Hype Reel for DJ Eleos
On September 30th, 2023, I had the opportunity to create a hype reel for a local DJ (https://www.instagram.com/djeleos). It was our first time working together, but Eleos is such a joy to be around that any “new client” awkwardness was quickly forgotten. Going into the gig, we had both agreed to a few details:
1) We wanted a minimum of 30 seconds of finished footage
2) I was only asked to record for 2 hours
3) Eleos wanted the Cars and Coffee event he was performing at showcased alongside footage of himself.
4) Price and Delivery format, location, and dates. Always secure these details in writing before shooting.
How Was This Shot?
We weren’t sure at this point what the final song selection would be, which would greatly impact the vibe of the finished project. I had to make sure that I captured as much footage as possible of Eleos performing his set, which was fantastic, and the crowds and beautiful cars on display. It isn’t difficult to find an attractive shot when your subject matter is perfectly restored vintage American muscle cars. Being something of an oddball in the field, I usually veer towards longer focal lengths rather than shorter. I attached my Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 lens to my Canon R6 Mark II (review coming soon). For some extra seasoning, I tend to ignore typical advice and indulge myself with fun filters. For this particular shoot the Moment Cinebloom 10% and Moment Cineflare Blue were used. Both 82mm, stepped down to each lenses filter size. I mounted this entire rig to my DJI RS3 gimbal and quickly got to work.
I had settled on a few parameters for this shoot, the most important being my frame rate of 120fps in 1080p resolution, in C-LOG3. While 180fps is possible with the R6II, I didn’t feel it was necessary. I needed to find a balance between frame rate and storage after all. I wanted the final video to have an ebb and flow, a rise and fall. The opening called for slow and thoughtful footage. As Eleos was arranging his station, I grabbed as much footage of him setting up coupled with as many shots of the vehicles as they pulled into the lot as possible. Supras, GT-Rs, Mustangs, Camaros, and nearly any other car you can imagine was captured at some point during the event. The venue was Ala Moana, in Honolulu, Hawaii, leaving us with plenty of space to pack in as many vehicles as desired. Eleos’ set was broken into multiple parts, with the announcer and host of the event speaking in between sections. This left me ample opportunity to not only showcase the event runners, but the highly engaged crowd of enthusiasts as well. While editing, I found many of these shots to be some of my favorites of the day.
In an attempt to not disrupt his performance, I gave Eleos quite a bit of space throughout the day. The 85mm gave me enough reach to remain at least mildly discrete. Parked next to Eleos was his gorgeous GT-R which would be heavily showcased in the reel. Spoiler alert: it is the opening shot. After 2-3 hours of capturing crowd reactions, vehicles on display, and enough footage of Eleos from afar to make a small film, I switched to my Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art lens to get right into the action. Suspecting that I would want the latter half of the reel to really increase the energy level, I wanted fast, close, and high energy footage to close the day. Eleos is a natural on camera, quickly slipping from his more casual self to his bombastic on-stage persona. We spent the last 30 minutes grabbing some of my favorite shots from the day. These are heavily showcased in the second half of the final product. I wrapped the shoot, fairly soaked in sweat and far too caffeinated, then grabbed a quick lunch with my friend and fellow photographer Derek Zuniga ( https://www.instagram.com/zuns_and_zooms_photography/ )
Post Production Lessons
The song we settled on was WHERE SHE GOES by Bad Bunny. Editing took roughly 4-5 hours, as I condensed 3.5 hours of footage down to 50 seconds. This definitely encouraged my recent decision to make a few upgrades to my main workstation PC. This much slo-mo footage was pushing my hardware to the limit! With hindsight being 20/20, I could have saved myself quite a bit of trouble by being a bit more selective of when I pressed record. That said, several shots used in the final product were spur of the moment snippets; captured with zero planning and nearly zero notice. Knowing this, would I intentionally capture less footage? Probably not. I would bring along another pair of 128gb SD cards though. I did find myself increasingly concerned about storage space by the end of the shoot. Fortunately, I brought my laptop and moved over all footage from the first half while we took a quick coffee break during event announcements. I need to be more mindful of the Cineflares orientation. Crooked “anamorphic” streaks aren’t worth very much. For outdoor gigs, I need to find a better balance between looking my best, and feeling comfortable under the Hawaii sun. Bringing at least one zoom lens would be ideal. The Canon EF 100-400mm is something I’ve been eyeing for a while. This venue presented multiple opportunities to creatively use this focal length. Finally, while I always carry 2 batteries, a third will be required if I do a shoot this size in 4k. I recently did a casual shoot as a creative challenge for some local disc golfers that made this apparent. I’ll post about that soon.
The final video is showcased below, from DJ Eleos’ instagram. While I’m very pleased with the finished result, I learned quite a few valuable lessons from this shoot. I look forward to the next video assignment as a chance to put these lessons to work.