Makson - Insomnia

I was attracted to this video in a number of ways. I particularly liked how well the editor selected the shots and how the effects were matched to each piece of footage. The kaleidoscope/mirrored effect gave the video another interesting difference without over using these effects. The symmetry at the beginning of the video combined with the extreme slow motion looked sleek and gave a feeling of calm. The fades to black and slow motion use was great, and split how the edit shifted in speed. The music plays a large part in the creation of the video's mood and is matched subtly to the effects. I enjoyed how the grading had been pushed to the ‘Nashville look,’ but it included a little more contrast and vibrancy than other videos that I have seen which use this type of grading.  In the second half of the video, the spectrum jumps to a raspberry and dark plum colour scheme which is in contrast to the first half. This looks really smooth on the eye and compliments the sun soaked footage.

More links to the artist here:
http://www.facebook.com/makson.electronica
http://soundcloud.com/makson-electronica
http://vkontakte.ru/makson.electronica
http://www.myspace.com/djmakson

Knxwledge - Hayrow

This is a video I watched on Youtube. The opening of the video gives the viewer a glance into the skateboarder’s life. The footage possesses a great style and energy in vintage quality that was typical of the 90s film tape cameras. I found out after some research that the film is called ‘The Skateboard Kid’ made in 1993. It was filmed on a very low budget which would have contributed to this vintage look.

 The music really encapsulates the attitude of the skateboarders and even more so of the time. By shooting underneath and intimately interacting with where the skateboard is in motion, the video exhibits the carefree attitudes of them by keeping low and smooth with each shot. I really like how the slow motion footage was cut into the music video by using only small snippets with normal speed footage.

There is constant movement in this video at all times, whether it is the camera following the skateboarders along the pavement, along side them as they swerve in and out of danger, or track them from the side as they make their way through an old car impound.

 Because it was filmed in the 90s but with modern music there is a ‘hark back quality’ to the video that the music suggests to the images; a kind of melancholy energy that you would only otherwise get from reminiscing over an old photo album of your child hood.