lol, thanks man, and yea, Little Girl was one of my weirdest shoots to date, not THE weirdest but it's up there. If I were to go off topic and give my weirdest it would probably be getting punched by a big chimp in the testies on a shoot, that hurt.

So usually I ask for anyone to elaborate on stuff when it comes to my work but curious, was it the handheld or one where the guitar is framed but you only really see Daniel's chin/mouth? Personally love every shot in it so in this rare case I don't mind! =)

- Ray
Underground Planet

I love your stuff. I always have a sense that some things in Texas have not changed for a long time. It's likely not true, but it's a convenient fiction for me that takes me back to honky tonks and road houses and the smell of beer soaked wood floors and dirt parking lots.

"Those downtown bars and the honky-tonks, is where I long to be, it's been so long since I wrote a song, I miss the feeling I get playing with the band." Dobie Gray, may he rest in peace.

No technical discussion here. Just me, being sentimental.

Very nicely done. I aspire to your level on both technical and creative basis, but sadly doubt I'll ever reach either.

"one where the guitar is framed but you only really see Daniel's chin/mouth?"

That one. I don't know why but it really caught me off guard.
The rest was great, I mean really great.

Bob.

Excellent! I really connected with the opening scene w/ the cigar and Spirit.

The last place I was able to enjoy a good drink, a ciiigar and and a good band was in Ft. Worth TX last year.

Something I really miss is a good smoke filled bar good ciiiigar, Gentleman Jack and live local talent. Cant do that here in Hawaii anymore the socialist nazi government outlawed smoking in all bars including outdoor bars so needless to say I drink and smoke at home and don't go to bars anymore. One good thing that came out of that law is my scotch, whiskey and cigar collection has grown. (;

Video almost brought a tear to me eye.

Cheers!

Ray, you are incredibly good at what you do!

Jason, don't give me too much credit or give yourself too little. If there's one thing I've learned it's that the best way to make myself seem talented is to work with talented people. I'm selective about which bands and artists I work with, not trying to be snobby but I know that if I work with ones that don't have "it" I'm swimming against the tide before we shoot one frame. It's not about one kind of genera but some have more of a polished sound than others. The working with talented people also extends to my crew that having done quite a bit of work together know how to make things happen and are intuitive as to what I might need next, couldn't do any of this without them.

Bob, yea, thought so and totally get what youre saying but the same thing that you dislike about that one I love! Once I have my safe shots out of the way I try to play a little bit and do something a little irregular with my shots. For me, and opinions may vary but, I think that is one of the shots that keeps a video like this that is essentially one guy playing rhythm guitar and singing watchable and helps carry it through to the end. That statement is not to detract from his performance, only speaking from a shooting/editing standpoint. Do know that your comment "great, I mean really great." made my day."

Thanks John and totally understand from a sentimental POV, I feel the same way about my hometown on the South-side of Chicago and totally appreciate the sentiment in Daniel's song as a transplant to Texas.

Byron, Austin is well on it's way, smoking indoors isn't allowed except for five or six places that got grandfathered, it's only a matter of time. And whereas Bob's comment made my day, youre saying it almost brought a tear to your eye gave me goosebumps, if you got any emotionality out of it that makes me as proud as anything else I've done.

And if anyone does like the song please buy it from his site, I'm not getting any cut but he's just a local guy who pooled some money together to have a nice vid. Would love to see him get some of it back just cuz he was so awesome to work with.

And thanks John Cline, its funny as I can get a bit blustery on the forums from time to time but at the end of the day I'm pretty much your a-typical insecure starving artist, compliments always mean more to me than I think many might believe.

Best;

- Ray
Underground Planet

excellent, but i wouldn't have expected anything less from you ;-)

Wow! That's fantastic. So great, and so much better than anything I could do, that I almost hesitate to mention the following.

At the 02:15 mark during my playback the audio seems to go out-of-sync with the video (do others see that?).

...Jerry

Nice job Ray. And most importantly, you got to work with a really talented singer. He's really good.

Couple of things:

1. I don't see what Jerry saw at 2:15, but I played this several times at both normal and full screen and the video stops at 3:20 every time.

2. From a personal taste standpoint (and this is purely personal), I am not crazy about so many "in your face" closeups. But that does not take away from the excellence of this video.

Great work as always Ray.

John

"At the 02:15 mark during my playback the audio seems to go out-of-sync with the video (do others see that?)."

Yes, I noticed something there even though I wasn't displaying the time. It's not so much out of sync but as if the singer is having trouble mouthing the song with the right energy at that point. But that was just a minor distraction in a great presentation.

Good eye Jerry, actually sent him a message at 10:57 PM last night saying "There was one line “Bent on avoiding the light” at around 2:06." I do believe it is fixed now. Hopefully that was the one you were talking about. Newest version is uploaded.

And thanks John & Peter, so glad you liked it.

- Ray
Underground Planet

I wanted to add my voice in the chorus of "Wow! That was really great!". Making music videos is my favorite type of job, on the exact opposite end of the spectrum of Wedding Videos.

And I also wanted to echo Jason's feelings that your work is very inspirational to those of us that have not quite reached our full potential.

One of my most surprising music videos came from the unlikeliest of settings. I used to work at Central Washington University and was in charge of Distant Education. Shooting DE classrooms with 4 ceiling mounted cameras, all controlled by remote in a control room off to the side of the classroom, using a decades old Grass Valley switcher. Nothing fancy, just straight cuts from Instructor, to students, to presentation material (powerpoint) all tied into the switcher. It's actually harder than it sounds since it's a one man operation, so I would have to move the cameras by remote and work the switcher at the same time. I got quite good at it over five years and built a reputation with the Professors as the best DE guy on campus. I had these classes looking like a Donahue or Oprah show. Switching between students in the classroom and teacher during discussion periods, it was just like a talk show, made even harder by instructors who insist on running all over the classroom (ala Donahue)

Anyway, I had a chance to be creative during one particular class, a CWU student had just won a national songwriting contest and brought his guitar into the classroom to give a live performance. I set up my shots with the four remote controlled cameras and did some lovely slow dissolve transitions between singer and guitar (all done live, no post-production). Nothing was preplanned but I was able to get some really good shots where he just happened to plant himself. He actually ended up using the video as a demo. I wish I could show it off, but unfortunately I didn't make myself a copy of the recording.

Sorry, I kind of got a little sidetracked here, but anyway, great job, thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed the song and the production!

Thanks Leee and no need to apologize, the fact that this thread has somehow got people reminiscing is pretty frikkin cool in my book =)

- Ray
Underground Planet

Excellent example of what you can do with a simple location and good talent on both sides of the camera. Great musician, but your framing and pacing in the edit are what make the simplicity work so well. Just tasty all around.

Larry

Oh, one other nitpick. The opening has old film dust and fluff on it but no jitter from worn sprocket holes or other flicker.

Larry, thanks so much man, dont think anyones called my work "tastey" before so gonna stash that one in my back pocket!

Peter, certainly understand your sentimentalism, I had done more in a previous version along those lines and originally had a lot more of a base of sound during the opening and it just wasnt working for me, just way to much stuff happening and felt the story would get lost. Leaving the few audio ques felt right to me but obviously you wouldn't hear those for any real reason, least not how I used em. I wanted it just enough degraded that when the "real" footage came in it would make it look all the more awesome. Beyond that most kids wouldnt know what the hell we were talking about! I have gotten tired of the over layed filmstock ever since I did the Endeverafter vid but resurrected it on a piece for the band Clutch, that said I had a different motive this time and used it in a different way. Am I the only one who notices that half the commercials on tv are using Art Beats.

Anyway, I love the little flap from the tape and using the clicks when going from one clip to another, felt it added to the somewhat unsettling nature that I perceived it was meant to add to the singerrs inner conflicts regarding his hometown.Thanks for checking it out though!

Sorry if it didnt work for ya man, maybe the next one. Shooting a pop one this weekend, hot chicks and dancing, whoot!

- Ray
Underground Planet

Oh don't take any notice of me. Just a typical engineering approach to a work of art.

Love it! Primes, large sensor, great lighting, and most important of all: great talent all the way around!

lol, no worries Peter, just letting ya know my thoughts =)

Thanks Laurence, though I do miss having a zoom, wish Sony would come out with one for the F3 that didn't cost 10k and was better than a T3.9. Love primes but having a nice one for run-n-gun, eng, or live events would be spiffy.

- Ray
Underground Planet