When you’re filming a music video titled “Moody” it only makes sense to come to the content creators who specialize in creating deeply seductive and intimate video productions.
We filmed this entire music video at our studio headquarters in downtown Fort Lauderdale. With some clever lighting applications, we achieved these intoxicating hues that sway between dark and brooding to bright and empowered. After filming, our audio engineers mastered the vocals and instrumentals then placed them on a timeline so the highs and lows of the soundtrack matched perfectly with the lighting.
The final product turned out amazing! The clarity of the vocals is off the charts and the vibrancy of the video footage gives Laudz this air of intoxicating superiority. She’s desirable from start to finish and again on repeat.
Monster Music is one of the leading sound and music engineers in the industry. Their history dates back 38 years. The legacies of household names, like Beats by Dre, begins with Monster as the key design, manufacturing, and distribution partner.
The advanced quality of their engineering disrupted the music market in incredible ways. Before the introduction of the first Beats, very few people were willing to pay upwards of $300 for a pair of headphones. Today, that is the standard, and consumers are willing to make the investment.
Monster Music, in collaboration with Roc Nation, hired us to conceptualize and produce a video marketing series promoting their new line of headphones and speakers.
The Sound of Champions accomplishes two functions:
To meet the standards of Monster Music, Roc Nation, and their consumer base, we chose to create athletic showcases featuring star athletes in boxing and basketball.
The athletes are, ultimately, the centerpiece of our series, however, subliminally attached to their character is the presence of Monster Music marketing. This soft-sell elevates the series, creating a Nike-Esque marketing scheme in which consumers identify with the character and the sensation of using their products more-so than the product itself.
Featured in the video above is Luis Arias, an American professional boxer currently at work with Mayweather Productions. On the right is another professional boxer, Guillermo Rigondeaux Ortiz, a Cuban professional boxer and two-weight world champion in the bantamweight and super-bantamweight divisions. The video below features former NBA star, Charlie Villanueva, a New York-born star of Dominican heritage with over a decade of actively playing in the NBA.
Each narrative is a chapter in a larger story. They are effective when viewed individually but are significantly more powerful when viewed as a whole. The message is simple: inspiration comes in many forms but determination often looks the same. Determination is a struggle — it’s blood, sweat, and tears. It’s taking the difficult road and facing each challenge head-on. Regardless of the path you take to find success, you need to create your own soundtrack. That is Monster Music way.
Also known as the OC Fella, Sammy C was first discovered on season 5 of NBC’s “The Voice.” Sammy is a budding rapper, singer, and lyricist from Southern California currently building a name in the national local music scene.
Sammy focuses on inspiring others using a positive message with every rhyme he drops. He is slowly becoming a voice for anti-bullying as well as for the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, a condition with which he was diagnosed at a very young age.
The first video is the official “OC Fella” music video for his first hit single. The second video is part of a small acoustic set we shot at our LA loft of Sammy performing his soon-to-drop single “Bump That.
The second video is for his single “OC Fella.” We decided to go big in this video. Aerial shots, lovely ladies, beautiful beaches, and cars you’ve only dreamed of driving; All the things Southern California is notorious for.
Make sure to follow Sammy on Instagram, twitter, and keep an eye out for his future releases on iTunes.
Amanda Felix is a rising star who is introducing a new style of music to the Christian genre. Though she stays true to her country roots above all else, her musical approach is a showcase of dance, pop, and hip-hop. Her collective, all-encompassing nature creates a rewarding sound, which is most evident in her latest single “You’ll Find Your Way.”
“You’ll Find Your Way” is an uplifting track about the tribulations and triumphs we all face during our journey in life. Felix’s lyrics are undoubtedly a reflection of her own struggles and victories. During early adulthood, Felix toiled with her own demons, falling victim to abusive relationships and alcohol abuse, before finding God.
In a recent interview, Felix said, “‘You’ll Find Your Way’ expresses all of what I wanted someone to say to me when I was in a dark place. I needed to hear God’s voice to save me. I wanted to start with this song because it is just the right encouragement to not give up and know that God will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Violinist Kevin Sylvester (Kev Marcus) and violist Wilner Baptiste (Wil B) use their talents to reach beyond the stage. Their art, music, and activism benefit young students across the U.S., advocating freedom of expression, pride, identity, and unity.
We first worked with Black Violin when collaborating with the Kennedy Center on their Turnaround Arts Program. Our perspectives on society and our vision for the future were similar and, ultimately, became the building blocks to our relationship. So, when Kev and Wil asked us to conceptualize and produce a few music videos for their new album Take the Stairs, we were all in!
When brainstorming this music video, we toyed around with a few concepts before writing this script and moving into production. Some of the other concepts are what you’d expect… there were the ideas in a concert hall with Wil, Kev, and a ballerina (overdone), the radical “no-care-in-the-world” concepts that you’d expect from Kanye and Jay-Z, and the uplifting wanderlust ideas of people living their out their best life. But none of these seemed right to us. No, we wanted to tell a real story — something that was genuine, true, and would fully capture the essence Black Violin’s beautiful song.
The chorus, “show the world the impossible is possible” kept ringing in our minds. It stuck with us. It begged the question, what is impossible… what’s possible?
Now, this holds a lot of different meanings to a lot of different people. Naturally, what’s achievable for some and hard to come by for others is decided early on, literally at the time of birth. Yes, the circumstances we are born into can surely dictate what we are capable of achieving. This idea of opportunity is what we gravitated towards and what we chose to articulate in this video.
It’s an important theme and more relevant than ever. As the super rich continue to accumulate wealth and deepen the inequality gap that separates the haves from the have-nots, the opportunities afforded to everyday people will continue to shrink until even the slightest success seems like an impossible feat.
With this in mind, we told the story of a young boy born into poverty, who pursues his dreams despite the odds and excels in life because of the beautiful support network he was blessed with. His mother and father sacrifice everything to provide him with a better life. And what’s important is that he sees their sacrifices and turns this into success, He make the impossible possible; he changes his stars.
‘One Step’ is the headline track for Black Violin’s new album, Take The Stairs, which released November 1st, 2019. When we first listened to the single, we immediately felt a connection to the song and the message therein. We knew that we wanted to create a music video that was equally powerful. To do that, we had to stoke controversy and take a stance. Black Violin’s song is an anthem. The video we produced together is a war cry.
When we look at the state of America today, it’s impossible to avoid scenes and stories of violence and oppression. Yet, despite these disturbing circumstances, most of us are able to ignore them and carry on with our lives. Society has tuned out. We’ve grown accustomed to seeing and consuming aggression on a daily basis. It has lost is affect. What were once conflicts that would inspire progressive action have become entertainment components wielded by the news media. This digression is being passed from one generation to the next. That is how we are stepping into the future. And we fear for our kids and their kids (should humanity even survive that long).
Understand that we, nor Black Violin, are making a political stance. We are spotlighting reality. That may disturb some people. It may anger others. But the truth is a hard pill to swallow, and that truth is that most people don’t care to stand up against oppression anymore because they are complacent. And god forbid we risk our comfort. The world we live in today is not a safe place for our children. That is the message. If we are going to step into the future to create a brigher tomorrow then we must address these issues hurting us today. And in doing so, we must identify them and talk about them first. That is what this video is about.
There was no way we could have captured the essence of this event with just still photos. The production needed to be emotional and cinematic in order for us to showcase the real impact Black Violin had at Walker Elementary.
Our production crew covered every aspect of the event. It was important for us to capture every aspect of Black Violin’s involvement with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and how they served as an inspiration to the students at Walker Elementary.
The visuals are an important part of our storytelling process. In order to show the whole story and bring out all aspects, we interviewed the organizers as well as Will and Kev. We also had individual conversations with them so that every part could be captured accurately. All the visuals came together in post-production. During the editing process, we added in the background dialogue and went back through the video in fine-detail to perfect every pixel in each frame. We took our time to make sure that all the visuals came together and that the overall story was clear and engaging. Our film editing services are meticulous, but worth it to create a high-quality finished product.
We had less than two weeks to find talent and secure locations and permits in Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale. One of the leading settings in “One Step” is the rooftop sequence featuring Will and Kev. They’re overlooking downtown Los Angeles, using the rooftop as a platform to address the world. To make these scenes possible, we had to figure out a way to get a grand piano on a roof! As you can see, we got the job done.
The equipment we used (mainly when shooting on the rooftop) also made a great impact on the quality of the video. We used the Orion anamorphic lens for these scenes. Whereas some lenses flare red, the Orion lens flares blue, which really played to color palette we developed. Similarly, these blue sun flares add to the message communicated in the lyrics, adding a somewhat heavenly voice to the language.
One of the best parts of working with RED Digital Cinema cameras is the quality of the frame grabs. No other camera in the industry can generate such crisp, flawless stills. One of our favorite cameras in our arsenal is the 8k RED Monstro VV. It’s capable of pulling 8k stills at over 60 frames per second. These screen grabs are a result of RED’s masterwork engineering.
Check out Dailies 0056 for BTS of the production!
We are a turnkey agency, in that we take each project from concept to delivery. Because of this, we house a full creative suite of editing and post-production software. One of our most powerful editing software, which we used to put the final touches on Black Violin’s “One Step” music video, is DaVinci Resolve. This is the best color correction and non-linear video editing application for macOS by Blackmagic Design.
Since editing is one of the most critical steps in our process, nothing is overlooked. DaVinci Resolve helps us zone-in on key points of interest to create maximum clarity and outstanding color harmony. In this phase, we take all the footage, audio, and additional assets and lay them on a timeline to arrange the absolute best narrative flow. This process is extremely time-consuming. According to the industry standard, every minute of shooting translates to an hour of editing, which makes sense since this is where true storytelling comes together.
After editing, the project moves to color correction and audio mixing. This is where we balance the footage for proper exposure and grade the footage to give it a look that improves the overall story. Audio mixing is similar to video editing. While video editing pertains to video only, audio mixing has to take all of the audio sources and blend them to broadcast quality sound. All of this is done by our very strong and talented post-production team, who work around the clock to meet our client’s deadlines.
From the very first time we worked with Sabela, we knew she had an affinity for the spotlight. Her mannerisms are effortelss when placed in front of the camera. And her personality is nothing less than captivating. Everything we’ve produced with her is supercharged with charisma and glamour. She possesses this rare sense of authenticity and mysticism that makes you want to get to know her on a deeper level.
In addition to being a stellar performer, Sabela is a beautiful and talented model. She’s relaxed on camera, which is intoxicating to the viewer. For her model reel, we invited her to the studio to film a short, seductive video to a musical soundtrack. It was all on a whim. We asked her to bring a beautiful outfit, handed her a cigar and watched the magic come to life.
We first worked with Sabela in the filming of her music vide “Love Jones,” one of her breakout singles (shown above). “Love Jones” has an upbeat, pop music vibe with notes of longing, romance, and desire. The official music video captures these emotions by showing Sabela’s various intoxicating personalities. Following the successful release of the “Love Jones” music video, we invited Sabela to perform live in our studio at the FATVillage monthly artwalk.
We wanted to inject new meaning into Sabela’s song. With her artistic guidance, we repainted the atmosphere, using lighting, visuals, and authenticity to manipulate the way the song is perceived. The live performance equips “Love Jones” with a new sensation. It blends provocation with artistry, creating a sensual experience that the audience was able to vibe with.
Kids is a six-piece American Indie-rock band formed in 2012 by Josiah Sampson (guitar), Joshua Diaz (lead vocals, bass), Matthew Barrios (drums) and Christian Gonzalez (guitar). Kids is licensed by C&I Studios and Hard Rock Energy, who featured “The Standoff” from Rich Coast and guitarist, Josiah Sampson, in their debut commercial.
Kids released their debut EP Sink or Swim in 2013 and quickly established themselves as local heroes in South Florida before securing fame nationwide. Kids’ thrilling performance at Florida’s Coastline Music Festival, where they shared the stage with St. Lucia, Surfer Blood, The Neighbourhood, and indie-icons Passion Pit, Matt & Kim, and Capital Cities, started a new chapter in the musical career.
The following video (featured left) is a live recording we shot in our recording studio in Fort Lauderdale, known locally as The Barn. The setting shows the soul that keeps the band together, as well as providing great insight into the recording process and the band members’ skills as musical performers.
Kids are not just musicians, they’re storytellers. We wanted to give their second album, Rich Coast, the debut it deserved, so we created the following video series to tease the release.
Each video is a glimpse inside the album and the artists’ inspirations for writing it. It is a blending of their literal and spiritual journey — the sacrifices they made and their reason for making them. The series is about abandoning conventional living in pursuit of something greater. It’s about being lost and being found; of knowing your place and knowing when to move on. It’s about solitude and the lessons we can learn from being alone.
Our video series received great success. Each week, thousands of viewers tuned in for the next chapter of the saga. Each teaser was paired with a musical soundpiece from Rich Coast. The combination excited Kids’ audience. It allowed them to embrace their music in unique ways, which led to a successful album release.
When working with Kids, each production injects the song and the purpose of their performance with new meaning. They are such a colorful, vibrant and expressive band. Their lyrics contain unheard messages and their instrumental evoke uplifting, energized feelings. Their ability to bend emotion and understanding like this make them an incredibly fun band to work with. So much so, that we filmed two music videos for Kids’ single “Second Star on the Right.”
The artistic version of “Second Star on the Right” shows what inspires Kids’ music. Their lyrics lean on fairytales, such as Peter Pan. We used similar elements to drive this story. For instance, the attic setting, and peering into (or rather inviting) an unknown world into one’s reality, is a play on Jumanji. Using popular culture, such as this, created the framework for this story and those shown below. It was really amazing to see how the same song impacts the listener differently when the setting and context changes.
The following photos were captured at For The Love Music Festival, hosted by us in Fort Lauderdale. You can see more from the artists headlining For The Love here.
Dri Tie sought out C&I Studios to create a marketing campaign that expressed their mission of creating comfortable, stylish, and functional headscarves that keep hair dry when spending any amount of time in the water. We made this happen by filming a group of women of all ages enjoying a nice day at the beach. By shooting the ladies in a setting that typically requires being in water at any given time, we were able to communicate to their customers that the Dri Tie functions to keep their hair dry and is also a stylish fashion accessory.
We delivered the revitalized HauteHouse brands to consumers through a series of digital marketing initiatives. This focused strongly on email marketing, which we used to drive consumers to landing pages where they could directly make a purchase, as well as landing pages featuring collateral HauteHouse promotions, like Glossy Box.
