I recently produced a music video using new top of the line video editing and special effects software.  I would like to know what everyone thinks!  Don't forget to watch it in HD!  Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LWIPmZ3D28

(Highest Level Productions is my production company.  The music artist is a good friend of mine.)

Dude,

I don't want to comment on the artistic side of the production, but on the technical aspects.

- If your gear has manual exposure control, setting it to a overall good exposure setting depending on the scene, and the exposure won't jump around during the footage. Overall I find the footage to be overexposed. The sky can be brought back with a graduated filter on the lens.

http://www.pictureline.com/newsletter/article.php?id=47

- The scraping on the tree would be more effective if the camera tracking was accurate, but it moves around, making the effect more obvious and I find lessens the effect.

- Scene dependent, more of a close up shot, but a tip when in sunlight: some kind of improvised holding device, a white bed sheet to soften the sunlight, put the subject close to it without getting the sheet in the frame, and you'll have great and soft light for the subject.

- A reflector (some sort of white/silvery reflective material) can be used to bounce light on the singer.

- A tripod for smoother camera movement when standing on a particular spot.

- A steadycam for smoother camera movement when walking around. Doesn't have to be very expensive.

http://steadycam.org/.

Volu

Thanks for the advice!  I'm fairly new at video production, as I've only shot about 5 music videos, and I'm very new at special effects.  This was my first video with effects.  I'm guessing you're experienced in these areas.

I know the tracking is a bit off on the tree scrape scene, but the shot was so shaky that even the motion stabilizer didn't fix it.  That steadycam link was awesome!  That is exactly what I need.  I can't thank you enough for that link.

Dude,

"Thanks for the advice!  I'm fairly new at video production, as I've only shot about 5 music videos, and I'm very new at special effects.  This was my first video with effects.  I'm guessing you're experienced in these areas."

No prob! I'm a video newbie, but fun to tinker around with motion and music. I think lighting theory, and how to put it into practice is a skill that can really make one's videos shine. Better source material to incorporate effects into. A lot can be gleaned just by browsing youtube videos about light theory. And DIY tips like using a translucent shower curtain in front of the sun, or shoot some inexpensive work lights through it indoors. Shooting work lights onto a white wall and or ceiling, and they become the light sources. Window light. Soft shadows and diffused, pretty light. How to control light to focus on certain areas and so on. A lot of fun to explore. :)

Forgot to say that depending on your lens, a circular polarization filter may be an option on a sunny day. One can twist the filter, and and get the sky back into the shot. Less cumbersome than a gradual filter imo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vvz_d6APXk

Got a canon 550d in the mail. Will be fun to use photographic lenses to shoot film - the shallow depth of field possibilities with fast lenses look really nice. Here's an example I saw on vimeo:

http://www.vimeo.com/9744624

"I know the tracking is a bit off on the tree scrape scene, but the shot was so shaky that even the motion stabilizer didn't fix it.  That steadycam link was awesome!  That is exactly what I need.  I can't thank you enough for that link."

Getting a plugin for after effects might help for harder scenes, or a new take hehe. Like mocha for AE. Costs a bit of dough, but one can check out a trial before deciding.

Got too many thumbs to make a DIY steadycam, so will probably get a hague mini motion thingy with extra weights later this year. Youtube got some videos with different experiences using it. The fluid motion looks inviting.

http://www.cameragrip.co.uk/acatalog/Stabibilizers___Steadycams.html

Wow Dude, it's phantastic! I like it a lot. It's in the style of the early music videos. Cut, brightness and saturation. The brightness/saturation/colors very much remind me of old "super 8" film material rather than video. Vintage!!! in it's best meaning. Of course I've noticed the special effects, glowing, beaming, the pyramid mat, the explosion :) and that smile! used only briefly, just as brief to be noticed, not as long to be annoying. Good! And good locations, it's change and repetition. Together with the saturation/colors/brightness settings you create a certain atmosphere which I miss in other contemporary music videos. And the music and it's recording is great, too (maybe a bit too dynamic compressed, so a bit more bite would've been better). More of that!

Spooky

Thanks Spookster!  I'm almost finished editing the music video I shot while I was in Brazil.  I'll post it when its finished.. you'll love the locations!

Very well done.  Good music too.  The shakiness for me adds to the edginess of the video.  I liked it.  Who is playing the music though, is it your band?


Matthew

Thanks man!  Yes, everything you see in the video was intentional, contributing to the overall mood I was trying to generate.. the unsteadiness, the color tones, the effects, even the overexposure(Volu!)  The artist is a friend of mine; he wrote the entire song.