This is my second music video, the first was Take Pills by Cex. It's for a wonderful band called Castanets on Asthmatic Kitty Records (Sufjan Stevens's label). As always, all comments are appreciated, negative and positive.

high quality WMV: blumpy.org

low quality WMV: blumpy.org

more info: blumpy.org

lower your bitrate - streaming sucks as it is, WMV is bad on top of that - why don't people post quicktimes?? And what's with the giant size? it should be 320x240 max....

On the video content..... well, it looks a lot like "from the director of 'Take Pills' " - not sure the lo-fi video is being embraced as it should. Watch Ghost Boobs by Gravy Train!!! www.texasmonkey.com

the sort-of homeless guy playing guitar in the street - been done a billion times.... the boy-girl part was pleasant enough.

People singing simultaneously the same song as the singer is really an horrible music video cliché but i understand i've been trough. Unlike captain i like the unexpressive look the singer has and the fact he's not looking at the camera. I think it miss something to counterbalance naivety at the end (payoff?) but the video is ok.

JAKOB: I somewhat recklessly slammed your last one, so I want to give you some constructive comments on this one.

1. You're working. Fantastic. But I wonder if maybe you're moving too fast. It's great to see you pushing, but from the time you posted that CEX video to now has only been what - one month? Can you honestly say that in that time you successfully prepped, shot, and posted a piece you're satisfied with? I know guys that sit with treatments for at least a month before moving into pre-production -- and a slew of heroes that are just obsessive about every single fuckin thing possible. If you told me you were rushed with this one, I'd believe it instantly because it tends to show.

Dave Meyers can turn a video around in a weekend. But is he really pumping worthwhile product? Take the time with your pieces, think about everything, you'll see it pays off.

2. I don't like the interacial realtionship and lean toward a somewhat political suggestion. Maybe you didn't mean it, but dopey white caveman goes to pick up black girl only to have her singing his song at the end has a strange underlying message to it. Again, maybe it means nothing, but know that there's so much emphasis on their story that it just gets me wondering what it all means (and not liking it if it's stating the obvious)...

3. I'm glad captain posted the Ghost Boobs link. Because again I inquire about your choice of medium. Ghost Boobs is the type of video that attempts to destroy itself with it's medium.

But here, why minidv? The obvious answer is budget but what are you doing with this format that makes it both relevant to your concept and worthwhile to sit through and watch? Right now it's very plain and semi ameaturish. Are you going for something with this? With promos I feel like it's really important to have a grasp on your aesthetic and do feel like you can do something interesting with the tools at hand. Try it.

4. I'm not crazy about the song. The video directs the lyrics into a really petty direction and it prevents me from getting into the track. It's just hard, college kid caveman looking campy singing a track I'm supposed to like. It doesn't work for me.

5. Although the most exciting part of the video, I again suggest staying away from vfx stuff as much as possible. Focus more on your frame and less on what after effects can do inside said frame.

6. On top of being cliche, the color change at the end doesn't work. It's interesting to just have this guy thinking the entire time. I like that, we have a video and shit happens, but there's this guy that we randomly cut to -- maybe he's planning something!?

Now with the color, you present the piece as some kind of cartoon like daydream. And at the end he loses the girl (or the guy!?) and his world dissolves of color. No no no. Stronger would have been him maybe turning to camera and looking at us (cause then the final shot would suggest a payoff of: "Well now after thinking this entire time, I finally figured something out."). Or I don't know, maybe he does nothing -- really just anything aside from color loss. Those bookends feel petty. Rip the covers off and already we've got a stronger text.

That's all I have for now. I hope some of my comments help. lusk

yeah lusk!! great post man, positive and yet provided stuff to work on. i dont want to sound patronizing, i mean it good job!

Good take lusk

Jakob, glad to see you are moving forward and making some things happen. That's awesome. I think Lusk has brought up some good things to think about. I think a huge part of filmmaking is knowing that what you do really causes reactions. The audience links meaning from whatever you show them, sor directorial choices have to be motivated.

Although the simplicity of this video is nice, to me it wasn't very engaging. Since you went for a sort of narrative type video, I think it would have been stronger if you had something that really pulled me from one moment to the next. Although "art has no rules" (obviously, you can make films purely to satisfy yourself), a huge part of filmmaking is to engage the audience by leading them down a path. Find the foundational idea that is really solid, that's usually the hardest part....and then find the most impactful way to present that idea both visually and psychologically. You may not have money, but you do have control. It's a crazy film world, and it seems it's getting harder to be original, but there is only one of you, and that's where you find your originality. But you still have to work for it. I hope this is constructive. Keep things up!

Don't trust the so called "patronizing pro" you know better

It does sound patronizing, so what. if somebody wants a critique, then they're stoked somebody takes the time to write. On the other hand, these are all lies. And while I'm at it, everyone here spends way too much time at this blog.