"When given an opportunity, deliver excellence and never quit."
― Robert Rodriguez

I am extremely excited about today's post.

It has been a long, long, long and whining road. If you've been following this diaries series you know some of the struggles I endured in order to complete this two music videos. And there where struggles in abundance.

I can not believe I finally can say they are both ready! Proud and relieved to say that they are both completed.

Yesterday I wrote about the state of the film and how I still had to see if it was possible to change a few things.

Video A (Animation)

"There are no rules in filmmaking. Only sins. And the cardinal sin is dullness."
– Frank Capra

So after writing the article I did just that, I opened the project file to see if it was possible to change a fe details.

Unfortunately it wasn't ... the film had been so complicated and heavy to do, all the way to the point of exporting that it would be almost impossible to change those small things with out re-doing most of the video... and that my friends, is not what we are looking for.

Mainly the incredible amount of work and time needed to make this minor changes, would represent that... minor changes requiring an outrageous amount of work.

The Video Clip would be the same.

So it would be 3 months of extreme life consuming work, to end up with a video 98% equal to the viewer.

I had to send an email to my friend saying it wouldn't be possible to change those things. (I hasn't answered yet... hope he is not disappointed)

Now I'm thinking of making a couple of movie posters also.

That should be fun.

Video B (The Forest)

"Being an artist means not having to avert one’s eyes."
– Akira Kurosawa

This video had been done for a couple months, just in need for a few details to be improved. Due to the intensity of the other film it had been on stand by.

The issue here was the parts where the Rapper appears.

It was filmed in blue screen that for some reason became a gray screen. So it was hard to make it work. As a result the "quality" of the image was something that wasn't appealing to my taste.

The solution I came up with was to do a double exposure (à lá True Detective style).

Last night after looking into video A, I went and fix it.

I Was able to export it, quite smoothly this morning and I'm happy to say It's done.

I've uploaded it and I'll show it to my friends who worked on it right after this.

What's Next?

Now I'm going to get the video company up and running. Website, sales pitch, logo and identity, marketing and so on...

Next week I'm going to meet (I think) my other musician friend and talk about a music video for is song.

I must say I'm super exited, since I will have total creative freedom and control and especially since I'll make it simple. Want to plan the idea, film and edit all within 3 weeks.

Can't wait for that experience after this ones.

Lesson of the Day

The main lesson from this two Videos is:

You must go with your vision!!

On both situations I showed a ruff cut to my friends and evidently they've given some feedback.

I was a bit hesitant but I ended up doing it like they suggested. And on both situations, I send the finished video and they tell me they actually don't like their suggestion.

Video A: He told me he would like the all thing having a cartoon image. I say it will not look as good as that one cartoon scene I've made, since that scene was made especially for it. Eventually I put the cartoon filter on all of it, send him the video and he tells me it's better to take it out.

Video B: He told me he wasn't interested in having a "short film" music video. Because people don't really see music videos that are completely short films. So I film parts of him singing and incorporated it into the film... edit the film with that in mind. The all dynamic of the video was based on the parts of him singing. I send him the video and he tells me he doesn't like the parts where he sings.

"A director must be a policeman, a midwife, a psychoanalyst, a sycophant and a bastard."
– Billy Wilder

So the lesson is just go with your vision.

I will only send versions of the videos once they are almost completed and my vision achieved. I was aware of this concept but now is totally engraved in my brain. We agree on it before filming then people will only see it when it's ready.

In short:

I'm beyond happy for having finished this two videos... the idea for both was originated a year and a half ago...

I can't wait to get the company going and start working on the next video, next week.

I'll share the Forest Video here soon.

Thank you a lot for reading and hope you enjoyed following me in this odyssey.

Próxima Estación ... Company!!!

"Pick up a camera. Shoot something. No matter how small, no matter how cheesy, no matter whether your friends and your sister star in it. Put your name on it as director. Now you’re a director. Everything after that you’re just negotiating your budget and your fee."
– James Cameron

Have a great day!

Images (Except Logo) from Pixabay