Hip hop video culture has interested me for as long as I could remember: the theatrics, the sense of crew, the flash, the grit – elements a prep school kid from suburban Pennsylvania doesn’t see day to day. This summer I was lucky enough to meet Kevin Lopez, a new director at Fifth Column, and work with him as he hustled and grinded away on hip-hop music videos. The opportunity to work with Kevin taught me about how with the right resources and the right people, a high quality product can be made with a good prosumer camera and some creative innovation.

While some consider the music video a dead art as it relates to television, social networks like MySpace make the creation of videos and music content absolutely essential. They provide eye candy in a world where visuals are undeniably key to getting your message across. They influence our culture and fashion (from Soulja Boy’s “Crank That” dance to Slim Thug’s Gucci shades.) With the right amount of ingenuity, some music videos can be huge viral successes, such as Ok Go’s YouTube hit “Here It Goes Again” A digital camera, one static shot, and 4 treadmills = over 43 million views.

We recently completed “Hot Pair Nikes” an impressive low budget music produced and directed by Kevin and edited by myself with Kevin’s help. Shot on a Panasonic HVX200 and a digital SLR, it is a great example of innovation in our field. Be on the lookout for the next six months as Kevin and I continue to develop innovative music videos. For now, make sure to check out our latest music video for EJoox of the Bronx, “Hot Pair of Nikes.”

Tags: Anthony Sylvester, Editing, Fifth Column, Kevin Lopez, Music Videos

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 9th, 2009 at 4:18 pm and is filed under New Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.