Mock Music Video - Beastie Boys 'Sabotage'

[Patrick Moreau]

We had a client that wanted to produce two mock music videos, both to be shown at their reception. One for the guys and the other for the girls. We are still in production for the girls Fergie- 'Glamorous' video, but the Beastie Boys shoot just wrapped up and we are pretty pumped with how it all came together.

We had 3 hours to shoot this with very minimal storyboard. One of the guys in the video owns both factories so we had full reign on where we could shoot. While we did have somewhat of a storyboard, it was very brief and most of the sequences were put together on location.

All of the tight shots were done with brevi and both on Canon A1s. Michael had a 100mm macro EOS lens and Konrad had a 50mm 1.4 FD lens.

There are a couple things I would like to point out with this little clip. What a difference in production value when you add in the 35mm adapters. We shot with 3 cams and 2 had adapters. What a difference in the frame rate- everything was shot in 24P and I just love the look of the whip pans in one of the chase scenes. When showing it in our theatre we got so many comments from clients who are mentioning how filmic some of our work is, and others who ask if it is actually film. Also note how good some of the high speed shots look in 24P- which is a common misconception that shooting in 24P needs to be done slowly, when really you just need to keep certain things in mind. The final thing I would mention is just how well the 35 footage cuts with the non-adapter footage. I often get emails from people ask if we have troubles matching the footage or if we choose to shoot something all adapter or all non-adapter. Really they are quite easy to blend together and so we always shoot as much adapter as possible.


Here is a link to Vimeo:
http://vimeo.com/936486

Patrick

[Ethan Cooper]

dude, those costumes were great. I'd say it all cut VERY well for minimal stoyboarding. Good job!

My 3 favorite shots were:

1) stedicam moving up to the back of the car and suddenly groom(?) slides across the trunk. love the movement.

2) @ 1:39 when the "cop" comes from around some loading pallets riding the kid's bike and suddenly you see like 15 guys running behind him and

3) not much later at the "AHHHHHH" @ 1:50 the groom is running in slowmo with an angry mob after him.

I loved it.

[John Moon]

Looked like a fun shoot. I like the trip at the end. One of the things that keeps me away from 24p is the perception that quick moves will not look that good...but you have proven it can look very good. I thought that maybe a blue tint on the footage might have given it more of a cop show, drama look...but still looked good.

-John

[Patrick Moreau]

Thanks for checking out the clip guys.

Ethan,
You probably chose my 3 fav shots too. The one sliding over the back of the car is certainly my fav. It is interesting that all 3 shots you chose were steadicam and not an ultra shallow brevis shot.

John,
I tried a good dozen looks on this before deciding which route to go. In the end I wanted it to have a warmer feel to bring out the comedy in the piece. That also ties it together with the album or behind the scenes photos that Amina put together for the couple. I will see if I can find a link to put that up for you here too.

Patrick

[Ethan Cooper]

To me the ultra shallow stuff really stands out on a pretty shot. The feel of that piece wasn't intended to be pretty, but rather frenetic and fun. Perfect for stedicam.

I do have to commend your stedicam op for the shot where he's running through the warehouse and on the fly pans over to a character and back again to the groom all while running. That couldn't have been easy.

[Jason Bowers]

Hey Patrick,
Awesome work as usual. Did you use twixtor to slow mo the footage as it was great, especially the slide over the car?

[Jason Donaldson]

Patrick, fantastic work. Ear to ear grin on my face the whole time I was watching it.

[Vladimir Chaloupka]

Wow, that was amazing!! Top notch production--editing, camera work, everything!

[Randy Panado]

That was a really cool video. The guy patting down the girl, HILARIOUS! Is it safe to assume the guy in the track suit is the groom and the girl at the end is the bride?

[Carl Wilky]

Nicely done, story board or no, well done.

Three quick questions for you, you say when shooting in 24p you got to keep certain things in mind. What are they?

Secondly, How much, percentage wise, would you say you shot using a 35mm adaptor?

Lastly, how many takes did you need to capture a good shot?

Thanks for your help Patrick, your feedback and incite is always appreciated.

[Travis Cossel]

Patrick, if your goal was to produce a professional-looking, fun-to-watch, creatively-shot ... freaking awesome ... video ..... well, very nice job! I have a few questions for you.

First did you make use of additional lighting or reflectors for any of the indoor or outdoor shots?

Second, I don't shoot in 24P, but I shoot in frame mode on the Canon GL2, which is "simulated" progressive. You mentioned that you have need to keep certain things in mind when shooting 24P. What are those?

Third, how in the world do you find a client that wants mock music videos produced for their reception? Just kidding, you don't have to answer that one!


Once again, I loved the video. My wife can't stand the Beastie Boys, and can't stand that song, but she loved it when I showed it to her! Trust me, that is saying something. The only shot that didn't seem right to me is at .49 when the guy with the afro stops and points his gun. In the shots before and after he is running, and it just felt out of place to me. Other than that minor gripe, though, what an amazingly shot/edited video. If I saw this on MTV I wouldn't think twice that a music video production company shot it. Great work!

[Monday Isa]

Hey Patrick,
You guys did a very good job. That's was pretty good with a limited storyboard. Question. The slow motion shots, were they done in post with your A1's or did you use your EX1 for that. I remember you mentioning you did buy one recently.

Thanks for sharing
Monday

[Patrick Moreau]

Originally Posted by Ethan Cooper

I do have to commend your steadicam op for the shot where he's running through the warehouse and on the fly pans over to a character and back again to the groom all while running. That couldn't have been easy.

Thanks Ethan. It was a tough shot but more than anything the lack of weight in the camera made the whip pan really tough to stick. You can see the frame roll a bit at the end of the pan, which is very hard to control without more weight. The cam also needs ot have amazing dynamic balance, which is very tough to take the time to do on a shoot like this where I am constantly changing balance of the rig for the shot. That whip pan shot ad the slo mo of Ryan jumping over the trunk of the car are some of my fav steadicam shots I've done for sure.

Patrick

[Patrick Moreau]

Originally Posted by Jason Bowers

Hey Patrick,
Awesome work as usual. Did you use twixtor to slow mo the footage as it was great, especially the slide over the car?

Hey Jason,

The slow motion was done in camera by overcranking it. Most of it was shot at 48fps in 24p, so it came out at 50%. The camera on the steadicam was the EX1. We are currently testing one out as Canon doesn't offer a camera that is tapeless and has a 1/2" chip. The A1s sure held up well side by side though, but that slow motion is awfully pretty.

Patrick

[Patrick Moreau]

Jason,

Glad you enjoyed it. We were walking a thin line between humor and being cheesy but I think we landed on the right side.

Vladimir,

Thanks for checking it out. We have a great team that really came together for this shoot.

Randy,

Yep you guess correct for the bride and groom. The cool things is, the girls video which is done to Fergie Glamorous, ends with the brides pursue being stolen in a night club- which then leads right into sabotage.