watch Little test shoot I did - need your advice, please...

[gorillaonabike]

I did a little test shoot with a singer. I literally sat down with her in her living room, pulled out a camera and spent a few minutes knocking something together quickly. Editing was 30 minutes. It took longer to upload to Vimeo than it did to shoot and edit!

Would you please ignore the sound. The sound was recorded live and as the mic peaked itself to death on a cr"ppy recorder (my primary kit was unfortunately stolen), it completely distorted the singer's voice.

However, there is a lot wrong with it, some of which is obvious to me. What would you have done given the time / space? Do you think it is OK? Bear in mind this is my first ever attempt...

Just deleted the link due to a couple of Vimeo problems but thanks for all the help!

Please be harsh but bear in mind the constraints. These were: Quick test shoot (not designed for general release), could not turn the lights off because the musicians needed to read the music and very quick editing time. And yes, I should have cleared the cr"p away before we started but it was only a test...

 

[Mannie Bothans]

I just watched it quickly on my phone but I liked it. i thought the light behind her was a) weird to actually see in the shots, b) a good key for the guitar, but c) was also distractingly blown out on her hair and the wall. I got a teensy bit of vertigo going up and down the bass so much, but I did like the shot that got both the vocalist and the guitar in the same frame, so maybe either something like that would have worked for the bass or maybe even a shot from the extreme bottom of the instrument shooting up the strings would have been cool. There's not a lot you can do without any additional narrative or b-roll to cut to outside the room, so I thought for a test and a super-quick cut it held my attention. Someone with more experience cutting to music might have better advice, but it looked cool to me. Maybe next time she could simply smile instead of shaking her head "no" at the end?

 

[wheatgrinder]

soft focus on the female. That needs to be super sharp, focus on the nearest EYE.
Get more lights reflecting in the eye.

Tighten up the close ups. Fill the frame with the face, and have her sing to ME, the viewer! Its a personal song, and will have a lot of impact if she will connect with the viewer.

Also, lip syncing to a studio recording gives you more freedom.

 

[Zensteve]

Several blown-out highlights. Very low energy. Girl looks plain disinterested. Unusual for singer to be set half-hidden behin other musicians. Right side far darker than left. Try lighting in layers.

Unable to rewatch it. Video down already? Had a few other suggestions, too.

 

[rayw]

The transiently bad focus was quite something to tolerate.

Probably would benefit from some cross fades.

Watch your background. That off level trim in the background is killing the image making it look like some Dutch angle filled horror film.

 

[gorillaonabike]

Thanks for all the advice, this has been extremely useful. It is interesting what more experienced film makers pick up on.

In case anyone is wondering 'why' I did something, the answer is 'because it was a test.' i.e. I wanted to get something down and see what was wrong / right with it, especially as I have never shot a music vid before. As a note, I like the angles given the environment (it was like shooting in a shoebox) and the effects (soft focus, colouring, deliberately blown out highlights etc...), were all 80s cheese.

Clearly, she can now see what is possible in a short space of time in strange conditions. Now she wants to spend money and get a half-decent background. Apparently she wants to hire a studio and do it properly.

She wants to do a live recording so I'm going to do the following:

- Environment - she wants to hire an environment (studio) and I need all three positioned well. The base player is comically tall so I need to bring a hacksaw or similar. I had to stand on my tiptoes with the camera held above my head just to shoot his face!
- Get a performance out of them.
- Crisp, clean shooting setup. I really like Alex Clare's performance vid... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuvdzBt64RQ - and this is really 'of the moment' but cheap and will last. Shabby chic has also been going on as well.
- Decent costumes
- If we are shooting several different tracks, vary the background. Black and white with a single spot over her (cheat it a bit, though), try to get her to get a narrative etc...
- Maybe look at eye contact. It's not necessary in a vid but she wants to go in that direction.

There are some other technical elements I need to work on around this...

My biggest challenge is to get her to shoot it as a music vid. She doesn't understand how much better it would be if we didn't have a friggin' live sound recording. It's a real pain but if anyone has any ideas how to convince her, I'm all ears.

 

[rayw]

My biggest challenge is to get her to shoot it as a music vid. She doesn't understand how much better it would be if we didn't have a friggin' live sound recording. It's a real pain but if anyone has any ideas how to convince her, I'm all ears.

Who's money is being spent?

If it's her shilling, then... All you can do is provide "Come look at this" examples of what "the" professional standard is - and she wants to be professional, right? Right.
You are the adviser. You're the hired help. And if she don't like what vision you bring - you can be replaced.

In fact, playing that role yourself, since she's wanting this to get semi-complex ask her to please provide some examples of other videos she'd like to emulate and/or avoid.
That'll get her to start doing some more of her own homework and giving her more feeling of control over the final product and you can better provide what she's looking for.


If it's your shilling, then... you gotta put on your manager hat and manage maximum performance out of her without making her walk.
Give her some creative control. Share creative control.
Suggest that you guys spend your time taking multiple takes of each shot, one will be her au naturel corn flake video the other your professional video.

Then the pressure is on for you to objectively make BOTH look as good as they can be then you guys can weigh the merit of effort for the outcome product. Was it worth the hassle? Or does she kinda already know they aren't going anywhere and doing anything, so she was right that lo-fi was the way to go all along?

Either way, both of you will have what you want.

 

[gorillaonabike]

Who's money is being spent?

If it's her shilling, then... All you can do is provide "Come look at this" examples of what "the" professional standard is - and she wants to be professional, right? Right.
You are the adviser. You're the hired help. And if she don't like what vision you bring - you can be replaced.

In fact, playing that role yourself, since she's wanting this to get semi-complex ask her to please provide some examples of other videos she'd like to emulate and/or avoid.
That'll get her to start doing some more of her own homework and giving her more feeling of control over the final product and you can better provide what she's looking for.


If it's your shilling, then... you gotta put on your manager hat and manage maximum performance out of her without making her walk.
Give her some creative control. Share creative control.
Suggest that you guys spend your time taking multiple takes of each shot, one will be her au naturel corn flake video the other your professional video.

Then the pressure is on for you to objectively make BOTH look as good as they can be then you guys can weigh the merit of effort for the outcome product. Was it worth the hassle? Or does she kinda already know they aren't going anywhere and doing anything, so she was right that lo-fi was the way to go all along?

Either way, both of you will have what you want.

It's her money... We're sitting down for a creative meeting and I have put an idea on the table for a music vid. Her suggestion is to separate out the music vid and the live sessions and I think that's interesting.

 

[rayw]

Have her provide examples of what she'd like to emulate and avoid.
Give the customer what they want.
Try to give them what they need.
It's her money.
Get what you pay for.

GIGO.

 

[Sweetie]

Its been a long time since I've looked at any live taped stuff... but I suggest getting her to see video of a song jammed and shot live (even concert footage) vs a video done for TV. Point out that the live is more intimate, but often sounds flat.