New Video Production Series For Universal Music

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New Video Production Series For Universal Music

• www.pixelpi.ca

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Music Video Production Gets Lawn Chair Lazy

• Three weeks ago Universal Music released rang us
  up to work together on a brand new video
  production series. Earlier this summer they
  released a debut music video for one of their
  up-and-coming artists, James Barker Band
  http//www.jamesbarkerband.com/.
• It followed the four guitar-slinging urban
  cowboys in sleepy summertime fashion on a
  sun-drenched beer-advocating day in the country.
  If you havent heard of them yet, its likely
  because theyve only this month had their first
  single, Lawn Chair Lazy, gushing out from the
  sound wave spigots of Big Radio nationwide.
• I provided the video editing services for the
  live studio recordings, which means full days of
  chop, play, tweak and repeat but even my
  expressly un-country friends who stopped by the
  video editing suite to check out the cut later
  confessed the song had infiltrated their stream
  of consciousness infectiously, and embarrassingly
  (yes, because of the slight hipster snobbery
  involved) ad nauseam.

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A Four Camera Video Production At Torontos
Incredible Root Down Studio

• When UMusic approached our video production
  company here in Toronto to develop a new music
  video series they wanted to capture the live
  essence of their artists but in a more
  audio-controlled studio environment setting It
  was clear they wanted something intimate for fans
  to see artists let their hair down and just jam
  out, but they also wanted something really
  listenable and a little more stylized.
• So, less than a full-on music video but more than
  a fast and dirty behind the scenes segment. That
  balance between a raw aesthetic and a visually
  sleek look can be tricky to achieve. You want the
  quality of the videography to be tactile,
  up-close and personal but also have a little
  flare and polish. Its Universal Music after all,
  so the production value has to be there, even if
  its only for their online media feed.
• Thats maybe one of our top three guiding
  principles at Pixel Pi right there to transcend
  that deflated and sorry status of just another
  online video production company. Sounds lofty
  or self-congratulatory maybe, but its really the
  only approach to surviving in these ferociously
  entrepreneurial times of the infinite-online-video
  -sinkhole.

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A Four Camera Video Production At Torontos
Incredible Root Down Studio
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A Video Production Companys Worst Nightmare

• That is, showing up on set without adequate gear.
• Since this was our first outing with Universal
  Music we wanted to err on the side of prepared in
  terms of gear. This music video shoot was a pilot
  of sorts that would set the tone and trust for a
  bigger UMusic Sessions series. We brought along
  our basic videography services package plus quite
  a lot more, thinking that perhaps we were even a
  little over-prepared, even for a four cam shoot
• 1 ARRI Jr. 650W Kit. (4 fixtures)
• 2 Kino Flo Diva-Lite 400 Fixtures
• 1 11 Dedo Felloni LED Light Kit
• 2 Canon C100s
• 2 5D Mark IIIs
• We also brought in some paper lanterns with super
  bright but really cold 22W/1800Lumen LED bulbs.
  Your number one fear on any video production
  using paper lantern fixtures is, of course, fire!

6
The Bane Blessing of Any Videography Services
Package

• With a steadicam on set one thing youre not
  short on is dynamic coverage options. Fluid,
  evolving one-take compositions render out the
  space in the frame more fully and some would
  argue more dramatically.
• Running at length and moving through space also
  grounds shots in the present because you dont
  have to cut. Its a fantastic leap in production
  value on most modest sets. UMusic was certainly
  excited at the prospect of enhancing the
  on-the-floor presence to these live sessions.
• And although we cant knock the fun and creative
  potential of the roving camera we knew wed have
  a whole other slew of technical obstacles to
  slalom around when we added it to our videography
  services package.

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Performers Perform With Their Faces

• The only other spatial and seemingly obvious
  consideration that might be helpful is to
  remember that when youre shooting performers who
  are emoting with their faces a lot, you dont
  want to cover up their faces!
• This means placing mics at a height that is both
  comfortable for the singers and not so high that
  its obstructing any of your frames. This was a
  lesson we learned the hard way on this particular
  video production because the last thing that came
  into the studio unsurprisingly was the group.
  So we had our cameras and lights placed
  perfectly.
• The stage arrangement including their stools were
  already locked down. Or so we thought. The moment
  they started tuning and warming up they moved the
  stools around and adjusted the mics to wherever
  they felt it best. This is all as it should be,
  just order of operations really.
• Otherwise, wed be seeing the lead singer
  expressing himself from the nose up only! Neither
  a compelling nor professional shot to get, even
  if you were just another video production in
  Toronto.