BTS on the Keith Urban “Act of Valor” Music Video
When director Scott Waugh called me to shoot the video for the Act of Valor credit crawl song “For You” by Keith Urban, I was excited to have the opportunity to get the whole Elite Team back together. It was equally exciting to hear Keith Urban’s amazing song, which supported the story perfectly.
Adapting Act of Valor for a Music Video
The concept was to shoot Keith Urban and his band on the same dry lakebed that the Navy SEALs used for recon during the film. This would be the start of intercutting Act of Valor footage with Keith Urban’s performance. When Scotty and I discussed the look and feel of the video, we immediately looked at each other and said, “anamorphic on mixed platforms.”
The Canon C300 had just come out, and we wanted to use this tool in Man Cam mode to resemble the shooting style of the film, as well as the Arri Alexa with C series Anamorphics. We thought it was timely that we started with the infancy of the Canon 5D on Act of Valor, and now we were embarking on a new journey with the infancy of the C300.
This project also gave us the opportunity to launch our new production arm at Hurlbut Visuals with behind-the-scenes of what it takes to shoot 6 different platforms in a 10-hour day and have them intercut seamlessly.
On a side note, I want to personally thank you for all of the comments in support of this movie. The Elite Team and I are touched by the overwhelmingly positive response.
BTS video credits:
- Produced and directed by Julien Lasseur
- Edited by Vashi Nedomansky
- Camera Operators – Nick Kramer, Julien Lasseur
- Sound – Brad Flick, Gene Martin
- Original Music – Vashi Nedomansky
- Stills – Doug Leigh
- Produced by Hurlbut Visuals
- Special Thanks to Jacob Rosenberg
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About Filmmakers Academy Cinematographer Mentor Shane Hurlbut, ASC
Director of photography Shane Hurlbut, ASC works at the forefront of cinema. He’s a storyteller, innovator, and discerning collaborator, who brings more than three decades of experience to his art. He is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers, the International Cinematographers Guild/Local 600, and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Hurlbut frequently joins forces with great directors: McG’s Netflix Rim of the World and The Babysitter, plus Warner Bros. We Are Marshall and Terminator: Salvation; Scott Waugh’s Need for Speed and Act of Valor; and Gabriele Muccino’s There Is No Place Like Home and Fathers and Daughters. His additional film credits include Semi-Pro; The Greatest Game Ever Played; Into the Blue; Mr 3000; Drumline; 11:14, which earned Hurlbut a DVDX nomination; and The Skulls. Notably, his television credits include the first season of AMC’s Into the Badlands.
Nice work. Liked the song also. Love the shot with the explosion behind the performers.
N.K.Osborne, thank you so much for your kind words of support
“Not available in your country”… But loved the BTS!
M. Jovanovic, the video is not released until the film is released in your country. It gives away the ending to some extent
Really cool bts the clip of the cam ops walking in on the band looked like they were moving in on a target. Great work as always, the camera platforms you shot with, was there a long process of matching the different codecs? I’ve only done avchd and h.264. Keep it up guys.
Don Hankins, thanks for the kind words of support. No problem at all. The C300 had some weird blue in the shadows that was a little hard to get rid of, but other than that it all worked great.
Really great to see the evolution you guys went from the 5D to the c300. Hope to see what you guys will be doing with the Mark III :) -or the next EOS cinema DSLR.
Ted Ramasola, this whole DSLR world is just getting warmed up. Looking to hold on.
Nice shoot Shane! Was it all natural light on the bands faces? I didn’t see any fixtures.
Matt Harris, yes all right place right time. I used a 1200 par at night to light the guitar strings for the opening shots
Hi Shane
I love the look of the Alexa and the C300 together. What lenses did you use on the Alexa and the C300?
Best,
Mike
Mike Edwards, I did too. Panavision
Absolutely awesome! “No musicians were harmed in the making of this music video, although their lives may have been in danger.”
Jeremiah Gonda, LOL, yes and no live fired used this time. Keith was lucky
The first music video does not allow for my country …
” The uploader has not made this video available in your country. ”
I hope if you got more deep in BTS …
Moh., the video is not released until the film is released in your country. It gives away the ending.
Hi Shane,
Great fan of your work and tenacity! I was curious what playback/monitoring setup you used when Keith Urban was reviewing a shot in the Pelican case.
Thank you for all that you do,
Aaron
Aaron Almquist, thank you so much for the kind words. That Pelican set up was the Copter Kids monitor system that they use to operate their RC helicopter. We were looking at the explosions from their perspective.
Hi Shane,
Sadly the video is unavailable to watch in the UK but the BTS looked like an absolute riot. Great to see all these platforms coming together!
Oli.
Oli Kember, Hi my friend, it was great meeting you in LA, and it was as we were prepping this specific job.
I’m digging the mixed sensors work. And, all of my favorite camera bodies w/ the C300, Alexa and 5D together. Even more so, it’s a relatively simple video, even with the explosions kicking off the chorus.
Very nice man!
Hi !
Here is a little video we just did showing the 7D fighting against the C300! Feel free to use it in your blog and share it !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoBADOYLXO0
Thanks!
What are your favorite Anamorphic sets? How do you feel Hawk’s compare to Panavsion glass?
Jon Chema, No comparison, Panavision blows the Hawks away. Flares, contrast.
I am simply a country music fan. Although I love the music and videos, I always watch videos from the perspective of a director (which of course I am not…maybe in my next life). I pick apart what I think works and what doesn’t. I will say that this is the first video I have ever seen that I am in complete awe of. Everything works brilliantly together. The camera work, editing, design, energy…all of it is incredible. Well well done!!!
Thanks so much for the kind words and support Deanna
I love the comment about bringing “passion” to the shoot. I teach video production and photography to high school students and when recruiting we’re advised to choose applicants based on past grades. And while that’s important, if the student doesn’t have a passion for this industry, doesn’t have the “I do this because I have to” attitude, then past grades don’t necessarily mean much.
In fact, many of my graduates regroup and we shoot together during sumer months because “we have to.”
John Jones. I definitely agree. Thanks for the comment and support.
Hello shane,
I am from Bangladesh and I am your huge fan specially when I watched “Act of valor”.I watched “Act of valor” so many times and every time I just wondered that how can it possible to make a movie with canon 5d ii .Thats why I bought canon 5d ii with 50mm f1.4 & 70-200 f2.8 is II,but now I see something is very difficult specially when I want to shoot slow motion video because 5d ii have only 60 fps.
Can you just tell me please,Is there any solution ?
Just an amazing video and an amazing song. The bombs in the background and the timing of the music was very moving. Added just that special touch to the entire video and the message behind it.
Dawn Todd, thank you for the kind words and support.