JAY SATELLITE – DREAMS [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]
Ok so it has been a long time coming that I have finally got to do another music video! I love doing music videos and for some reason they are here and far between lately so when a friend came to town that was in a band that I enjoyed I jumped on the chance to do a video. By the way if you don’t like the music you should not do the video, I always believe that you should be somewhat personally invested in the music or your talent, your audience, and everyone else that will watch your product probably will feel the same way. Thats probably why I haven’t shot a lot of music videos lately… Im particular about the music that I listen to and nothing has really impressed me lately (except Jay Satellite). Im hoping that that will change.
Anyway back at what this post is about! So I brought the idea while he was in town we should do a video. He seemed a little odd about it at first and I was kinda like dude I have so many ideas and your staying in the suite of this very nice hotel you have to let me do a video. He was staying at the Chancellor Hotel in Downtown Fayetteville Arkansas in the Ozark suite so yes I jumped on the chance to check out the room and what it could offer for a video. After about 30 minutes of explaining the video over text messages he agreed to do the video. but wait… he doesn’t have his band!…. CRAP…. So we choose a song that only featured an acoustic guitar and vocals. It was literally the perfect song to go along with my lonely guy in a hotel video.
After I checked out the amazing views from the 16th floor of the chancellor, and the room I ran home to get my gear since I only had about 3 hours to get ready and also to shoot. I grabbed my trusty Red One MX, tripod, a Slider, and I had to bring my god ol Martin Acoustic. Yes that is my personal acoustic he is using… I love it. So grabbed everything and headed back. We got everything upstairs and into the hotel room without a problem and surprisingly only took one trip. Thats when I Realized the tripod mount for my slider didn’t have the quick release…. Well when in a hurry sometimes things get left behind so kids (always prep more than an hour and double check). This was kind of a bummer as I really waned some sliding shots going from room to room and hand holding it wasn’t going to accomplish this so we ended up having to hide it in a closet so it wouldn’t be seen as well as the rest of the equipment.
Finally I had the camera set up and ready to go after about 10 minutes. If you have ever used a red one you know setup is a little jarring. The ambient light givin from the window of the 16th story at near sunset gave me nearly a perfect exposure all around with very good dynamics. I couldn’t be happier. One of the aspects of the video that you probably do not notice is the fact most everything is framed left heavy including the close ups when he is looking back over his shoulder gazing to the left. This signifies that there is room for your dreams and room to grow. I am always trying to incorporate some kind of use of physiology in my productions. FUN FACT I took a lot of Physc classes in college. There was one difficult shot when Jay falls onto the bed and the next shot the camera jibs over the bed and onto his face. Obviously if you have been paying attention I did not bring a Jib. In order to make that shot happen I took the tripod to as tall as it would go, moved the camera back about a foot and a half from the bed, stood on the bed to stabilize the camera, and used the bed as joint to brace the tripod as I let the camera slowly move down and onto his face. This was shot using a 16mm lens and no follow focus. Surprisingly enough the shot stayed sharp and only took 2 tries to accomplish.
The rest of the video is pretty on point with how I usually do everything either on sticks or gorilla hand held since I didn’t have room or time to get my stabilizer. This added camera movement actually went very well with the video to give it more of an uneasy feeling and almost make you feel sympathetic to the character in the video. Overall in the time that we had to make this video happen I couldn’t have asked for a better location and a better song for that location.
If you are wanting to shoot videos you do not have to have fancy equipment. You do not have to plan every single little detail (unless that is your thing). Sometimes all it takes is a good idea and people willing to work with you for a few hours. So don’t ever make an excuse to not film something or go out and be creative. The creative part is in you and is waiting to be released. You can check out the video below and make sure to share!
