Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1522417
www.postmagazine.com 9 POST MAY/JUNE 2024 BITS & PIECES: MUSIC VIDEOS FIREFRAME.AI AIMS TO SIMPLIFY MUSIC VIDEO CREATION Fireframe.ai is a new, generative text-to-video AI web application that can help musicians quickly produce videos.According to founder Dane O'Connor, visual content tends to drive social media, but those creating music may not be skilled in creating visuals. Fireframe.ai hopes to serve as a middle ground that goes beyond acting purely as a visualizer. The tool uses audio, text and camera direction for input. Users can create a :30 video for free. Beyond :30, a user would be charged approximately $2/minute for 1080HD-qualty video. This rate comes regardless of whether the desired re- sults are achieved, so several iterations may be needed. Further development is planned, including 4K quality. For more on Making Music Videos, turn to our feature on page 14. FREDDY MONDAY - PASSING BY HOURS Pop singer/songwriter Freddy Monday (www.freddymonday.com) released his new single "Passing By Hours" in April on all streaming and download plat- forms. The track was performed and produced by Monday, and delivers a feel that mixes '70s hippie with a cool, driving, alternative vibe. Monday directed and edited the companion music video, which was shot by director of photography John Kiss using a Nikon D7100, along with an Apple iPhone. In the video, Monday sings among the sunflower fields of Polak's Farm in Suffolk County, NY, reflecting on a relationship that has wilted before ultimately finding its way back to full bloom. "I used Final Cut Pro for post production," says the artist. "The shoot went very smooth and it was great to be out in nature for most of it." In addition to Monday and Kiss, credits include Julia Horvath, who served as script super- visor/assistant director, and Lily Zajc, who acted as production assistant/ camera operator. MEGAN THEE STALLION — HISS Editor Lucas Moesch, who recently signed to Bandit, has cut music videos for the likes of Ezra Collective, Irama and Tom Misch. One of his latest projects was Megan Thee Stallion's Hiss video, which required few but precise cuts in order to allow space for her rap lines. According to Moesch, he was invited by his good friend and director Douglas Bernardt to collaborate on the project. "We have previously worked together on successful music videos, such as Nego Bala's Sonho, which won a Silver award at Cannes Lions, and Ezra Collective's No Confusion and Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes' What Kinda Music. This time, Douglas was directing three music videos for Megan, and he wanted each of them to have a unique personality. I took on the challenge of editing the second video, Hiss, which had intense lyrics and required careful attention to rhythm. My goal was to ensure that the audience could fully grasp the lyrics while appreciating the masterful visuals crafted by DP Christopher Ripley and production designer Miranda Lorenz." The team meticulously planned out the shots making sure the lyrics would align with the futuristic VFX concept. "While on-set in LA, my assistant Elijah Hermitt and I set up a system to load dailies and construct the daily structures to ensure visual and lyrical coherence," Moesch explains. "We organized strands based on the lyrics and where each scene had covered that part. Then we built and printed this 'bible' in which we had everything scripted. This preparation allowed us to have the editing structure in place for when the VFX versions arrived." Much of the VFX work was done practically, allowing the editors to have a structure ready early on, while making adjustments based on the best takes and approvals for the VFX-enhanced scenes. Moesch and his assistant used two MacBook Pros and two SSD drives on-set. Following that, they spent a week editing in Adobe Premiere on a MacStudio, which consisted of an internal network of hard drives, two monitors and a reference display. "The following week, I traveled to Lisbon to edit Bad For a Moment, a film directed by Daniel Soares," Moesch recalls. "Despite the challenges of working across different time zones, I was able to collaborate with the director in São Paulo, Brazil, and Megan's team in Los Angeles through Zoom sessions on my MacBook Pro." The editor ultimately flew to Los Angeles for a one-day session with Megan, where the edit was finalized.