Music: Electricidad by Jesse & Joy
BACKGROUND
Let’s begin with a story. I graduated college in December of ‘08. From then until mid May I pretty much sat on my ass and did nothing except scan the wanted ads in this crappy economy. Then I had this music video idea in which I would make a fan video for Death Cab for Cutie. I released that music video in mid May, got the attention of the band, their management and Atlantic Records and they ended up purchasing it from me and making it their official music video.
In the midst of the Death Cab deal, Juan Cordero and Joaquin Fernandez of Warner Music Mexico saw my work and put their necks on the line for me to give me a chance to direct Jesse & Joy’s sophomore album debut single. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Jesse & Joy, (I wasn’t aware of them at the time either) they are a brother and sister pop duo who, through their debut album, Esta Es Mi Vida, have broken into the Mexican music scene in recent years and are now one of the top 10 bands in Mexico, winning a Latin Grammy along the way.
When Warner Music first approached me, I was floored that anyone would even give me a second look for such a high profile job. I threw them some concepts, ideas and sample videos which they loved and the rest is history.
TECHNIQUE
For any music video I look to evolve from my previous work. For example, none of my Eclectic videos are the same. The guys at Warner Music loved the Death Cab video and were looking for something similar but original; outside the box, but still in the realm of pop music. I came up with the idea of what you see above; kind of a cross between the Death Cab video and my Eclectic series.
Where did you go for all the locations?
View Jesse & Joy “Electricidad” in a larger map
How did you make the words appear in light?
It’s a technique called light painting. I took 10-15 second exposures in a dark room and used a flashlight to paint out the word. I did this about 20 times. For words that last longer than 20 frames in the song, I just repeated the 20 frame sequence. When I brought the file into Final Cut, I changed its blending mode to “screen”. This made the black background go away.
How did you do the scenes where they were walking in front of the timelapse street backgrond?
I shot a time lapse of a street without Jesse & Joy, then I put them on a treadmill in front of a green screen to make it look like they were walking in this time lapse world.
How do you make the light words stay on top of a mountain for example?
Simple resizing and playing with the “basic motion” and keyframe settings in Final Cut Pro.
Are those shooting stars in the time lapse shots?
Nope, since the exposure times are around 20 seconds, those are airplanes flying across the sky.
How do you get the panning time lapse shots?
I modified a Meade telescope tripod (Model# DS-2114ATS-TC ) so I could attach my camera and program it. Check out The Making of Eclectic 2.0 for more details.
Check out my FAQ for more answers
Filmmaking can be stressful.
Warner A&R Rep. Joaquin Fernandez, Joy, Marketing Manager Juan Cordero and Jesse
TOP: Joaquin Fernandez, Record Producer Thom Russo, Jesse, Manager Javier, Joy, Lighting Assist Nate Elegino BOTTOM: Assistant Diana Toledo, Me, and Assistants Livier Diaz and Patricia Ascencion
that’s such a GREAT video, congratulations for all your work. u’re a genius! and the most nice thing are the background, the specifications and the tips. u’re a pretty good professional!
i’m sad that i don’t found the jesse & joy’s works here in brazil, but i’ll try to buy the tracks online..
take care! can’t wait to see new works!
i havn’t even seen your first video, only heard about it on the redcentre podcast, then twitter=wingrove posted about this video and wow!!!
very impressed – I’m thinking about buying the song as a result of watching the video once. I don’t even understand what the song is about but i get a good impression from the vid
looking forward to seeing your other work
Ross,
Excellent work! I think it works better than little bribes because the “words” don’t have to change as fast. Incredible.
Great job Ross and I am so happy for you!! You are in inspiration to videographers young and old alike.
I wish you greater successes yet to come and a lifetime of wonderful experiences.
Thanks for being so generous with your experiences and videos.
Bella Mucho!
Jana
How did you do the scenes where they were walking in front of the timelapse street backgrond?
Mazel Tov … that’s Hebrew for Congradulations, a phrase you are going to hear a lot in Hollywood because you are apparently doing the work now with this great music video that everyone of us who watched your earlier film experiments knew that you were one day destined to do. Please tell Jese and Joy that I am going to buy their album and spread the word. P.S. I am a comedian – writer with a SAG card , so as soon as you get that first major film to direct … don’t forget me Mr. Ching.
Excelente video Ross!
Gracias por todo!
ross, nice to see your back to work, congrats!!!!!!!
Great work, Ross! As always, great scenes. I got to practice my Spanish with the light subtitles! =) Keep it up!
Ross nice job, although I don’t think the night scene was the best match for the video.
Stunning new video! Really love it! Keep up the good work and good luck with some new assingments!
Matthias from Germany
I really appreciate the fact that you explain how you shoot these things. I used to be REALLY into video stuff (before computers could really handle video), and you are inspiring me to get back into it. THANKS!!
Mr Ross – I just have to tell you the story of how your video techniques are circling the globe. I live in London (UK), and was told of the song by a friend in Cape Town (South Africa). When I was on a trip to Kyoto (Japan) some Canadian kids heard the song playing on my laptop and asked me about it. I have since posted the links to my family in Australia.
There is something ethereal about music videos like this. You hit the golden spot for great video meets great song.
Well done and keep them coming!
Ps. I’ve mailed the link to a very bright high school student of mine in South Africa who will be using your light-writing technique for his entry in the national music video awards. Viva!
When will this video be available for download?
[...] imaginación y la inspiración que es Internet. Desde entonces ha realizado vídeos para los temas Electricidad de Jesse And Joy, Breakdown de Black Gold y Welcome All Again de Collective [...]
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