trippy music video and commercial entry shot on Scarlet

[Domenic Barbero]

heres a weird music video i shot. it was a simple shoot, i just told me editor to do what he pleases with it since it was a freebie.

And heres a commercial we made for a contest. If you all voted for it that would be great.

 

[Domenic Barbero]

would love some feedback if possible. Ive got my own critiques. but have at it, good and bad.

 

[James Palmer]

Hey Domenic- That video is cool. Trippy for sure. I really like stuff thats different and daring like that. Instead of doing something we've all seen many times before, you took a simple setup and did something creative under an obviously tight/zero budget. Nice job. Perhaps the guy at the controls could have been a little more active or changed up his position for some variety as well, otherwise it worked well for me. Props to your editor.

 

[Clint Lealos]

I agree. The music video was refreshing. Maybe a tad too many gimmicks for my taste, but I thought it was unique and interesting. I loved the style and look... nice work dude!

The commercial was cool too. Only shots that bothered me were the shots of the woman doing the wash. Everything else looked great, but those shots screamed low budget. Overall, I thought both your projects were solid. Keep doing what you are doing. Peace.

 

[Nick Morrison]

Domenic, you shooting these on Contax glass?

The music video looks, and I love the commercial. The outdoor shots in particular are spot on.

 

[Domenic Barbero]

hey nick, The contax lenses did shoot the laundry commercial. The other i believe was just the tokina 11-16. And ive dp'd two shoots other than this with actual budgets and the contax lenses are amazing. Cant wait to show the next few projects.

 

[Domenic Barbero]

@clint, what part of that screamed low budget? or what exactly about it? I would love to never have that come across again. Dont do many product commercials so wasnt sure how to shoot it.

 

[Doug Beatty]

I really enjoyed the music video- fancy editing there, but it fits the style well.

The notes I have for the commercial would be that I enjoyed the handheld shots in the beginning. It was a bit jarring to go directly into a dolly (which holds a little long IMO) and then a locked off shot of the pouring of the detergent. Didn't fit the flow of the edit for me.

I could also tell that you shot at a higher resolution because it was much sharper than the rest of the footage. That could be fixed with some desaturating and softening.

I would say the only shot that should be locked is the beauty shot of the product with logo at the end.

 

[Domenic Barbero]

great thanks for the feedback doug

 

[Nick Morrison]

@clint, what part of that screamed low budget? or what exactly about it? I would love to never have that come across again. Dont do many product commercials so wasnt sure how to shoot it.

Domenic, two notes on the commercial.

1) I would say the Mom/Washing scene looks a little more "low budget" because of the art direction. The outdoors shots look classy, eternal. But inside, its more predictably Suburban. I would look next time for as unique a location as possible. The wood cabinets in particular are a bit generic/Ikea. That would be my guess as to what Clint is seeing

2) Now for my wheel-house, the edit. Next time you cut a spot like this, pay special attention to how THE MUSIC ENDS. Don't let it just fade out like that, and just....die. Really listen to the track, and make it STING OUT. Listen to the track, and a lot of them, if they are pro stock music, will give you a natural "tada" end that you can cut out and stick at the end. If not...find a bridge that does something similar.

Now its perfectly acceptable to STING OUT at the end...But a trick we do in PROMO a lot is actually create the STING OUT "before" the ENDPAGE/PRODUCT page. Does that make sense? That way your spot ends dramatically...and then with a drone you bring in your product page.

Not sure if this makes sense....(its late...)

Next time you watch a good trailer, pay attention to the end...You'll notice it ENDS and then.."HARRY POTTER...etc". Over silence...

Hope this helps. Good work though.


3) Also, if you don't have access to a PRO Vo person, just use title cards. Have one graphic at the top that says "EVERY HOME"...and then later another that says "DESERVES A CHANCE"...and then a third "TO BE GREEN". That can drive the message very effectively, and alleviate even having to use VO. VO is very tricky, unless its someone awesome it can be a drag. We use titles a lot in our spots.

Hope this helps...

 

[Domenic Barbero]

thanks nick. that is great feedback. we had the perfect track, then the day before entry she pulled out. we had to toss another track in there and we couldnt find anything. Im not super stoked on the way that aspect came out. ran out of time. But Good feedback to tweak for resume. Ill make some changes.

 

[Clint Engler]

Interesting stuff for sure thanks for sharing those

 

[Clint Lealos]

@clint, what part of that screamed low budget? or what exactly about it? I would love to never have that come across again. Dont do many product commercials so wasnt sure how to shoot it.[/QUOTE

Hey Domenic, like others have said I believe it was a combo of things that made those shots stick out. The first thing I noticed was her shadow on the cabinets in front of her and the partially blown out window. The scene looks artificially lit and that is exactly what you don't want... especially in a commercial. Nick also nailed it when he said "art direction" was a problem in that scene... as well as wardrobe. The scene just fell flat if that makes sense. The colors, the light, the location were all a bit off IMO. With all that said, I still really liked the rest of the spot. Very nicely done and if you had been able to carry that feel though I think you would have nailed it.

If you are looking for more specific advice, I would have put an HMI outside that window and tried to get a little flare acton behind her head as the camera dollied. It would have hid a lot of the things that bothered me in the frame and kept the look of the spot somewhat consistent. I also would have put the woman in a bright, bold, solid colored dress. Probably yellow to go along with the product colors and give the scene that summer feel you achieved in the first part. I would have lost that basket on the washing machine too. Instead, maybe a solid colored mat to break up all the white. Again a color from the label would be nice. I hope this feedback helps. I am by no means an authority on the matter, so take my advice with a grain of salt

Jealous of your contax lenses too