A couple of days ago I was thinking that I guess as a filmmaker I'd always like to grow and learn.
From this I had decided a long time ago that with every project that we do, no matter how simple, I will always try to learn something new and it can be literally anything from a shot type, to an editing thing or an effects shot, lighting, sound, literally whatever just so I have a chance to try and learn something new and push the envelope.
So last year when we were doing a music video I actually decided to do two things.
The first was that I tried to tell the story in a non linear way. So we showed the middle of the story first and then threw bread crumbs during the first half and then in the middle showed what happened right before the first shot in the video. It actually worked out great, especially since I also hide bread crumbs of a sub plot into scenes that a person can figure out if the watch the music video multiple times.
The second thing I wanted to try was a little more complicated shot. Something that would look great and tell a part of the story. So we decided to do a one take complicated shot, which consisted of the lead actress walking trough the parking lot and into a biker bar where the action took place.
We added a bike crossing her path and then timed a bouncer to throw someone out the door before stamping her hand and going inside. By the way the guy who got thrown out is the band's biggest fan who asked if he could be in their video and I found it ironic to throw him out of the bar where the band was playing.
Anyway we had to time everything from the actresses footsteps, to the camera travel, motorcycle crossing, position in front of the motorcycle light, to the bouncer throwing out the fan. We rehearsed everything for only 15 minutes and then got the shot in two takes which was amazing.
For the kicks we edited in a Wilhelm scream as the guy was flying out.
I tried to do a shot like this more often and then it got me thinking how to do them well.
I also tried to figure out why we were able to do a complicated shot like this very efficiently on other projects and the answer was that I was able to choreograph the shot like a dance choreography which I'm able to do and this made everything very eficienten.
So I'm interested to know how do you guys decide to do a more complicated shot and how do you go about doing it?
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First off, this is fantastic! I love the "enter with her" tracking shot! It's like the iconic "The Wrestler" but with that low angle, we really feel like she's a force to reckon with. I dig it!
As for setting up complicated shots, after learning from some of my early ambitions that didn't pan out so well:
1) Get your DP involved as early as possible so they can confirm that they can pull off the shot (and with the equipment you have).
2) Having a start frame and an end frame is great, but be sure you have framing for the points along the way as well.
3) When doing the walk-through, confirm that the camera movement isn't upstaging the actors' performances.
4) When doing the walkthrough, confirm consistent lighting throughout.
5) Plan to only do it a few times. The CamOp gets tired.
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Karen "Kay" Ross yeah I'm really happy with how the shot worked out and I also love that we threw the band's biggest fan out of the door. I find it ironically funny.
But as you said there's a lot of things to consider and I kind of love these types of shots.
As we were editing I kept secretly wishing we had done more one take shots and stitched them together with invisible cuts.
I'm also really happy because when Leya is shooting I don't need to even see the shot but I already know she's got the exact shot I wanted and it always turns out to be true.
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What's the camera you were using and gimbal?
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Hi Lindbergh E Hollingsworth. The gimbal was a Moza Air 2 and the camera was the Blackmagic Pocket 4K the only one we've got and it has a focal reducer from a MFT to a roughly Super35.
We used a Zenitar 16mm wide angle vintage lens at an F2.8 and then cropped in post for the final framing since the wide angle allowed us not have to worry about focusing since everything about a foot from the lens was in focus.
The rest of the music video was shot with the same camera but with either a Rokinon 35mm T1.5 or a Canon 100 - 400mm lens.
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If anyone is interested this is the music video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diE_1tHK-dc
There are a couple of funny things in this video.
1st is that the guy who get's thrown out of the bar at the beginning is the band's number one fan who desperately wanted to be in their music video and I found it ironically funny that we could throw him out. He was really psyched about it and had a great time and got the band signed with a record label in the US because of his tenacity to post their videos.
2nd there's a sound effect in the video that most if not all filmmakers should recognize that's meant as a joke.
3rd if a viewer is very attentive they might notice details in certain shots that are not apparent to a first glance but when paying attention can be noticed. Like characters you wouldn't expect in certain places and small details that tell the story behind the story.
Did anyone notice any of these things? :)
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This music video was really fun to shoot and I'm amazed how many scenes (including this one) that we though would be hard to shoot turned out great in the first or second take.
It's really funny how many "surprises" Vital tries to hide in these projects. Sometimes when we're shooting or editing and he wants something specific and nobody knows why and then when we're all done he explains the why it's so funny.