If you want to have a laugh. Stop what you are doing and watch this video. Now.

Greg and his friend Ryan go shopping in Target with special XMAS shopping lists that they have made for each other. Now the guys have not looked at their shopping list before they start asking the clerks for the unusual items that are on the lists.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/girlfriend-single/id466016634
Buy the Girlfriend Single for 99cents at iTunes by Clicking on the Above Link
http://juliapricemusic.com

I was introduced to Julia Price at a YouTube Party in Hollywood at The Cat and the Fiddle by Web Series and Film Actress Taryn Southern. I asked Julia if she had any music videos and she said she had a few on YouTube and gave me her card. I went to her YouTube Channel JuliaMusic1 and saw a video of the song Girlfriend that someone had shot of Julia performing in a bar on a cell phone and when I heard it the first thing that popped in my head was “Why isn’t this woman signed to a record label?” The next things that I started visualizing were the shots of this music video. I had to direct it but could I afford a crew to shoot it?

I called Julia and asked if she was interested in having me direct a music video for her and she was a little reluctant at first. She asked if I had ever directed a music video before and I told her that while I had not really directed one before I had produced a few. After chatting with her some more I told her my ideas for the video and she was on board.

Now that I had talked this talented young woman into shooting a video I had to figure out how I was going to pay for it. Being in the web video space I had been working on production scenarios that would allow me to move fast by shooting with a Digital SLR camera and a small crew. I decided to test out that workflow by using a Canon 7D DSLR and the smallest crew I could think of, myself.

Shooting a Music Video with a Canon 7D
What was I thinking? I was the entire crew on this music video that was to be shot on a Digital SLR and I didn’t even own one. I started asking around to folks I knew that either had a Canon 5D or 7D and Derek Housman was willing to come to my rescue, he had a 7D that he would loan me for the shoot. The only problem was that his camera only had a 50mm lens and I knew that wouldn’t do the trick. I need more lenses.

Fitting Nikon Lenses on a Canon 7D
I didn’t own any Canon lenses but I did have a Nikon 500mm, a 70mm-300mm and a a 18mm-55mm lens. If only I could figure out how to fit Nikon lenes on a Canon 7D DSLR. I did a little Googling and found a Novoflex (EOS/NIK NT) Nikon lens to Canon EOS camera adaptor ring that would do the trick. I ordered the ring and borrowed the camera from Derik and then spent some time getting familiar with the camera and how to get lenses off and on the camera without dropping them. It took a little bit of practice and I had to be very careful because while I could figure out how to get the Novoflex adaptor to lock into place on the camera I couldn’t figure out how to get the lens to lock onto the adaptor. If I tried to zoom or focus to fast I would find the lens in my hand instead of on the camera. I also had a little trouble figuring out how to get the Novoflex adaptor off the camera but eventually I got the hang of that.

Casting the Music Video
I’ve spent a lot of time casting commercials, web series, short films, TV promos and other video projects and I really didn’t want to go through that process on this video that I was doing for free for an unsigned singer songwriter I had just met so I started thinking about who I imagined in the video and about the time I was doing that I was hanging out at Solar de Cahuenga. Solar is a coffee shop that serves crepes in Hollywood and it’s the de facto hangout for web video producers looking to soak up free WiFi along with a chair and table. Crepes for the Creeps. Anyway, I’m sitting there with Streamy Award Winning Writer Bernie Su and in walks actor Cameron Bender. I had cast Cameron in a Web Series I did back in 2001 and had run into him a few times in the last 10 years but had lost all trace of him but when he walked in I was like, “There’s her boyfriend.” BOOM. I didn’t ask Cameron right away cause I wanted to make sure Julia was cool with him first and thank God she was and she had ideas for the rest of the cast that I thought were perfect. The cast just came together with Lauren Mayhew playing the evil girlfriend, Robert Adamsom from ABC Family’s Lincoln Heights playing the Friend of the Boyfriend and America’s Got Talent’s Taylor Mathews playing guitar alongside Julia. Unfortunately even though he did a great job, Taylor Mathews ended up on the cutting room floor.

Finding Locations
Julia told me that she had a friend that had an apartment that we could shoot at and it was near some cafes and shops that we could steal some shots at but two days before the shoot we lost the location. As luck would have it Julia had another friend with an apartment that we could use as home base and besides having a coffee shop downstairs it also have a rooftop area with an incredible view.

The day before the shoot Julia and I scouted everything out and it looked awesome, the only thing was that her friend had a cat that was jumping up on counters all the time and I was sure that some cat hair was going to find its way in between the camera and the lens at some point.

Day of the Shoot
I got up early and hit Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods for some craft service, groceries and flowers that we would be using as props as well as food on the set to eat. Julia was at the location early and let me in to the apartment to find that not only now was there a cat in this one bedroom apartment, there was now a little yappy dog. Thankfully we weren’t shooting sound. I was getting concerned that the dog and the cat were going to fight or the dog was going to run away but I figured I’d just roll with it. It wasn’t like I had a PA on set to babysit the animals and we were getting the location for free. Then Robert show up with his dog or should I say his puppy. This White Lab was medium size but he was all puppy. He liked to bark, he liked to chew, he like to chase the cat. I was sure we were going down in flames now.

Julia saw the puppy and thought it would be a great idea if in her running scene when she runs into the “Friend” who spills the beans that he could be walking the dog. I thought great because I knew that if we left that puppy in the apartment with the little dog and the cat we were going to be missing something when we got back.

We headed out into the neighborhood with the 7D and a GlideCam HD 2000 that I had never used before. The Glidecam can get some super cool shots but you have to know how to balance it and use it. I knew neither. Fortunately for me I was able to watch some YouTube videos on how to balance a Glidecam and within a few minutes I didn’t suck at using it but it did eat up a lot of time on the first shot and because a Canon 7D is really light it’s also really hard to balance on a GlideCam. – More practice before hand next time. I only used a quick GlideCam shot in the “Spill the Beans” scene.

No Cell Service
The in the neighborhood that we had found for the “Spill the Beans” scene didn’t have any mobile phone bars so and I didn’t have a PA back at the apartment so our lead actor Cameron was waiting and calling and calling and waiting till we walked a block back and met him at the security door of the building. Standing there with all his wardrobe Cameron was cool about us being late – he’d been on many a shoot both as an actor and as crew so he knew the drill and was awesome.

Dogs and Cats
Back upstairs in the apartment I was looking at Cameron’s and Julia’s wardrobe and the dogs and the cat were giving each other more attention than I needed them to. I was ready for Robert’s dog to leave but we still had one more scene to shoot with Robert down at the coffee shop and we weren’t pulling any permits to be there so we needed to plain out what was going to happen and just go shoot it quickly and get out. So that’s what we did.

Stealing the Shot
I sent Cameron and Julia down ahead of me to find a place to sit and have their little argument with him trying to explain why things were complicated and then I would just show up and shoot them from another table. When I got down there Lauren had shown up and was hanging out with them and the table they had picked wasn’t good for lighting at that point so we had to play musical chairs with out being noticed but since I had the camera in a LowePro Backpack no one knew we were doing anything other than switching seats. Once I had everyone where I wanted them I took out 7D Camera and popped the 70mm to 300mm lens on it, put my backpack on the table and set the camera on the backpack . This was going to be quick. Rob and Lauren hung with me till I need Rob in the scene and I just gave a nod to Cameron and Julia and they did the scene a few times then we did a slight wardrobe change and I had Rob walk in the shot for a scene we ended up not using. We were in and out of the coffee shop in 10 minutes, not lights, no tripod, no trouble and no permit. The way life should be. It’s a free country, right?

Last Minute Casting
Back upstairs in the apartment Lauren was already in her bright pink dress and when she picked up the little Yorkie we knew it was a match made in heaven. Another dog was cast on the spot and we could now let Rob and his White Labrador Retriever go home. They were wrapped.

Not Enough Cards
At this point I had shot a lot of footage and had been downloading it from the Canon 7D to my MacBook Pro but it was taking a lot of time. Julia had a wardrobe change and needed sometime to do her own makeup so it wasn’t too bad but I only had one 4GB Flash card and shooting on the 7D made it fill up fast. I needed another card but I didn’t have a PA to send out to buy it. I downloaded the card I was using as fast as I could and we headed out to shoot the Girlfriend giving Cameron a hard time as he unloaded groceries.

We Don’t Need No Stinking Permits
The next location was in front of a nearby apartment building where Lauren had just happened to park so we used her SUV and threw a few grocery bags in it. I popped a Nikon 70mm-300 lens on the camera and went across the street to shoot and establishing shot of Cameron unloading groceries while Lauren bitched at him then put a 500mm Nikon Lens on for some close ups. At that point I noticed the lighting was great inside the hallway of an apartment building so we had Lauren and Cameron just kind of make their way into the alcove of the joint and do a little improve. I ran across the street, switch back to the Nikon Zoom and popped off the reverse shots as fast as I could and was back on the sidewalk in seconds to shoot Julia’s reverse “Stalker” shots by the dumpster as fast as I could. Next we did a few close ups of Lauren and the “Happy” photos of Lauren and Camera and we were done. Another “No Permit” location shot in less than 15 minutes.

Flash Cards Don’t Grow on Trees
The Canon 7D’s 4GB Flash Card was full again and I hooked up the camera via USB cable to my MacBook Pro again. Not only did I need another Flash card, I needed a flash card reader and a PA to do this so I could be shooting or planning out the next shot. I had a lot to shoot and it was already lunchtime but I was downloading video to my computer and my camera was tied up doing it. It was at that point that Cameron volunteered to go to a store and buy me an extra card. Julia’s friend Taylor showed up and was waiting downstairs and Julia wanted me to shoot him and her playing together as if she had left Cameron for Taylor. Now Taylor is a good looking kid but he doesn’t have the Older Man look that Cameron had and I couldn’t see Julia’s character leaving Cameron for Taylor even if he did have a girlfriend but I was willing to shoot the scene anyway. While we were looking for a location Cameron drove across the street to buy a Flash Card. When he got there they didn’t have any and he had to drive farther to Samy’s Camera to get one but he did get one. I think I might still owe him money cause Samy’s was more than the internet price I had spotted. Anyway, next time, more cards, a card reader and an assistant.

Location Scouting During the Shoot
I don’t recommend looking for locations on your shoot day but sometimes it works out. I wanted to do a romantic walk on the beach with Julia and Cameron but we were way behind schedule and I’m now looking for a location that I hadn’t really planned on. Julia spotted a median in the middle of a very busy Fairfax Blvd and wanted to set up her Keyboard there and play with Taylor. I thought it was a really cool shot but it wasn’t lit right and most of all it was really dangerous. I turned around to look back at the apartment building and that’s when I saw some really cool light bouncing off the building and up against a fence. I looked at Julia and said, “That’s the spot.” All of her gorgeous long lens close ups of her signing the song were shot at the same time that we shot he singing with Taylor. (The guy who got cut out). If I had fought Julia on shooting Taylor (more than I did) I never would have got the great shot with the Caution Sign behind her. We also had some guys walk through the shot at the same time she was singing about being single. – I loved it.

Earlier in the day while we were shooting the Girlfriend Grocery Scene a hipster accordion player was walking by and Julia got his phone number and called him to join her and Taylor for the singing part of the video. It looked really cool but didn’t make sense because Taylor was playing guitar and there was no guitar or accordion in the music of the song Girlfriend. They stayed in several versions of the cut but eventually Julia thought we should take em out. Maybe we’ll do a cut with em back in some day. I went upstairs to download the Flash card and while I did security was all over Julia and Taylor. So much so that we had to shut down it down. I was worried they would come to the apartment next but we had no lights and no crew so what could they really do. I mean it’s one thing when you have a Girl Playing a Keyboard next to a busy driveway but in a private apartment what could they say. I was however worried about the rooftop location. Would security shut us down before we got the shot?

After the singing scene I wanted to shoot romantic rooftop stuff but the lighting wasn’t right yet so we shot the breakfast in bed scene and some late night TV watching scenes that just didn’t work and never made it into the cut. We also did lock off shots of Julia slamming the door and I was worried that security would bust us on that but we never saw them.

Keep a low Profile
Once we were done with the door slamming we went up on the rooftop where there were some people who lived in the building enjoying the space but they were pretty cool. I walked around the deck a few times told Cameron to move a few chairs and a table and to start making out with Julia. He went to work right away and within five minutes they were done dancing and necking and the three of us were in the elevator heading downstairs.

More Romance
I wanted more romantic shots or Cameron and Julia but we were too hot at our current location so we decided to go to The Grove and see if we could pop off a shot of them hand in hand on a first date walking out of a movie theater or something. Bad Idea. We got there and got two quick shots with no tripod but security was watching us as we walked to find another location. Eventually we just left and went to the Farmer’s Market where we had dinner and called it a wrap.

All in all I would do a one man crew shoot again if I had a stack of flash cards, a card reader and a safe place to setup my MacBook Pro and keep the downloads working. Although I do think I would much prefer to have an assistant handle all the Flash card or whatever new memory is available next week so that I could just focus on the creative. Also, I was pretty sore the next day.

At a Beyond YouTube Tubefilter MeetUp in Hollywood at Busby’s East the other night I had a chance to interview Dane Boedigheimer @daneboe the creator and genius behind the top rated YouTube video series The Annoying Orange.

Dane spoke with me about how he got started creating talking food videos, his love of making videos and what goes into creating great characters.

The Financial Times is moving it’s App to it’s own website with a Web App for Tablets and Smartphones and won’t be giving 30% of it’s subscription fee to Apple. Will it work? Will other follow suit?

What do you think?

Whether you are a comedian, a filmmaker, a musician or a candlestick maker you can use YouTube to emotionally engage an audience, build a brand and drive them back to your website where you can sell them T-Shirts, Candles, Concert Tickets or all of the above. Such is the case of Pomplamoose ( I’ve not seen them selling candles, yet.) the two person band of Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn who use the big YT to the tune of millions of views per music video they post. Each video is full of spectacle and you have to wonder about the story behind the making of it.

I stumbled across this John Lewis TV spot today and it sucked me in with it’s spectacle, story and multiple emotions so I thought I would share.

I’ve spent most of the morning playing with Google’s new Gmail Motion and I love it. The above demo video is awesome.

I ran into the Co-Founder and CEO of BlogWorld Expo at SXSW and asked him why he was there.

Uppercut from California is a place. on Vimeo.

“In Silicon Valley we have the highest concentration of aggressive people in the United Sates. And it’s a place where all life has been reduced to working in a cubicle and then after work going out to have a Merlot at the Fromage bar. I’m kind of looking for something a little more primitive, a little more basic, something that appeals to the essential nature of a man.”

– Gints K., Software Engineer & Founder, Gentlemen’s Fight Club

A film by Drea Cooper & Zackary Canepari

Unfortunately having a great idea and a solid script is no longer enough to sell a concept. The Bannen Way Producer / Actor Mark Gantt talks about pitching today and what you need.