Music video at DVinfo.net

Christopher Witz · January 27th, 2008, 11:12 AM

I shot a very quick music video yesterday ( only had a half hour... ) with my ex1..... quite pleased considering the rush.

http://www.witzke-studio.com/peterbg.m4v.zip

went to a coffee shop and edited it in about an hour in FCP on MBP... and uploaded it via wifi from the coffee shop to the server...... don't we live in a wonderful time?

Brad Vaughan · January 27th, 2008, 11:54 AM

Wow!!!

That was so so so so GOOD!

Very impressed! Very clean and smooth.

Even crazier to think you did this at a Coffee shop on your MBP! Interesting times to live in indeed!

Portable video shooting and editing on a MBP and the EX1...Life is Good!

Great music too!

Brad Vaughan · January 27th, 2008, 11:55 AM

Man this is just so good I had to reply again!

Good stuff!

I take it you filmed several takes of the same song or ...do you have two cameras/two people filming?

And what band is this? They are amazing! Great sound...great voice!

Christopher Witz · January 27th, 2008, 12:09 PM

thanks for the kind words....

shot about 5 takes.... just one cam. no DOF adaptor... just wide open at -3 gain, 3200k, 1080p HQ 24 @ 1/48th.... no pp's.

synced to a wave file of the audio in FCP. simple desat with 3-way cc.

the artist is peter searcy.... a louisville native.. this song " i believe" was picked up by oprah for her give away special. also used for an ad for a new TV show called "lipstick jungle"

Christopher Witz · January 29th, 2008, 07:27 AM

looks like were going to shoot some more footage in a few days with the rest of the band.... I'll post a final when ready.

Brad Vaughan · January 29th, 2008, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christopher Witzke

looks like were going to shoot some more footage in a few days with the rest of the band.... I'll post a final when ready.

Well, I'm standing in line for the show! :)

You guys should put some coffee on for us line waiters. It's cold out here!!! ;)

Rainer Mann · January 30th, 2008, 11:38 AM

Great video!
I did a test and made a SD DVD out of it - it looks sooo great on my TV! Soo great, I can't wait to get my EX1. On TV it's like watching an actual movie from the big ones. A friend of mine didn't believe this was shoot on such a "cheap" (sorry!) cam!!! And this was without any adapter like letus etc. ???

Steven Thomas · January 30th, 2008, 08:08 PM

Looks dang good!

You might want to work on the visual / audio sync though..

Christopher Witz · January 31st, 2008, 07:24 AM

yes I know.... quick editing there. I'll get the sync right for the final.

We are reshooting tonight with the whole band in a fancy recording studio with purdy sonix wall panals and large condenser mics and such.

I tell ya though.... the difference between my old z1's and this EX on my 30" apple display at full screen in 1080p is HUGE! the EX is just so clean and makes the Z1 look like SD.

I'll put up a 1080 24p file when edits are done.... might be about a gig though.

also.... I shot some green screen the other day for another music video... and it key'd much better then I thought it would. I'll post a little snip when I get a chance.

John Markert · February 2nd, 2008, 09:28 PM

Video looks and sounds awesome played back full screen on my crappy Westinghouse 32" LCD. My old G4 dual 800 couldn't keep up with the video frame rate.

How did you compress it to mp4 and how long did it take?

Wow, shot and edited in a few hours with hardware and software under $10k!

Looking forward to the completed video.

Christopher Witz · February 3rd, 2008, 01:31 PM

ok..... here's the reshoot.....

http://www.witzke-studio.com/peter3.m4v.zip

This time took about 3 hours to shoot and 2 for edit. I'm sure there will be some more edits....

I added a little bit of vignette blur & darkness.... tweaked sat and levels with the 3-way in FCP, saved full size ( 1080 24p ) then opened in QT and exported as appletv setting.... that's it.

I wish the room was nicer and bigger, could not hide the lights.... no abbey road, but oh well.

Did I say I love this camera? well, I do!

John Markert · February 3rd, 2008, 04:42 PM

Nice film look and saturated colors. It has that high-end "glassy" look.

The background lights bothered me this time. I liked all the close-ups and the b&w from the last video.

This video is less intimate. It needs another layer or two of intimate cutaways with the lead singer interacting with the subject of his lyrics at other locations, which I'm sure you will get done!

If it were Jersey, he'd be down the shore on a Saturday night at the boardwalk in the summer with his date.

Christopher Witz · February 3rd, 2008, 05:06 PM

yeah... but I don't think his wife would like that.

in a perfect world I'd prefer to shoot in a sound stage with lights up out of the way, but as things are with 8' ceilings in a dinky recording studio.... it's all I've got to work with.

I actually prefer the look and feel of the 1st shoot..... but I'm just the hired camera/production and not the visionary ( in this particular situation )

I gotta tell ya though... in 1080 up on my projection screen it's stunning.... I can count the nose hairs!

Paul Dhadialla · February 4th, 2008, 09:58 AM

Great Job Christopher !!!

Thanks for sharing sir
Paul

Christopher Witz · February 7th, 2008, 07:09 AM

ok... here's how it stands right now.....

http://www.witzke-studio.com/ibelieve-bg.m4v.zip

I'm still going to tweak it a bit when I get a chance.

they wanted that "70's look" so I did a bit of bleach and gamma work on it.

January 27th, 2008, 11:12 AM	#1
Christopher Witz Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 591	Music video I shot a very quick music video yesterday ( only had a half hour... ) with my ex1..... quite pleased considering the rush. http://www.witzke-studio.com/peterbg.m4v.zip went to a coffee shop and edited it in about an hour in FCP on MBP... and uploaded it via wifi from the coffee shop to the server...... don't we live in a wonderful time?

February 2nd, 2008, 09:28 PM	#10
John Markert Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Belle Mead NJ Posts: 50	Dang! Video looks and sounds awesome played back full screen on my crappy Westinghouse 32" LCD. My old G4 dual 800 couldn't keep up with the video frame rate. How did you compress it to mp4 and how long did it take? Wow, shot and edited in a few hours with hardware and software under $10k! Looking forward to the completed video.

February 3rd, 2008, 01:31 PM	#11
Christopher Witz Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 591	ok..... here's the reshoot..... http://www.witzke-studio.com/peter3.m4v.zip This time took about 3 hours to shoot and 2 for edit. I'm sure there will be some more edits.... I added a little bit of vignette blur & darkness.... tweaked sat and levels with the 3-way in FCP, saved full size ( 1080 24p ) then opened in QT and exported as appletv setting.... that's it. I wish the room was nicer and bigger, could not hide the lights.... no abbey road, but oh well. Did I say I love this camera? well, I do! Last edited by Christopher Witz; February 3rd, 2008 at 01:35 PM. Reason: shpelleng

January 27th, 2008, 11:54 AM	#2
Brad Vaughan Major Player Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Va Beach, Va Posts: 241	Wow!!! That was so so so so GOOD! Very impressed! Very clean and smooth. Even crazier to think you did this at a Coffee shop on your MBP! Interesting times to live in indeed! Portable video shooting and editing on a MBP and the EX1...Life is Good! Great music too!

January 27th, 2008, 11:55 AM	#3
Brad Vaughan Major Player Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Va Beach, Va Posts: 241	Man this is just so good I had to reply again! Good stuff! I take it you filmed several takes of the same song or ...do you have two cameras/two people filming? And what band is this? They are amazing! Great sound...great voice!

January 27th, 2008, 12:09 PM	#4
Christopher Witz Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 591	thanks for the kind words.... shot about 5 takes.... just one cam. no DOF adaptor... just wide open at -3 gain, 3200k, 1080p HQ 24 @ 1/48th.... no pp's. synced to a wave file of the audio in FCP. simple desat with 3-way cc. the artist is peter searcy.... a louisville native.. this song " i believe" was picked up by oprah for her give away special. also used for an ad for a new TV show called "lipstick jungle"

January 29th, 2008, 07:27 AM	#5
Christopher Witz Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 591	looks like were going to shoot some more footage in a few days with the rest of the band.... I'll post a final when ready.

January 30th, 2008, 11:38 AM	#7
Rainer Mann Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Stuttgart, Germany Posts: 41	Great video! I did a test and made a SD DVD out of it - it looks sooo great on my TV! Soo great, I can't wait to get my EX1. On TV it's like watching an actual movie from the big ones. A friend of mine didn't believe this was shoot on such a "cheap" (sorry!) cam!!! And this was without any adapter like letus etc. ???

January 30th, 2008, 08:08 PM	#8
Steven Thomas Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Gilbert, AZ Posts: 1,896	Looks dang good! You might want to work on the visual / audio sync though..

January 31st, 2008, 07:24 AM	#9
Christopher Witz Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 591	yes I know.... quick editing there. I'll get the sync right for the final. We are reshooting tonight with the whole band in a fancy recording studio with purdy sonix wall panals and large condenser mics and such. I tell ya though.... the difference between my old z1's and this EX on my 30" apple display at full screen in 1080p is HUGE! the EX is just so clean and makes the Z1 look like SD. I'll put up a 1080 24p file when edits are done.... might be about a gig though. also.... I shot some green screen the other day for another music video... and it key'd much better then I thought it would. I'll post a little snip when I get a chance.

February 3rd, 2008, 04:42 PM	#12
John Markert Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Belle Mead NJ Posts: 50	Nice film look and saturated colors. It has that high-end "glassy" look. The background lights bothered me this time. I liked all the close-ups and the b&w from the last video. This video is less intimate. It needs another layer or two of intimate cutaways with the lead singer interacting with the subject of his lyrics at other locations, which I'm sure you will get done! If it were Jersey, he'd be down the shore on a Saturday night at the boardwalk in the summer with his date.

February 3rd, 2008, 05:06 PM	#13
Christopher Witz Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 591	yeah... but I don't think his wife would like that. in a perfect world I'd prefer to shoot in a sound stage with lights up out of the way, but as things are with 8' ceilings in a dinky recording studio.... it's all I've got to work with. I actually prefer the look and feel of the 1st shoot..... but I'm just the hired camera/production and not the visionary ( in this particular situation ) I gotta tell ya though... in 1080 up on my projection screen it's stunning.... I can count the nose hairs!

February 4th, 2008, 09:58 AM	#14
Paul Dhadialla Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 143	Great Job Christopher !!! Thanks for sharing sir Paul

February 7th, 2008, 07:09 AM	#15
Christopher Witz Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 591	ok... here's how it stands right now..... http://www.witzke-studio.com/ibelieve-bg.m4v.zip I'm still going to tweak it a bit when I get a chance. they wanted that "70's look" so I did a bit of bleach and gamma work on it.