!) and was fun to watch - which is what you're aiming for right? Looking forward to seeing more from you!

[Alison Parker]

Originally Posted by Ali Jafri

Fun video, Alison, with some nifty editing. I like all the different elements that come into play with the different locations etc. and the storyline too. I must say, however, the acting could have been a little more believable in some sequences.

Sam has some interesting comments about the presentation of some of the female cast. Although directors usually cast female characters that look like pin-up models I believe that the performance has to be strong and in the case of the dancing lady, I think she was having fun and letting herself loose and that sorta covered for her less than perfect physical attributes, which would still be appealing to a lot of men! The lady kissing on the bench is fine, she was just lit poorly. I don't see how that can be fixed in post.

I know you've asked us to ignore the white flashes but I would still like to comment on them. The reason they're distracting is because they spill out of the letterboxed area. The rest of the video is widescreen and then suddenly we're in standard 4:3 for that fraction of a second. Very distracting! The camera you used isn't widescreen and I understand that music videos usually look better letterboxed - but then do make sure the flashes you've put are also in the 16:9 ratio. The flashes in some ways lost the otherwise "big production" feel you are trying to maintain. All you really have to do is to crop them to fit a 16:9 frame and you're set! They won't look distracting anymore. Also, I personally don't see the dissolves working in this video. I know its a matter of personal taste but I would have stuck to straight cuts, the dissolves didn't work for me. I thought it also took away from the big production look. Otherwise the shoot is really well done (minus some lighting issues here and there).

All in all it was a wonderful first edit (much much better than my first edit let me tell you!) and was fun to watch - which is what you're aiming for right? Looking forward to seeing more from you!

Ali! Thanks SO much for this in depth feedback on the video... everything you said was BANG ON.

The lighting of the girl on the bench was poor indeed. Maybe in time I'll get better at fixing these things, but you sure made me feel better about it by saying it would be un fixable in post. She was also the singers real life girlfriend.

we originally had 3 dancing girls. this is the only one that made the final cut, because she is actually a dance instructor and it just worked better for the video to focus on one girl (in my opinion), because it is called se me escapo aka I Lost Her in english.... ok, maybe she is not a skinny little toothpick, but like you said, i'm sure there are many guys that would like her. overall, this girl can dance, and thats why she's there.

the white flashes... ahhh!!!! yes i know. i tried to avoid them. the artist specifically requested that the would be white flashes that go in the part where the black bars are. he'd seen this in some other video apparently and really wanted the effect. i thought it would look amature, but they still wanted it, so what can i do? in the end, it is his decision. but i'll never do it again because its the first thing people find wrong with this video and i completely understand why.

next time around, things are going to be much better. but this is how we learn, right. its funny, because our lighting guy forgot that lighting meter thing he had for our second video and just did it by eye, but the lighting is a million times better! and i only use ONE dip to colour dissolve on the next video.. haha... altho i liked the way the dissolves look on the first video but thats my opinion... :)

thanks again so much for your feedback, this is a great site to share your work and get a variety of opinions and they are all helpful.

[Alison Parker]

actually, i'm really surprised no one has mentioned anything about the scenes with the white backdrop.

those scenes were a NIGHTMARE to edit.. they had wrinkles, and the only way to make the background appear solid white was to raise the whites in 3 way colour corrector, which also changed the colour of peoples skin to a more yellowy and blown out look.. my attempt at garbage matting them failed... so i settled for a NOT solid white background and just raised the whites enough to make the wrinkles go away...

is that effect easier to get with a green screen? i almost think it would be.

[Chris Swanberg]

I've always felt that while in some ways a music video might seem less demanding in terms of cut points between clips, since you have to match lip synch, overall I think it probably ends up being much more difficult matching all those clips. I thought your editing was good on this.

[Alison Parker]

thanks chris. in my experience so far, YES, music videos are much more work because you cant just put the clips where you want them. you have to make sure everything is in sync, and THEN you can go from there and decide which clips to use in which parts.

i'm getting faster at this, by using a crap load of tracks in FCP and syncing up all the clips FIRST, then editing from there...

this video was especially difficult because 1) sometimes they had the guy singing with no playback music in the background and 2) i don't speak spanish. ha ha.

its funny tho, i spend weeks putting this stuff together, and then like, one day to do the behind the scenes video. so.

[Herman Van Deventer]

Alison,

After spending many years on local low-budget music videos , i came to a point where i thought i knew everything but actually knows nothing !

Congrats with your first video - I second all the comments without restricting your future mindset.

Take complete control of the casting - You will always be confronted with the " My sister can break dance" - scenario.

Tap into your local model agency & dancers data basis via face book etc. Aspirant models and dancers need exposure. Most of my dancers and models render their services for free in exchange for having a music video as part of their working - portfolio.

If the videos are for local broadcast they pile up with requests to be in your next music video.

So yeah - Go for it ! - Looking forward to see your next video.

Herman
YouTube - alienbrainxx's Channel

[Alison Parker]

Originally Posted by Herman Van Deventer

Alison,

After spending many years on local low-budget music videos , i came to a point where i thought i knew everything but actually knows nothing !

Congrats with your first video - I second all the comments without restricting your future mindset.

Take complete control of the casting - You will always be confronted with the " My sister can break dance" - scenario.

Tap into your local model agency & dancers data basis via face book etc. Aspirant models and dancers need exposure. Most of my dancers and models render their services for free in exchange for having a music video as part of their working - portfolio.

If the videos are for local broadcast they pile up with requests to be in your next music video.

So yeah - Go for it ! - Looking forward to see your next video.

Herman
YouTube - alienbrainxx's Channel

Herman, thank you for the congrats. its always exciting to have that FIRST real music video and its nice to share it with you guys.

as for taking complete control of casting... MY GOD, how do you DO THAT?!!?! how do you say to the artist "hmmm, i know you want your boyfriend to play the lead, but.... he's kinda.. ugly." heh. but seriously. i dont understand how you can convince the artist to go with someone else... even if they're like 'hey, my friend is a dancer.' how can you be like 'well, that's cool, but still, i think we should go with a REALLY pro dancer'. in the end, the client is paying me, and if they want their girlfriend to play the lead role, then that's who its gonna be. you know? but, this is probably one of those areas i need to learn. actually i'm gonna look more into that because it has been bugging me, altho luckily for my second music video, the artists choices were all really a good. a few of the extras wouldnt have been my first choice, but hey, extras are easy to cut...

[Herman Van Deventer]

Normally, after building up a showcase of music videos you can backtrack and preview upon successful acts from models / dancers and actors.

Most of my clients relate to a high budget video that they saw - one way or another, or saw one of my videos on tv.

When i start working on the concept with the client, the client normally want to see this, and see that, in his video. Opening that door for the client becomes a lever where i can point out to the client that the "dance scene" he refers to is done by professional dancers etc. etc.

I would also show my client some of my earlier work where we used - sisters boyfriends etc. and ask him if that is what he want - The answer is always - No.

I'ts like showing the "Big" lady dancer from your first video to your next client and try and use her again as dancer in your next video - The answer is going to be, NO thank you.

An open honest discussion with your client in this regard is always important.

It,s like - I am the lead singer . My girlfriend can dance very well. She dance every night in the kitchen while cooking. The inherent urge to employ relatives etc. in his video is merely based on the effect of accommodating all his buddies etc. in the video and ( 2) to cut on coming quote from your side.

Like said, There is ways and means to overcome this problem cost-effectively, and yes I agree - You need to enter this specific terrain with utmost sensitivity.

sorry for my poor English - not my native language.

Herman.