New Rap Music Video

[John Holland]

Hey all,

Before I go into my post, I’d like to just say a few words.

It has come to my obvious attention that this board is not particularly fond of rap music, which is completely understandable, however, if you are going to view this video, please have the courtesy to leave the sound on (I know most of you will turn the sound off). I know you may not like it, but part of the music video, of course, is the music.

Now, I finally have a final version of the music video I’ve been working on. Check it out, feedback appreciated.

It was shot with a DVX100B, some lowel light kits (Omni & Totas).

www.greenbench.tv/videos/LG.wmv

I learned a lot from this video from a completely different stand point. In the past I’ve done cheap videos ($100 and under), and they’ve come out good, but after this video, I’m no longer doing any music videos without a budget of at least $1000. I busted my butt so hard for this video, having only 2 weeks to take it from first listening to finished product (of course they allowed me a little more time to get some more scenes in), not to mention that these guys were extremely cheap and in the end, they didn’t want to invest any money. So everything in this video is by a stroke of luck and lots of favors (with some skills involved too). Every idea I had that involved any money was immediately shot down (renting gear, locations, hiring actors and models, etc). Don’t ask me why I stayed on board.

I know in this business, you’ll be put under tremendous pressure and tight deadlines, but I’m honestly starting to grow a business backbone and realize that the people who aren’t willing to invest into the work that they want you to do, are not worth the hassle.

Enjoy!

[Matt Gottshalk]

Originally Posted by John Holland

Hey all,

Before I go into my post, I’d like to just say a few words.

It has come to my obvious attention that this board is not particularly fond of rap music, which is completely understandable, however, if you are going to view this video, please have the courtesy to leave the sound on (I know most of you will turn the sound off).

You said the same thing about DVXuser too....whats the deal? Do you say that about EVERY board you post this on?

[John Holland]

You're damn right.

I'll post this on any board that doesn't have a large rap population, and that happens to be this, dvxuser and a few other filmmaking websites I visit. It bothers me when people just turn the music down and watch the video. It defeats part of the video, and that is the music. I understand that everyone doesn't like rap, but atleast listen to it once, is that so hard? I hate Rock, but I'll listen to the song and watch the video, just out of respect for the director. I'm not saying everyone on this board does it, but some people do. Instead of standing by and letting it happen, I'd rather address it.

Got any other problems with my post?

[Matt Buys]

The close up grimace of the dred's gold teeth was sweet. I think for a hundred dollars those guys got a good deal.

As for rap, I have this theory that a hundred years from now mostly rich white connesieurs will be listening to it--when it's no longer dangerous--much like jazz and the tango were viewed as immoral and low class in its day. So maybe there's a chance videographers working with rap artists may have their work shown longer than they think.

[John Holland]

I apologize for coming off as defensive or anything, it's just hard when the majority of the people you learn from and want to impress/get criticism from, don't like your work.

Thanks though. I was able to work in as much as I could, and although I lost a lot of sleep, the end product is pretty good. This wasn't even with $100, this was absolutely cost free. My past work was $100.

[Sheldon Blais]

It looks very professional. The shaking gets annoying after a while and it really has nothing to do with the song (as far as I can tell).

I have to give you props for the clarity of the video, the colors and the shots with the text in them.

[Michael Bernstein]

Clean.

I wasn't particularly annoyed by the shake. I must be getting used to it from, well, half the other rap/hip-hop videos out there.

Nice gold and silver fronts. The music was confectionery.

You did this in two weeks? Nice. Constraints can be your friend, or at worst, they don't have to be your enemy. Hope you find some tasty paying work soon.

Michael

[Daniel Gast]

First thing to say, that was awesome, haha.

I actually really enjoyed this. A lot of really good things happened in this video, and I hope the clients were happy, because it worked really really well.

At first I wasn't feeling the bouncing camera, but as I watched the whole thing, I saw that it pulled it all together. Was that done in post or did you physically bounce it with the music? Just curious.

Two things kept this from being 100% "Young MTV Up and Coming". Bear in mind, I really really enjoyed this video, and for the young filmaker, it's top notch. What I'm about to say is VERY nitpicky because I feel the potential to go to excellence is there. So don't be offended or say "What, that's insignificant." Yes, it is, but it's what catches the industry's eyes.

1) Your whitebalances

From studio shots to location shots, your whitebalance drastically changed. You had this golden glow on your exteriors and this clean white on your studio shots. It really did not cut well. It was just jarring. It would've even been better to (even in post) overexpose your exteriors slightly just to try to get both of them closer to that "white clean" feel.

2) Night shots

I know you have to be able to shoot at night. But shooting on video is just not conducive to night shooting. The colors are all skewed and the look is grainy and dirty on any cam under 20,000 dollars...and even THEN you have to work it.

I would've avoided night shots if at all possible. Your dark studio shots of the smoke, however, were fantastic. Very artistic, very nice.

Very very well put together vid. Just keep those two points in mind. Keep it up.

[John Holland]

Thanks Daniel,

Very good, detailed feedback. The bounce is from me physically shaking the camera. Originally I wasn't intending to do it, but when the scene that was suppose to have 150 people dwindled down to 10, I had to do something, so I threw the camera shakes in there to kinda take your attention away from the lack of people in the shot (this was all the exterior day parking garage stuff).

You're right, night shots are a beast. I just wish I had some more powerful lighting at the time (I was working off two Tota 750's) so that I could have upp'd the shutter a little more. Maybe this video will get me some clientale with some actual money to spend. ;)

As far as white balance, I can see where you're coming from. The washed out, exterior looks were color corrected, while the interior white shots were just desaturated a little (and boosted contrast a little).

Thanks again for the feedback!

[Liam Hall]

Well John, I quite liked the track (and I'm old white trash).

I thought you did a really good job on the video. You really should charge more -$100?

[John Holland]

Thanks. ;)

I'm putting together different price packages as I type. The minimum one will be around $1,500, so I shouldn't have this problem in the future (I hope).

[Gunleik Groven]

OK. Besides the WB issues, I am quite impressed with the videowork.

I am no rap afficinado, but but I still listen to some and think thisone is going to have a hard time.

No real hook. Nothing to remember and no real exciting verbal perfomance. The audio does not do your videowork justice.
It's just sorta "What you'd expect from a rap-thingy"

BUT I think a real remix of the thing could make it work out.

Just my 2c

Gunleik

[Shon Troelstrup]

That's a pretty slick looking video for no budget. The funny thing, as to be expected from this genre, is that they're all like "WE GOTS MONEY, FOO", but are too cheap to put up any cash to do anything proper. Classic.

I liked the contrast between the outside shots to the studio shots. The night shots could've been left out, or at least been tweaked a bit so they didn't look so grainy.

Not a bad song, either.

[Andzei Matsukevits]

sorry for not reading previous posts, maybe it has been said already, but:


-in the beginning shaking was cool, but later on it got annoying, couldn't relax watching it anymore.
-picture looks like clean video, but not too video, far from filmic though.
-its not your fault, but I dont like about rappers their attitude(money, cars, women, "i am a badass" etc.)

overall nice.

[John Holland]

I would have loved to get my hand on a 35mm adapter to get some shallower DOP's. As far as attitudes go, believe it or not but most of what you see is fake and only stage presense. A lot of the rappers I know are some of the nicest, quietest people, while others of course can act the same way they do in their videos/on stage.

Some change for performance reasons and others are just real jerks, but the majority are faking it.