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1. Mountain Goats - Woke Up New (Directed by Rian Johnson)
3 years ago
A music video I directed for one of my favorite bands, The Mountain Goats. We shot this in an apartment I had in New York in the middle of a heat wave, summer of 2006. My AC broke on the first day of shooting.
This is how we did it: I diagrammed out 8 layers of video on a timeline. We shot the first layer (of John's face on the tv screen sitting on the floor) then took that tape and played it back on my TV, and shot the second layer. Then we took that tape and played it back, and shot the third. Basically we built it layer by layer, live, and by the end of the two day shoot we had our finished video.
Sharp eyes will notice a few wonky match-dissolves. We discovered that once we were 8 layers deep (that is, shooting off a tv screen off a tv screen off a tv screen 8 times) the deepest layer was too muddy to see what was going on. So we used only 7 layers at the start, and transitioned to layer 8 when we needed it.
mountain-goats.com/
rcjohnso.com
twitter @rcjohnso
brothersbloom.tumblr.com
This is how we did it: I diagrammed out 8 layers of video on a timeline. We shot the first layer (of John's face on the tv screen sitting on the floor) then took that tape and played it back on my TV, and shot the second layer. Then we took that tape and played it back, and shot the third. Basically we built it layer by layer, live, and by the end of the two day shoot we had our finished video.
Sharp eyes will notice a few wonky match-dissolves. We discovered that once we were 8 layers deep (that is, shooting off a tv screen off a tv screen off a tv screen 8 times) the deepest layer was too muddy to see what was going on. So we used only 7 layers at the start, and transitioned to layer 8 when we needed it.
mountain-goats.com/
rcjohnso.com
twitter @rcjohnso
brothersbloom.tumblr.com
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This is fantastic, I love the production design a lot...and how deliciously meta it is, not to mention that there weren't special effects...psh..dang.
The Mountain Goats annnnnnnd Rian Johnson?!
This is almost more than I can take.
The 6th time it was near tears.
How much time did you spend story boarding this? or did everything just work out during production?
only...
1) its well-executed
2) has external value that transcends the margins of basement noodling
3) credible collaborators.
Perfect.
its on my blog now.
The Director sez: "There was zero compositing. I diagrammed the whole thing out, and we shot the first layer, then played it back on the TV and shot the second layer, and so on. The few funky moments you saw are transitions, because once we got 8 layers in the deepest TV layers were too obscured, so for a few of the segments we had to be on layer 6 or 7 then transition unseen back to layer 8, which was tricky. But they're essentially just hidden cuts."
Again, thanks for all the encouragement!
-Rian
Cya.
come on!! tell me your secrets :d
A beautiefull voice he has!
The other gripe I have is: who cares whether you used effects or not? That fact shouldn't add to my experience at all. I enjoyed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind just as much before I knew Gondry doesn't use special effects. To be honest, the caption: "shot in-camera with no special effects." was a huge distraction for me. It felt like you were trying to earn street cred' or something. Anybody else feel that way? The fact of the matter is, filmmakers should be using every tool that is available to get the desired effect they want. That may mean After Effects and it may not, but the charm of the finished product should always be about the finished product, not how you made it.
But that's me.
I'll continue my Gondry example. I enjoyed Eternal Sunshine the first time I saw it. Then I heard that he doesn't use special effects and I thought: "That's cool, that makes it even better!" I guess I just wish I could have experienced the same sequence with your video. Instead, I spent the entire time thinking about how you made it without special effects (it looks like I wasn't the only one either). The result is you end up defining the sum of your film by it's parts.
I mean no disrespect. You are a solid filmmaker and I enjoyed Brick a great deal. You certainly don't have to listen to my opinion. I just try to be honest with people when I can. Sometimes the "Good Jobs" make a person feel like they did a good job, but that's about it.
vimeo.com/thirdwave
Great job, guys. Keep it up.
congrats!
ótimo trabalho!
The synchronicity of this video is outstanding!
it looks so simply
and the song..
like it
Loved the video, liked the song. Thanks for giving us your thoughts on the process, as well. Peeling back the layers is fun once you've let yourself take it all in.
Posted at thebrandnewcolony.com