Post Magazine

July/August 2019

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www.postmagazine.com 25 POST JULY/AUG 2019 MUSIC VIDEOS the cut. He ultimately caught up with the artist in Europe and showed her the cut in her hotel room just 48 hours before its anticipated delivery. At the same time, Nice Shoes colorist Ron Sudul flew from Chicago to the company's New York studio to perform the color grade. "Alex had a great idea regarding the color pal- ette and got it right on-set," recalls Sudul, who says he spent time dialing in the contrast and bright- ness, while also working to further enhance the palette overall. Sudul worked with the raw Arri files and graded the project using a FilmLight Baselight system, doing a basic conform for viewing purposes. The completed video, which debuted online July 2nd, was delivered in HD. "I am extremely pleased at how it was received," says Moors of the final release. But like many per- fectionists, he wishes he had the luxury of a little more time. So don't be surprised if a director's cut pops up somewhere in the future. ROBYN — EVER AGAIN Editor Tianès Montasser (www.tianesmontasser. com) recently cut Robyn's Ever Again music video, which has more than a half-million online views. The video features the artist performing in front of a cyclorama, surrounded by Greek statues. The background color changes as she sings and dances on a sandy, beach-like surface. Colin Solal Cardo directed the video, which was produced by Friend (http://friendlondon.tv). The project was shot on Kodak 35mm film, and Montasser worked with proxies from the lab, cut- ting in Adobe Premiere Pro 2018. "Everything was synchronized on one timeline and we edited first as if it was a live video, so it was more of a 'vertical' way of editing," he explains. The initial edit, he adds, provided structure that then allowed for creative freedom in the fine tuning, where the music and Robyn's performance could be highlighted. Matthieu Toullet at MPC (www.moving-picture. com) handled the color grade. CHILDISH GAMBINO — THIS IS AMERICA Editor Ernie Gilbert (iamernie.com) recently collab- orated with Atlanta director Hiro Murai to create Childish Gambino's This is America music video, which has garnered more than 500 million views on YouTube and won a Grand Prix award in the Entertainment for Music category at the Cannes Lions festival in France in June. The video is set in a massive warehouse, where the artist — Donald Glover — raps and dances, his lyrics telling the story of gun violence, police interaction and contraband. Behind him, dancers enter and exit the frame, reinforcing the storyline and Glover's own motion. The video makes use of long Steadicam shots and whip pans for the few scene changes. Gilbert has worked on Atlanta (Seasons 1 & 2) as an assistant editor. In addition, he's collabo- rated with the music video's director Hiro Murai in the past on a project for A Tribe Called Quest. He likens this latest project to being a server in a high-end restaurant, where the artist and director deliver a perfect recipe using five-star ingredients, and his job is to deliver the final results. While This is America does not make use of many cuts, there were challenges in pulling the whole project off. In the opening scene, where Glover pulls out a gun, the firearm had to be digitally removed from his waistband prior to the ultimate reveal in order to surprise the audience. Eric Binmoeller, who is also a part of the Atlanta team, handled visual effects for the project. In another transition, where the camera pans up to the rafters and back down again, two separate takes were combined to create the perfect segue. Visual effects were also used to enhance gun hits and muzzle flashes, as well as to add additional flames to practical fire that engulfs the car. Working from his home studio, Gilbert cut the video in Adobe Premiere Pro using his iMac and MacBook Pro. This is America was shot on 35mm film, so he worked with ProRes LT transcodes at 1080p for the offline. "I always want it to be as fast as possible," he says of his system's performance, noting that music videos may have any number of video files synced and stacked on a timeline. "I don't want to wait," he adds, noting that the 1080 resolution gives him the best performance when making creative decisions. This project came together in just two weeks. The video was shot on a Monday and Gilbert received film scans on Wednesday. He provided a cut on Thursday and met with the director for fine tuning on Friday. VFX were added the following week, before moving on to MPC for final color. At press time, Gilbert was putting the final touches on a new music video for Khalid, featuring John Mayer. GLORYHAMMER — MASTERS OF THE GALAXY Craig Gowans of 12 Inch Media (12inchmedia.com) created a new lyric music video for the power metal band Gloryhammer that features art derived from the band's album cover. Masters of the Galaxy is the band's fourth video from their third album — the 2019 release "Legends from Beyond the Galactic Terrorvortex." The band recently started its US tour and will be on the road through February 2020. Gowans says lyric videos have become more and more popular, for several reasons. They can be cost-effective to produce when budgets are restric- tive, and can be made without the band's presence, as many times they are on tour. Artists benefit by being able to use them as Website content and across social media channels. In the case of Masters of the Galaxy, Gowans says the process started with him creating a :30 sample for approval from the band and its label. He drew on Gloryhammer's album artwork for inspiration, cutting out elements and creating stylized layers in Photoshop, remaining true to the original branding. Layered Photoshop files were then brought into After Effects, where he created sequences for each section of the song — intro, verse, chorus, etc. Masters of the Galaxy tells the story of an epic battle and features alien warriors fighting in a CG universe as the song's lyrics appear with a laser glow. The CG motion-graphics background is stock, and Gowans says he often uses elements from VideoHive or VideoBlocks, saying they are "super resources" that help save time in production while delivering high-quality results. Lyrical elements were Editor Tianes Montasser cut Robyn's Ever Again video using Adobe Premiere Pro 2018.

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