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.”

The layout of this blog, the shape of your keyboard, the color of your ipod. These are all very specifically engineered arrangements of nature’s perceiveable colors and raw materials, in order to attract a somewhat primitive aspect of human rationale. We call it collectively, design – something that has potential to be incredible effective visually, and in turn financially favorable for those who are innovative enough to keep pushing conventional boundaries.

With the advent of prosumer-created motion graphics, made possible through accessible and inexpensive programs such as Adobe After Effects, it would appear as if there is an overabundance of design in the commercial world of film and video. In fact, it is now notable that agencies create incredibly flashy and motion design oriented ways of channeling info through video, simply under the notion that style is substance.

Much in favor of the lifestyle versus feature list approach to commercials, motion graphics can evoke human emotions that even the most expensive HD camera couldn’t capture. Take for instance YouTube hit “Did You Know 3.0″. Created by Xplane, an American design firm based out of Portland, the video is essentially a visualization of international and sociological statistics, based on world populations, technological trends, and their meaning for the future. The simplistic animation style and color scheme employed offers a unique and evocative feeling. It is in this manner that the style truly becomes the substance for the feelings and ideas this firm wishes to employ, overall more important than the facts and text that we most likely will forget the next day. What is important is that the style through which the content is employed, is lasting.

And while in the foreseeable future, as animated products such as “Did You Know”, as well as motion graphic infused commercials, will continue to flood the industrial output, it’s likely that this style will be more suited for a technology far more advanced and engrossing than video, something not completely bound by a two dimensional screen. At the speed we’re moving, it’s coming sooner than later.

I’ve run into quite a few friends and associates who have needed help with Final Cut Pro recently.  Trying to verbalize the Final Cut Pro language into common vernacular is sometimes near impossible.  That’s why I usually either send screen shots with instructions, or simply refer people to my friend, Ken Stone.

Ken’s not really my friend… in fact, we don’t know each other.  But I’ve been going to his website since I started editing for tips, and thus I feel like I owe him a shout out.

Kenstone.net is a great beginner to advanced FCP tutorial and support page.  There are tutorials on achieving specific effects involving techniques such as keying and mattes, and meanwhile it offers technical support for elements of FCP such as the multi-cam editing feature or capturing HDV.  The tutorials are incredibly easy to understand, and usually have clear and detailed screen shots.

While Ken’s page is pretty stacked with articles on just about everything you need to know, occasionally you may need help with something more specific, perhaps something more advanced like down-resing (don’t get me started…) or workflow between programs like FCP and Soundtrack or Motion.  For such in depth questions, check out Creativecow.net.

By now I would assume most people are aware of, and have visited Creative Cow.  It’s an interactive support page with forums for just about all industry software, from FCP to After Effects, Motion, Shake, and tons more.

They even offer free video tutorials and training project files to download and work along with.  It’s like a virtual support group for all us post people pulling our hair out an hour before deadline because something doesn’t work.

While there are plenty of good books available on FCP, they tend to be boring and verbose.  In fact it seems often that the authors don’t even really know what they’re talking about at times.  Save the 40 dollars, and check out these sites next time FCP isn’t behaving.

Cordy and I attended the Creative Job Agency networking party last night at Broadway East. It was enjoyable, yes. We met a great amount of interesting people. We also brought tremendous value to the gathering with our current network of associates, including Greener Media producer Jesse Ash. Today, quickly, we touched upon how effective these events are. It perhaps was not the best fit for our need, that being the expansion of our relationships with small agencies and branding firms; however, it was a success. We met peers and learned how they were managing this economy. We met creatives and familiarized ourselves with their work. The crowd was heavily weighted toward freelance creatives. As someone helming business development, I considered “what value can a freelance editor offer me?” We have a tremendous editor in Anthony. However, by connecting with that freelance editor, we may one day secure a job. If he is approached with a job that needs a production company: here we are.

Sure, this event was not exactly in line with our six month, one year and three year plans. However, in meeting people – in all outreach, we gain. In my opinion, anyway, everyone is a potential client.

Sean writes. Anthony and David shoot. Cordy edits. (Is this true?)

Cordy directs. Sean produces. David writes. Anthony edits. Lauren schedules. (Close,  yes.)

David manages clients. Lauren researches leads. Cordy cold calls. (I have seen this happen.)

We all have defined roles here. That’s what it says in the handbook. That is the way we make the office function. Each of us has a torch to bare, tailored to our strengths; whether that be art, management or money. Cordy is the director. Therein lies his skill set and his desire. Sean is the executive producer. It is a perfect role for his ingenuity, management skills and desire for creative input. Anthony is the editor. His sense of rhythm and pace define his visual aesthetic. Lauren controls the office. She makes it tick and to be honest, makes everyone’s jobs easier. I work with people, seeing that they find their way to us and leave our hands happily, my power of communication guiding us through. These are our jobs, but also our skills. Together, well placed, we mesh into an unstoppable unit.

However, from the thinking out loud I did above, we all have the ability to do everything. Every one of us is capable of interacting with clients. Cordy could shoot and edit if need be. Anthony and I do take the camera out and shoot. Sean does write; commercial copy and personal pieces. Although our jobs are defined, our interests are vast. We are curious about the elements composing this industry. We seek to better ourselves as individual media-making wholes.

It is all a part of our DIY idealism. If you want good media, you’ve got to make it yourself. Each one of us alone could manage this process, but with our powers combined we are a force to be reckoned with.

We’re currently in our very last stages of post production for our short film, “Sweetie.”  Having worked on this film myself for a few good months, I’ve realized the incredible effort that a good few hundred talented and dedicated individuals have brought to this collaboration.

Considering the brevity of the film itself, it’s always amazing to consider how much work has gone into all phases, from preproduction to post.  I don’t think I truly grasped this idea until Joe Narciso, the writer and lead actor, and I, sat down a month ago to produce a complete list of credits to tag on to the final cut – it took a week to get straight, and we’re still adding to the list!

The film’s momentum really picked up in early October though, when Joel Beckerman of Man Made Music offered to score the film with a 12 piece orchestra for the final cut. We currently have it in audio post with our talented friends over at Audio Engine, and are looking forward to wrapping it up.  The last step will be color correction, which I’ve been working on for the past week.

Make sure to check the entertainment section of our website soon for a trailer and the blog for more updates!

The Post Production suite, or Post Office, has been burnt to the ground, transplanted, transfigured, transformed, and eventually simulated into a self sustaining environment, equipped with heat, AC, and man-made sunlight (or the mojo, as Sean and Cordy believe). Suffice to say, I have grown undeniably attached.

Home to early morning riffs on the state of the election or which decade truly was greater (I still say the 90’s), or late night edits and inevitably McDonalds at 4am with Sean before a hearty 4 hour sleep on the futon – this room has bore witness to many great achievements. One of the greatest, perhaps, was a quickly suppressed one man revolution; the greatest in the history of the Column.

For anonymity’s sake, we will call this certain intern/rebel, Paul L, or if you prefer, P Libassi. Having been fed up with corporate takeover, he stormed the office one early morning this past summer, decked out in full on pirate wear, equipped with six homemade swords, two double barrel rubber band guns, and a thick set of shackles. With the intent to overthrow Sean, Cordy quickly grabbed the HVX to document the mutiny against his partner, as P roared in pirate language that “mutiny be upon the column”. Alas, the revolution was halted with the threat of no lunch – and another poor soul fed to corporate takeover.

In life, you have your creatives and your uncreatives. I like to think that we are more than just creatives – we are a creative powerhouse.