73376

I started in music video production over 12 years ago first doing music videos for independent artists in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, but after my 4th "indie" music video I had my first major music video for U-God of the Wu-Tang Clan which aired on B.E.T's Rap City.

I got into music video production because I would see music videos on TV made with high budgets that turned out crappy. I would always say "I could do way better with a lower budget". So I put my money where my mouth was, brought a camera and an editing computer and 17 music videos later the rest is history.

Getting into music video production is very easy. Think about it. No matter where you live, there are music artists looking to pay someone to shoot and edit their music video - so you already have a starving market. But when most directors get their first music video, whether it be indie or celeb, they get 2 important things wrong. Let me explain.

First, if you want to get into music video production there's one thing you need to know. Keep It Simple Stupid. Again, when I started I only had a camera (Canon XL1) and an editing computer. I didn't have all the bells and whistles that most people in my field had.

When I got my first music video I kept the concept simple.The song had 3 verses so I shot 3 different performance scenes (the scenes where the artists are seen performing the song) for each verse and we went to a lot of different locations and shot b-roll footage (scenes that you see in music videos where no one is performing ie: car driving in slow motion or sexy girl slow grinding on someone in the club). It only took 2 days. By the time it was all said and done, I submitted it to B.E.T and it aired on Uncut and Rap City. You understood me right. My first music video aired on national TV.

I am a firm believer in "making it work with what you got" and as a film maker, you should always keep that in mind. Bigger budget does not always mean better final product. When you don't have unlimited resources you're forced to think and make do with what you've got, and some of the hottest music videos are born from that seed.

Next, you must know that to make a good music video you need good locations, extras, and props. Most importantly you need to know that you don't have to pay for any of these; atleast I never have.

Lets talk about my first music video and one of it's major locations, crazy props, and extras. I needed a church scene where a funeral was taking place and the choir was singing in the background. That meant I needed floral arrangements, a casket, an extra to play the guy laying in the casket, a church, a Reverend, and about 20 people to fill in the pews. All I did to get these items was simply ask.

To get the casket I went to a funeral home and told them I need a casket for someone to lay in for a music video shoot. Keep in mind when setting up a scene you have to think in real world time. Make your scene look the way it would in real life. That's when it hit me that I needed flowers to go around the casket, so I asked the funeral home where could I get flowers to decorate the scene. They pointed me to a flower shop they worked with and they gave me a slew of floral arrangements made just for funerals.

My next feat was getting a church. This was a little more difficult being that it was a rap video and most churches don't agree with that type of music. After being turned down by 3 different churches, I found a church that said yes. I had access to the choir and their reverend.

I had everything I needed for my scene all without paying a cent out of my budget. To achieve this, simply say "I need to use (name of item) for a music video shoot but we have exhausted our budget. If it's OK we would like to use (name of item) for our shoot and we can give you credit at the end of the music video."

I have never been told no (except for the 3 churches). Using this statement, I have used stranger's vehicles, schools, resorts, hotels and many other props, locations and extras that most director's pay for when they don't have to. All it takes is just asking.

Just knowing these two things will make your entry into the music video production field as easy as mine was and if you are already in the music video industry, use this info to keep more of the budget in your pocket.

# posted by fdwvsmr944 : 3:30 AM  0 comments

Every generation has one. How come there is only one GhostRider per generation? Well, they must have been a special people. I once rode a bike. Although not a Harley, it went quite fast & I thought it was a "cool" thing to do, I thought about many cool things to do on the bike. One of them was to have my bike painted with fire motifs as well as gain some super powers like changing into a "firey" skeleton at night. After seeing the stunts that Johnny Blaze (Nicholas Cage) can do, I knew at the very moment that I was not worthy to be the GhostRider.

The devil visits Johnny Blaze (Nicholas Cage) & makes him a deal. In order to miraculously heal his father's cancer, the devil (the differing shadow in the scene is a good touch) wants him to do his dirty deeds. I didn't expect the devil to be so evil to have Johnny's father killed in a motorcycle stunt. Like learning from his master himself about being sly in a deal, Johnny agrees to forego the cars in his jump. Instead he dramatically has placed six helicopters on the football field in the GhostRider movie. Besides, his dad once thought it was cool to jump over a helicopter.

On the day he meets his past girlfriend, Roxanne (Eva Mendez), the devil returns to cash in his deal. What a bad coincidence for Johnny. The devil wants him to kill Blackheart who is the devil's wayward son bent on world domination ideals. The special effects in the GhostRider movie are top notch. Nicholas Cage plays the crazy transformation well. I especially liked how the camera went around his face, then from top as he raged. The new empowered Johnny Cage takes it on his funny stride as he amazes himself with his new found powers. He reads some power guidance book & manages to begin controlling his new powers. The man knows how to do his research!

One by one the GhostRider battles the evil spirits found in the elements; wind, water, earth who battles along side Blackheart (Wes Bentley). Now that Blackheart has many souls in his bodym courtesy of opening the San Venganza contract), the GhostRider can use his most potent weapon, the GhostRider stare! It's quite a lame way for the son of the devil to be defeated. In the end, GhostRider does not return his powers to the devil, Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda) & vows to fight him as long as he lives to avenge his father's death. Listen to the wise words of the "has been" Cowboy GhostRider (Sam Elliot): Legends were a way of understanding things greater than ourselves, things that shape our world, so on & so forth. We can expect more GhostRider movies in the future perhaps even GhostRider babies too!

I write reviews on Hollywood Movies. Do visit abassterinternational.blogspot.com.

# posted by fdwvsmr944 : 12:10 AM  0 comments