Check out the brand new music video Tonight (Harlem, Houston) featuring @johnollie @priestforever @brewlowlife @damienrandle @kashmere_don to see the full video go to John O's channel at JustJohnollie or his page. You can also download the song for 99 cent on bandcamp.com video directed by @illmanneredmedia , Director of Photography @xphaqtor #StayGecko #WeAreGeckoNation #JustJohnOllie #JohnsKitties #TeamOnassis #IAmJohnollie
Timelapse of @chopicecream making... well, ice cream. Shot on #iphone with #filmicpro
This week in the world of Curly Nerd: @jdcob takes a trip to the Far East for some much needed R & R, but the #podcast goes on! Subscribe to The #CurlyNerd Podcast link in the bio.
If I remember correctly, Brew may have called to interrupt my nap. Happens more often than i'd like. The Guud Money project was slated to drop in about a week or so, and he needed to shoot a video because the other one that he scheduled to shoot got pushed back. So he's looking for something quick and simple. I specialize in efficiency, so i'm up to it.
I had maybe a day or so to prepare, so I challenged myself to perhaps the simplest setup possible: a single room with a single light source. Not an ideal situation, mind you. Oh - and it's a fluorescent light source. Great.
So I used a single, handheld camera, 85mm lens. Turned the shutter speed way up to give it that choppy look, while increasing the darkness / shadows. Ended up with the basic look that you have here. Took about 10 minutes to shoot; another hour of goofing off. Final step was some color grading to give it a more film-like, almost vintage feel - and voila. I said "voila" last time, didn't I?
The Houston Elite MCs - "Southside Groovin"
Got a call from hasHBrown of T.H.E.M. (sounds funny if you say it out loud) to shoot a video for their group release NONPAREIL. Of course, I couldn't say no. I'd done a few videos for him and John Dew before, but this one provided a particular challenge because it was a group video. "Group" is an understatement - I mean "collective". I get a little nervous about shoots involving potentially large groups of people because it becomes nearly impossible to keep everyone on task. But I got some assurances that we'd keep personnel to a minimum.
We agreed to shoot at Mikki's Cafe, a soul food spot on the SW side of Houston. More specifically, I strongly suggested it, and they agreed. I'll take on any opportunity to get some grub in my life.
The original plan was to shoot the guys candidly while in the restaurant, ordering / paying for / eating food, etc. We had free reign to capture any angle we wanted, as long as we were mindful of the other patrons there. But... as is rap life, one of the participants arrived 3 hours late. We didn't want to start without him because the shoot depended on the sunlight coming through the window, and we didn't want there to be a noticeable difference in position. To make things even trickier, Mark Henry of the WWE stopped by to have a meal, and seated himself a couple of tables behind the shot. So we had to be extra mindful of his privacy.
By the time everyone arrived, we had approximately an hour to shoot (instead of the 4 hr window that we originally had.) I opted for a 3-camera setup for each shot: 35mm on a tabletop slider, 14mm wide angle on a fixed tripod, and handheld 85mm via my 2nd camera operator. Figured we'd get 3 shots per take and triple our efficiency.
We finished 4-5 takes before the storm clouds started rolling in and stripped away our available light. We managed to snap some b-roll while we were packing, and got out of dodge before the sky opened up.
Editing and post prod
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