'Aint No Other Man' music video

[Shawn Nelson]

Most music videos suck. But I found a new one that surprisingly, really impressed me with its cinematography and so I'm wondering who DP'd it. The video is 'Aint No Other Man' by Christina Aguilera. Yeah yeah, I never thought I'd be giving kudos on cine work to a Christina A video, but don't knock it until you see it. ($1.99 on iTunes or a lesser quality free on YouTube).

I just love the neo-noir look. I'd love to shoot a whole feature in this style!

[Tonaci Tran]

Hi Shawn,
According to this it is Jonathon Sela.

http://www.videostatic.com/vs/2006/week27/index.html

NEW RELEASE: Christina Aguilera "Ain't No Other Man"

Christina Aguilera
"Ain't No Other Man" (label)
Bryan Barber, director | William Green, producer | F.M. Rocks, production co | Jonathan Sela, DP | David Checel, editor | Description: Christina Aguilera returns in this jam-packed video which mixes styles from the 1930's and the modern day. Most performance takes place in a posh cabaret, where she shows off her chops amid some bombastic choreographed dance routines. -- watch "Ain't No Other Man" (AOL Video link)

[Martin Jäger]

... if you only watch hip-hop videos i agree.. what do you think about all those nice things from cuningham? also very nice stuff from gondry (less cinematic but great concepts/ideas)...

the aguillera video looks like a solid piece of work - but - with a big budget and a good crew many amongst us'd be able to do
that video - don't you think? it hasn't got anything special to me - what is special for you?


martin

[Mark B.]

What about it do you like? Is it the lighting? The sets? The choreography? The body of the video as a whole? The body in the video as a whole?

[Shawn Nelson]

What about it do you like? Is it the lighting? The sets? The choreography? The body of the video as a whole? The body in the video as a whole?

Lol, all of the above I guess.

But seriously, I think the lighting and production design are great. The neo-noir look along with the costumes and set design I think really works. It's the only look I've seen where they managed to take the old noir style and really spruce it up.

Since it's a music video, I don't know whether the credit goes to the director or DP. But damn, let's see more artistic music vids like this.

[Poi Boy]

Nice video, (christina looks hotter than ever) I watched it a couple of times mos. I kept thinking CHICAGO but the lighting by comparison falls short. They should have made it (lighting) a little more dramatic. Looks good though, they definately spent some bucks.
Aloha
-A

[Clayton Harper]

Yeh, um, Shawn you could accomplish this look with some suspended fresnels pointed straight down and an obie light on the camera. Add smoke and presto.

Also wondering if Aguilera could make her longing to be Madonna any more pathetically obvious.

[Shawn Nelson]

What's an obie light?

[Poi Boy]

What the hell, I want to be Madonna too !
-A

[James T Mather]

Looks like it's shot on c-series anamorphics also.

[chuck colburn]

What's an obie light?

Light mounted on the camera. Or it used to be anyways.
Sometimes called an eye light.

[Petr Dvorak]

What's an obie light?

Interesting, I made a reserarch and voilà:

"... I know what an Obie light is, and what the word is short for. Obie is short for Merle Oberon the actress. In 1937 she was in an automobile accident in England which left her face scarred. After the accident she resumed her career. A camera man invented a light that would detract from the scarring of her face - thus Obie, short for Oberon."

http://www.iatse728.org/history/lingo.htm
http://classicmoviefavorites.com/oberon/images.html

[Tom Lowe]

One of my favorite vids, in terms of cinematography, is "My Immortal" from Evanescence. It showcases beautiful black and white photography and makes extensive use of a large crane. It's available in 720p on bit torrents. Does anyone know who DP'd that? It was shot in Barcelona.

[J. Bernard Vallon]

I saw this recently

http://www.stuartweston.com/

Under his FILM section, he has a music vid for BATTLEKAT, a band ive never heard of. I really like the rhythm.

[J. Bernard Vallon]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=P3PUYO9_Ov0

Very pretty. I wish I could see the lighting diagrams. I also wish i had a studio as big as a soccer field.