Dark, Dark, Music Video with Pyramid

[Freya Black]

Well as some of you may know I've been working on a music video for a while now that I shot on my DVX100. I got a lot of abuse for this what with the whole mini-dv thing and all. I'm actually not convinced it would have made a huge difference having a fancier camera, in fact it may have made some things worse and more difficult although there are a few times when I can see it would have made things better. There are issues with it all but they would be there regardless of the camera because they were down to issues regarding budget and most of all, time. Working around peoples jobs and trying to keep people fired up when they are exhausted at the end of the day (me included!)

 

I'm partly quite proud of it given that we spent about £60 making the thing. Presently there are a few things bothering me tho. The main one is that I've ended up editing it and I'm not sure I'm the right person to do it justice. It takes me a looooong time to edit anything and the closer I get to the end, the harder and harder it gets for me to finish it!

 

I'm wondering if I shouldn't really be searching for someone else to edit the thing?

 

The other big thing is the grading of it. My laptop I'm editing on is terrible in terms of accurate reproduction and now I've pulled stills out of the video they look completely different again!

 

Not sure where to go with it all but I thought I'd share the stills I have to hand!

 

Anyway here's the stills. Obviously big Kenneth Anger influence and really low budget 80's sci-fi going on too:

 

 

 

 

 

Freya

[Guest Stephen Murphy]

Stills look great Freya but lets see some footage!

[Kieran Scannell]

The last frame looks amazing!

[Gregg MacPherson]

Freya,

Those stills are really interesting. Are the last two done in camera with clever things held in front of the lens or are they modified on your laptop?

 

The images have a soft, smudgey, sort of spritualized feel. Pyramid icons and the ambiguous paw/hand. Suggests this could be anything from the scary serious to the eclectic or casually exploitative (IMO, most music videos are unashamedly the later two)

 

Maybe when we see the finished video I'll get the Kenneth Anger connection. I'll have to brush up. All I remember of Anger from my brief stay at film scbool is homo-erotica and motorcycles (on screen).

 

Looking forward to seeing the video.

Gregg.

[Freya Black]

Freya,

Those stills are really interesting. Are the last two done in camera with clever things held in front of the lens or are they modified on your laptop?

 

Thanks Gregg! Theres no CGI yet, so far it's all cinematography. I actually didn't post all the stills I had here because I thought at least one was a total give away. In some ways you can get away with more when it's a fast video as opposed to stills which people such as yourself can study and go hmmmmm! ;) OTOH theres problems with some of the shots in the actual video too that are maybe more of a give away than the stills. Kinda hoped I'd be able to reshoot those but it never worked out that way so I've had to live with the shots as they are.

 

But basically it's all real! No CGI! :)

 

I'm missing a shot tho that I might end up trying to create in After Effects. No idea what I'm going to do yet tho!

 

The images have a soft, smudgey, sort of spritualized feel. Pyramid icons and the ambiguous paw/hand. Suggests this could be anything from the scary serious to the eclectic or casually exploitative (IMO, most music videos are unashamedly the later two)

 

Not sure what you mean by casually exploitive? Theres some very mild humor, maybe in a dark Terry Gilliam kinda way.

I was trying to create another world but it's hard when you have no budget.

 

Maybe when we see the finished video I'll get the Kenneth Anger connection. I'll have to brush up. All I remember of Anger from my brief stay at film scbool is homo-erotica and motorcycles (on screen).

 

Yeah Scorpio rising with the Hells Angels. That's the one they tend to show at art school, on the basis that it's often cited as the origin of the music video. I actually think it's his worst film. Much prefer Kustom Kar Kommando's for that kind of thing with the buff men buffing the Kar! ;) Very funny and probably very outrageous for the time despite the fact it's just some guys buffing a car with soft fluffys.

 

However I was thinking more of Lucifer Rising which is that film that features Marianne Faithful and lots of Egyptian stuff. More of an occult ceremonial thing. The look here is more like his "Satanic" Opera: "Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome" tho maybe.

 

Freya

[Freya Black]

The last frame looks amazing!

 

Heh heh! Thanks Kieran! That's actually one of my fave bits in the video despite the fact it's one of the simpler shots! A lot of the other stuff was a lot more difficult!

 

Appreciate the encouragement, it definitely helps! :)

 

Freya

[Freya Black]

Stills look great Freya but lets see some footage!

 

Honored that you think so Stephen! :)

 

Well yes! Stills are a lot easier! As I say, I'm still working on editing so it's not ready yet. (Hence it being in "In Production")

 

Theres a lot of footage that isn't going to make the video tho. 30 second shots of light play with the pyramid etc. Really nice but a 30 second shot is hard to work into a music video! :(

 

Maybe I'll be able to post something of that.

 

Right now I'm doing my jetsetting thing between city's tho! ;)

 

Freya

[Freya Black]

I'll be back later with another update! :)

Edited February 14, 2013 by Freya Black

[Freya Black]

...

Edited February 14, 2013 by Freya Black

[James Steven Beverly]

Tell me more of this "Pyramid" of which you speak.

[Kieran Scannell]

That's actually one of my fave bits in the video despite the fact it's one of the simpler shots!

I love simple Freya. Simple is good!