"Das Wha Dey Dew" Music Video

I was put in contact with an Atlanta based musician, Dan Random, by a friend of mine. Dan was interested in creating a music video for his 8th studio album. He had never done a music video before and really was open to any ideas.

After a couple of one-on-one meetings I brought in good friend and film collaborator, Matt Green, to handle the Directing and to help me co-produce the video. Matt and I go back to first grade as we lived in the same neighborhood so Matt was excited to sign-on to the project.

Matt and I work as partners on many project. With his Directing experience and my Cinematography, we compliment each other with the many aspects required to produce a great product. Working with Matt allows me to concentrate on the technicals of being a Cinematographer.

We had several meetings with Dan on the concept of the video. Eventually we settled with an idea I had thought about where the storylines of the song would be shown in slow motion and Dan's appearances would be shown in real-time. This helped show Dan more as a narrator of each story since Dan's musical style is more story telling based.

To pull this off we had to film Dan in green screen in each location so we could bring different frame rates together. Since there were three locations plus a green screen studio scene, we signed up for a lot of green screen keying! In the end it all worked out and Dan was very happy with the end result.

We shot in four locations over a two day period. Overall we didn't encounter any shooting issues and stayed on schedule and on budget!

Post Production

After Matt locked the video I got busy creating the virtual set within After Effects. The virtual set is where we filmed most of the band for the band shots. I created a background that projects three stories in the background re-emphasize "Das Wha Dey Dew." Even the floor's veins pulsate in beat with the music.

We learned a lot on this one with green screen shooting and keying. I think overall we took the concept and pulled it off. The more you look at the video the more you find the little details.

 Equipment Used 

• Sony FS700  

• Atomos Ninja II Pro-Res Recorder  

• 10x20 foot portable green screen  

• Various tungsten based soft box lighting with accent par cans  

• Adobe Premiere (editing)  

• Adobe After Effects (green screen virtual set and keying)  

• Magic Bullet Colorista II and Looks (color correction and grading)