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Sci-fi / fantasy music video shot on the GH2
  • Hi! The band I made this video for finally released it and I'm very happy, so I wanted to share it with you guys.

    It was a lot of work and it's not without its flaws, but considering the crew (three people including me apart from the make-up artist) and the time we had it came out quite decent.

    Please tell me what you think!

    By the way, I shot it with the Driftwood Apocalypse Now! 6GOP Nebula patch, and the lenses I used were:

    · Rokinon 28mm f2.8 · Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 · Minolta MD 135mm f2.8

    If you have any questions just ask!

  • 23 Replies sorted by
  • @charlie_orozco Very cool. Well done. Really impressive.

  • Awesome, did you do any behind the scenes?

  • Thanks guys! :) There's a small behind the scenes a friend of the band made, but it's in Spanish. I'll see if I can make an English subtitle for it next week if you're interested. You can also check some BTS photos in the band's page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Distant-Project/168119659008?fref=ts

  • Forgot the BTS video link, but it's in the band's YouTube channel. Still here's the link:

    I'll be uploading a three-way comparison video in a couple of days (storyboard-RAW footage-final version) to my new Vimeo channel.

  • Nice execution! What kind of dolly system did you use?

  • wow, I was fully expecting to see the gh2 with some massive rig and there the little guy sets by itself on a tripod. it's amazing how far a little creativity can go.

  • @GravitateMediaGroup Thanks! And indeed, sometimes the extra stuff is only for show if it gets in the way. There where almost no rack focus shots and most shots where static, so there was no need for a follow focus for instance. On the other hand I didn't have a matte box, which could've come in handy a couple of times. But what I'm trying to say is, why setup a big rig if you don't need it? It woul've probably slowed me down, and we were on a very tight schedule (we shot everything except the shadows over the course of three days -or two half days and one full day-).

    @tinyrobot Thank you! The dolly we used was a sort of DIY one (you can see it in several shots in the BTS video). It was actually made by a guy from Buenos Aires, with a lathe I think it's called? And some other tools. With regular iron, steel and some skate wheels. It's not very precise, there are little quirks and problems, specially in the joints which tend to separate, but all in all it worked quite well.

  • How were those shadow creatures done? I'm sure everyone is wondering when watching, but no one has asked yet.

  • @tinyrobot The shadows are a combination of live footage on a greenscreen (a couple of friends who work in the circus, shaping themselves into one figure together -Dafne in the top, and Lautaro holding her and acting as the legs... the photo will give you an idea), animation and particular, as well as the Echo filter in After Effects and some masks.

    00141.MTS_snapshot_00.05_[2013.02.16_23.04.23].jpg
    1280 x 720 - 586K
  • Excellent! Very creative approach.

  • Awesome! Good work my friend!

  • This is amazing work! Super impressed.

  • Thanks a lot, guys!

  • Great stuff man. The effects are nice, the mood of the video reminds me of Dune.

    You chose slo mo for the video, my personal opinion is that those final scenes would have better pace and impact if they were a bit quicker, real time...just to make a statement on the climax of the video. But don't get me wrong, the video is great, I like those simple demons haunting the band members :D how many days (working hours) did it take from shoot to finalization?

    Overall - CAF

  • @Riker Thanks, man! I thought the slowmo suited the ending better. Everything happens very quickly and it's like time slows down for these guys once they head on to the fight and for spectators to experience it in a much more stylized way. Think of it as how Saint Seiya uses to four episodes to tell a 3 minute fight. :P I haven't really counted the hours it took me to finish this (I've been thinking of using a program to measure this, but it takes a bit of extra discipline), but it took roughly 3 days of shooting (plus around 3 hours on a 4th day to shoot all the shadows), 2 days to edit and around a month and a half almost completely dedicated to finish post production work (without counting tests I did before and some green screen removing I did before plunging into the completion of the video). And it took me around 3 days to do the storyboard before. And a couple of runs to the locations during pre production of course. And then 2 days to do some art work, I think. So make the count! :P

  • By the way, I already uploaded a three way comparison video for you to see the storyboard, the raw footage and the final composite all head to head:

    And here's the Vimeo version of the music video for you to watch it with a slightly better compression (specially on the grain side).

  • @charlie_orozco oh man thanks a bunch for the B&A footage..amazing! The song is growing on to me also, the chorus is very good, I like the tone of singers voice, kinda reminds me of those 80's singers like Black or Depeche...

    As far as I can tell, you've done the green screen part very nicely...I thought GH2 had problems with green screening due to its 4:2:0 nature...but I don't see nothing wrong with your video. Maybe if I start peeping...but who peeps videos. People should relax sit back and watch the content, analyzing bits and pixels won't benefit them much :)

    You did all the post by yourself? I noticed you use "I" :) if so, that's pretty amazing man...

  • @Riker Yes, I did pretty much everything. Writing, storyboard, production, direction, camera and DP, editor, VFX, grading... All of it. The only things I didn't do were the outfits (though I did design them), the gloves, the acting and holding the green screen :P Removing the green screens wasn't a big deal when it was well lit, but when we shot outside under the sun it was hit & miss, since we didn't have any support and my crew had to hold it by themselves, which caused it to wrinkle and it was hard to aim it to the light to avoid shadows. Then there was the wind and the fact that all the band members are tall, so because of some angles I couldn't get the greenscreen to wrap their heads. So I had to do some rotoscoping as well.

    But all in all, when it was well lit it was fine. There was a little bit of jagginess on the edges, but blurring it by 1 pixel made the trick most of the times.

  • Really enjoyed that. Looks like a fun project, well done Charlie.

  • @driftwood Thanks a lot, Nick! Now I should start using a different username. charlie_orozco is the one I've always used since high school, but Ernesto is my real name. Gets kinda confusing :P

  • increible trabajo Ernesto, sin duda una inspiración para nosotros! vives en USA? de donde eres<?

  • @lowrider Muchas gracias, lowrider! I'm from Santa Fe, Argentina, and this is where I live. Soy santafesino y argentino. No de Buenos Aires (no hace falta estar ahí para hacer bien las cosas! :P)

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