Rapsody
Birmingham Freedom Fest
Grammy-nominated Rapsody is an American rapper from Snow Hill, NC. Rapsody has worked with the likes of J. Cole, Stevie Wonder, Kendrick Lamar, Busta Rhymes, John Legend, as well as several others.
Three Days, One Take,
No Problem
When we were approached to film a virtual performance for Rapsody, we knew right away we wanted to do it. After hopping on the phone, we learned that we had 3 days to plan, shoot, edit, and deliver a 30-minute virtual performance for the Birmingham Freedom Fest. A tall order for sure. But, challenge accepted.
Rapsody wanted a look reminiscent of LL Cool Jay’s video for “Mama Said Knock You Out.” So after we hopped off the phone, we started looking for boxing gyms to film in.
Once the location was locked in, we decided on filming between the heavy bags rather than in the ring. This allowed us more angles to film, provided interesting depth, and gave us the perfect setting for the shoot.
THE SHOOT
Load-in and set up took about 4 hours. We knew we only had one take, so we made sure we had the performance covered from every angle. Pat operated the Camera A on an easy rig, Teddy had Camera B on a shoulder mount, and Mike operated Camera C from the Dana Dolly. The cameras rolled, the music started, and after 1 take we broke everything down and packed up.
THE EDIT
With less than a day to turn this around, we took the footage straight to the editing suite, stitching the tape from three cameras together. After 8 hours or editing, the final video was complete.
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