A music video I directed

[nataku]

Here's some shameless self promotion. I directed a movie recently for Campus Movie Fest, and I'd love to hear any comments that anyone has about it. Or I'd even take just a few views. It's pretty short, about 2 minutes long.

http://campusmoviefest.com/movies/6188-untitled

Thanks

[251]

Originally Posted by nataku

Here's some shameless self promotion. I directed a movie recently for Campus Movie Fest, and I'd love to hear any comments that anyone has about it. Or I'd even take just a few views. It's pretty short, about 2 minutes long.

http://campusmoviefest.com/movies/6188-untitled

Thanks

Nice video! Amanda Michaelsson's music engages my ear & flows nicely. The audio came out very clear.

Perhaps it was deliberate? The medium bedroom shot cuts off the top of Amanda's head while showing me the bed cover. I would have tilted up a tiny bit. Personally, I did not have to see the laundry, laundry basket, cluttered desk & mug, to know it was a personal space. I would have enjoyed some eye candy! The computer screen did not do it for me. I have a photo from my wedding & every time I look at it, I curse the photographer for not removing the full ashtray from the shot. Detalls, detall, detalls!

I would like it better if you held a shot longer. Popping from scene to scene every 10 seconds can be annoying for mature viewers like me.

Perhaps one day the post production software will make it simpler to hear the music flow, matched up to each instrument. That will be awesome.

May I suggest that you carry a digital still camera & spend some time composing shots? I learned to do this in black & white. There are no dazzling colors to fool you into thinking a mediocre composition is eye catching. There aren't that many frame layouts to remember. Print a picture in low resolution & outline the composition with pencil. That will show you how your composition relates to the center of the frame. It's easier to crop a still shot than video. So the better you can see what is in the viewfinder the less post production you need to do.

Portable video cams are little more than point & pray still cameras. A basic photography book will show you half a dozen frame layouts (composition outlines) to practice. A quick tour through the Impressionist collection of an Art Museum will do the same. Variations will come to mind & a still cam will give you a viewfinder for experiments/practice.

Make another video. If you can, PM me when you post, so I don't miss it. TIA. 8-)

[nataku]

I didn't really have a clear cut vision or plan for making this video, the people who loaned me the equipment said "You have a week, go make a movie". I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do, but it didn't really go as planned.

The basic premise of the video is that making music takes you to different places mentally, and I was trying to communicate that all of the pianos except the one in her room were just in her mind. I don't think that anyone I've talked to has really gotten this impression from the video yet, so maybe I was too subtle with it.

I definitely wanted the opening and closing shots to not feel pretty or organized. She wanted to clean up her room and put on make up before we shot, but I insisted that we didn't. I like the way it contrasts with the other shots, and I wanted to emphasize the dream state that she was in.

Initially, I intended to switch shots even more often than I ended up doing, but I decided not too because it was waaaaaaay more work and it looked pretty jumpy. I also just barely managed to stretch the limited amount of footage I had into working without getting too repetitive, so longer shots probably would have been a good idea.

I've never really been involved with making videos before this, so I have no idea how to approach shot composition or anything like that. I just tried to get a bunch of contrasting angles going to keep things interesting. That being said, this was a pretty fun experience and I definitely wanna try it again, so I will look into the stuff that you mentioned.

p.s. Thanks for watching and taking the time to reply, it means a lot.

[boris]

Originally Posted by nataku

The basic premise of the video is that making music takes you to different places mentally, and I was trying to communicate that all of the pianos except the one in her room were just in her mind. I don't think that anyone I've talked to has really gotten this impression from the video yet, so maybe I was too subtle with it.

FWIW that is the exact feeling I got from watching it. I personally tend to drift away to different places in my mind while I play, and it was really cool to see it portrayed that way on film. I enjoyed it very much. Great work!

[251]

Originally Posted by nataku

I didn't really have a clear cut vision or plan for making this video, the people who loaned me the equipment said "You have a week, go make a movie". I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do, but it didn't really go as planned.

The basic premise of the video is that making music takes you to different places mentally, and I was trying to communicate that all of the pianos except the one in her room were just in her mind. I don't think that anyone I've talked to has really gotten this impression from the video yet, so maybe I was too subtle with it.

I definitely wanted the opening and closing shots to not feel pretty or organized. She wanted to clean up her room and put on make up before we shot, but I insisted that we didn't. I like the way it contrasts with the other shots, and I wanted to emphasize the dream state that she was in.

Initially, I intended to switch shots even more often than I ended up doing, but I decided not too because it was waaaaaaay more work and it looked pretty jumpy. I also just barely managed to stretch the limited amount of footage I had into working without getting too repetitive, so longer shots probably would have been a good idea.

I've never really been involved with making videos before this, so I have no idea how to approach shot composition or anything like that. I just tried to get a bunch of contrasting angles going to keep things interesting. That being said, this was a pretty fun experience and I definitely wanna try it again, so I will look into the stuff that you mentioned.

p.s. Thanks for watching and taking the time to reply, it means a lot.

Well then, another +1 for good work on short notice. If you want more info on video production, check out these URLs;
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/comm/video-handbook.pdf
http://www.tv-handbook.com/TV-Book%20Contents.html

A common device for segue to a dream sequence would have been a slow zoom to close up with the talent mugging a "dreamy face", a fade to black, fade to sequence material & reverse or snap back to 'reality'. Blocking all that out with a story board creates a To Do list for the directing & post production.

With so many cable TV stations being required to make studio space available to the community, TV production can make a nice hobby. It's also a good way to execute class projects. 8-)

[giacomini]

I can't watch this at work, but I'm subscribing so I don't miss this thread. I work in the TV station of our State's Congress House here in Brazil.

[nataku]

Awesome, thanks for the comments and views guys.

[kranahan]

Are you pa'ing in norcal?

[Dirk Diggler]

Personally I really enjoyed the FU on the computer screen at the end.
I guess I will be the first to say nice job! I also dug the nice variety of pianos in various forms of coloration too.

Dirk