Hi, guys!

This is officially my first Music Video!

I have never done a music video before, but the band asked me if I could make them one for their MySpace page. I told them I could try. So, I stayed up for about 24 hours Sunday to Monday morning working on this thing, after staying up late on Saturday to shoot their performance that night. This video needed to be on their page Monday so that they could begin sending people to their page before a big show on Tuesday. Believe it or not I actually got everything done.

The name of the band is Tension Head and the reason it was so important to get the page ready is because on Tuesday, they opened for the band Hell Yeah. If you don't know, Hell Yeah is made up of Vinnie Paul and Rob Zilla of Pantera. The show was in Detroit last night and they really made belivers out of an audience of people who were there to see Hell Yeah.

So here is where you can find the video:

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=21028864

Since Monday, there have been about 286 hits on the video. They guys like it very much. It isn't perfect, but I think its a good first effort. But I'll tell you what, I am never going to try to do something like that in the time constraints I had for this.

Geez..... I should have my head examined......I'm still tired....

Hope you guys like it :)

-- spinner :cool:

Gotta love working those hours.. I did the same kind of think for the National Film Challenge and it took me a full week to recover. ;)

I'll take a look at it in a while, watching a movie at the moment.


EDIT: Just watched the video.. very nice job. Looked like the vocals were slightly out of sync but I assume that's from trying to match live footage up with the album version -- so in that case it was really damn close. :D

Did you do this with just one camera? If so, how many times did they play the song? I'm not typically a fan of this kind of music, but I actually enjoyed the song probably because I could understand the lyrics.. haha. Anyway, good job, it kind of reminded me of early rage against the machine or pantera videos..

Gotta love working those hours.. I did the same kind of think for the National Film Challenge and it took me a full week to recover. ;)

I'll take a look at it in a while, watching a movie at the moment.


EDIT: Just watched the video.. very nice job. Looked like the vocals were slightly out of sync but I assume that's from trying to match live footage up with the album version -- so in that case it was really damn close. :D

Did you do this with just one camera? If so, how many times did they play the song? I'm not typically a fan of this kind of music, but I actually enjoyed the song probably because I could understand the lyrics.. haha. Anyway, good job, it kind of reminded me of early rage against the machine or pantera videos..

I do seem to still be able to stay up all night :D

I shot the song technically once. If you take another look you will see that the lead singer has the mic so close to his mouth, that it is possible to fake alot of the shots. There are actually 5 songs in that video.

....and this is just a local band. I can't tell you how many videos of national acts that I have seen who had the same 'sync' problem. Like you said, the goal was sync it up to make it look like one song.

The battery for the small camera that I use for a overall shot died about 30 minutes into the show. I was moving around alot. (I ought to get 2 or 3 batteries for that camera).

The guy would love being told that they reminded someone of Pantera. And you are lucky if you can ever make the words out in a Hardcore song.

I'm glad you like the video :D

-- spinner :cool:

Well.. don't misunderstand.. I didn't say THEY reminded me of pantera.. but the video reminds me of early pantera videos I've seen.. But anyway....

That makes sense then why some of the vocals didn't look like they quite fit, but you're right he is basically eating the mic, and most people that see the video probably won't catch it anyway. It's my 12 years of DJing that curses my eye to catch all the unsynched bits on music videos.. :P

I'm happy with the batteries I've gotten from www.ebatts.com This includes my 5 hour battery for my XL1s which has worked like a champ for 2 years with tons of use.

Spinner -- that was cool! They are a good band and I hope they do well. I can see you tried hard to sync the vocal performance to the audio track, and think it came out really well overall. I was able to pick up some discrepancies when you focused on the other musicians -- noticing that their hands weren't in sync with what was happening in the music. Regardless of that, it has a very grass-roots DIY video feel that works really well with this style of music.

Thanks, JBophe, Will, Knightly and Directorik for looking at this.

I am not sure just how far into music videos I intend to go. I seem to be able to do a performance video, those are the ones that I like anyway. I wonder if I can do the big rock/metal concept kinds of videos. Even when I was working on this, I told the band: I can't give you Vikings or car chases or explosions, but I might be able to do performance. I still really like doing the documentary short stuff. I think that is one of my strengths. And I have to make one for this same band.

Even so, I am trying to come up with a more efficient way of getting the footage that I need. Get a better idea of improving how I should shoot, especially considering that I am doing all the shooting. At least I am getting an idea of what the best venues are to shoot in.

Now I have to figure out how to think heavy metal music video :hmm:

-- spinner :cool:

Now I have to figure out how to think heavy metal music video :hmm:



Just add more Vikings, car chases, and explosions!

Yeah, but there aren't that many Vikings in Michigan :D

Maybe some zombie autoworkers.....

-- spinner :cool:

Nice band and nice video Spinner... the video looks like the kind of footage a legendary band could look back on and remember their roots. Pretty groovy. Love it.

Awesome video, Spinner! I love the music too.

Kudos!

Thanks, LOC!

I talked to the band today. Now we have to finishe their interviews and then I can finish their project and move on to the next thing....

-- spinner :cool:

Yeah, but there aren't that many Vikings in Michigan :D

Just ask Will if you can borrow some from Minnesota ;)

erf.. you can have 'em all.. just keep them off of boats I guess. :)

:D :D :D




-- spinner :cool:

Good job, I like music videos..they are quicker projects than movies...we just did one too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dHAc8ZuNOY

Not too shabby. I noticed a ton of jerky movement and seemingly unplanned shots. It is very apparent that you shot live. Typically, I'd suggest 3 cameras to do a live performance like that. You get some better angles, steady movement and it gives you a lot more options in editing. You may want to consider making some use of some close-ups and extreme close-ups on their hands, faces, anything interesting. Plan your angles, framing and movements a little better next time.

All things considered, not bad at all! For a first music video, you did a great job! I've seen a lot of firsts and they're usually unwatchable. I can watch your video all the way through and actually enjoy it... although I'd enjoy it more if I liked the music ;)

Keep it up! :)

great work. I love the hustle and I love the group... THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT BRO... YOU ROCK!!!

I remember those days of ball busting shitty budgets and time constraints. I'm with you bro.

ADMIN EDIT: REMOVED SELF-PROMOTION




love you all

peace!!

Good job, I like music videos..they are quicker projects than movies...we just did one too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dHAc8ZuNOY

Thanks :)

Plus it was fun to do. I liked yours too!

-- spinner :cool:

Not too shabby. I noticed a ton of jerky movement and seemingly unplanned shots. It is very apparent that you shot live. Typically, I'd suggest 3 cameras to do a live performance like that. You get some better angles, steady movement and it gives you a lot more options in editing. You may want to consider making some use of some close-ups and extreme close-ups on their hands, faces, anything interesting. Plan your angles, framing and movements a little better next time.

One thing I have found: You can plan all the shots you want, it doesn't mean you're going to get them. There were things that I talked to the band about at the beginning of the evening that did not happen in terms of when/how things got started, in terms of the audience and the fact that there were some guys who took it upon themselves to help me (bless their interferring hearts). Live performance is an uncontrolled atmosphere, you never know when some jackass is going to want to be a part of the crew. (a very drunk guy I have never seen in my life was asking me if I wanted him to shoot for me! WTF!) I am still working on reducing the Murphy's Law factor. :) I am also working on just how demanding I should/should not be when dealing with these bands. Some musicians can be tempermental. I am trying to get an idea of just how much I can push them and how much I can allow them to push me. This is going to be a big factor for me.

I agree on the 3 camera production. I considered all of the suggestions you just made. However I am working with what I have: me. Most of the film/video folks I know (not many mind you) are working on their own projects. The way I see it, either I do it or it won't get done. I choose to do something as opposed to hoping I can find 2 other people who will want to volunteer their time to work on a project that isn't paying yet. I have yet to find many people who can see "the big picture", so guerrilla filmmaking it is :rolleyes:

All things considered, not bad at all! For a first music video, you did a great job! I've seen a lot of firsts and they're usually unwatchable. I can watch your video all the way through and actually enjoy it... although I'd enjoy it more if I liked the music ;)

Keep it up! :)

I am glad you liked it. I do not know yet how I feel about making music videos. I am trying to decide if this is something that I want to do regularly, especially since I really like doing documentary shorts. I am getting involved with a new organization where I live and hopefully I can expand upon what I know and learn. We'll see...

-- spinner :cool:

great work. I love the hustle and I love the group... THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT BRO... YOU ROCK!!!

I remember those days of ball busting shitty budgets and time constraints. I'm with you bro.

....budget? What budget?!

The time constraint was 24hours. I was dead tired at the end of that edit. The end of the story is that the band got alot of hits on that video and that's a good thing. I love Metal. Frankly, I think its about time it got some credit and attention...

I'm glad you liked it...

-- spinner :cool:

A good start for your first video. Cant help thinking it would have looked better in black and white though...

A good start for your first video. Cant help thinking it would have looked better in black and white though...

The band wanted color, the customer is always right.....:)

Besides, since I use ambient light, I think that b&w might not have come off as well as I would have liked. Like if I'd had a lighting director....

-- spinner :cool:

On dealing with bands, especially more energetic Hardcore/Metal; let them know before the show to play to you when theyre up there. That is, if theyre planning on any extra flair (guitar spins, 360 flips, mic twirls), make sure they do it when you have the camera pointed at them. If its a good turnout for the venue, or if theres pit action or whatever, get some footage of that. While not neccesarily fitting to the particular song, hot drunk dancing girls are always good.