What's been your experience with Sam Hyde and Million Dollar Extreme?

Sam and I went to RISD together and I worked on his senior thesis with him driking monster energy drinks and burning CD-R's to copy files back and forth because we were too lazy to set up a network. He hired my company, Pomp&Clout to help with graphics on his show with adult swim. They were heavily censored.

How did you convince him/his label to post that video on his channel?

I had to email back and forth for weeks, make another treatment (the 3rd) and hop on a call with Lyor Cohen to talk him through what I wanted to do.

Lyor Cohen = Head of Young Thug's management co, 300 Entertainment

Treatment?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_treatment

sorry, industry term. yes a treatment is a document that explains what we want to do. the rapid fire images towards the end of the video were screen caps of the 1st treatment (where I wanted to light the budget on fire).

So did you originally plan on using the audio of his description in the video? Your shots for that were perfect in the begining. I think you took a shity situation and turned it into gold. You're the reason I have watched it over and over not the song.

YES! i did plan to use the audio for the intro. he was supposed to be in the final power wheel though.

I liked it man. I feel like starting with that was a great segway in to paying attention to the process that was going on. It was like a music video of making a music video.

thank you! yea its my favorite part. we only had 5 power wheels and had to move them around and composite the different plates together.

Did Young Thug express how he feels about the final product? I just watched the video for the first time before seeing this AMA and saw that it has over 3 mill. views already. He probably can't be too disappointed about that, even if it paints him in a bad light.

haha I don't know what he thinks to be honest. I hope he likes it, I got him a ton of press and he didn't even have to get out of his car.

Do you feel you got compensated fairly for all your work?

No, I'm contemplating sending he label a "viral video bonus" invoice. I edited for free for 3 months.

You did it for free?! Well, at least your name's out there now- I'm sure you'll use this to gain better opportunities.

That's music videos man. But yea it's hopefully going to lead to more.

Will you incorporate someone eating Cheetos into your next film project?

EDIT: For those who missed it on the front page yesterday; here's the video, set to the moment I'm referring to.

haha that's my new signature move... every project of mine will now have this.

Excellent. I look forward in a few years to seeing your Hollywood blockbuster and seeing Brad Pitt munching Cheetos.

only brad pitt could look good eating a cheeto.

Do you have any directorial advice?

don't plan everything too much, embrace the unknown.

After Director: Josh Trank directed Fantastic 4, and the project fell apart, was stitched together and released to a negative reception. He tweeted "my version of the film would have gotten positive reviews." He caught a lot of professional backlash from the people he worked with. Has anything like this happened after your video?

I've never had this happen, but I'm sure it will.

Ever plan on working with him again?

I'd be happy to talk about it.

Maybe too personal of a question, but payment wise, do you get a continuous percentage of the profits that a song makes or do they just flat rate pay you?

I have made $0 from the youtube rev/royalties of my music videos... It's a sad fact of the music video business.

Has Young Thug seen the video? lol

haha who knows.

Are you hiring? :)

hit us up at pompandclout.com, we're always open to talking!

I watched the thread explode yesterday and everyone was saying it was fake and giving their professional opinions...

So my question to you is, with regards to those people in particular, what's your favourite flavour of Cheetos?

Yes! Lol

i'm an andy capp's fries fella myself.

jk flamin' hot cheetos obviously.

Do you have any advice on set control?

based on how the video went.... i'm probably not the best person to ask!

Respectfully, I disagree, you were in it at the worst and the video was made, successfully. So, yeah. I'm sorry but you dealt with it well! :~P

I normally come to set with a very clear plan of what I want to do, work very closely with my DP and AD, and then try to kind of let things naturally happen, correcting the trajectory as you go. I'm used to working in a pretty hands on manner with my projects in post, so I get very involved in stuff with the camera department on set.

How did yo get started?

Diplo saw this video flyer i made for a party we threw in Providence, RI called Lovelife where we sampled the club entrance steadicam shot from Goodfellas and asked me to do the major lazer visuals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UIo142pTKk

then i was on a DJ email thread where the sender sent without BCC turned on and i received 400+ dj/musician emails and hit up Boys Noize saying i would make a video for him for free: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX4ccnj41lk

Good video man

Thanks man, blast from the past

What was it like working with the women on the shoot? How did they feel about what they were asked to do? the onset problems?

They were confused because WE were so confused. the women who ate the sausage were awesome... I really appreciate them doing that for the video.

Did the women actually do the Requiem for a Dream scene?

to my knowledge, they did not.

Did you have to take responsibility for the on-set fuck ups at the time?

No i used my producer as a human shield!

Im not sure how the artist not showing up is even your guy's fault. That's the label's responsibility. You're not his handler. Lol

trust me man, they'd find a way to blame me. captain has to go down with the ship!

What was it like co-directing, any struggles between you and the other?

Aside from him offering the initial creative broad strokes in the audio, and then never showing up, we didn't really co-direct in the traditional sense.

Just watched the BTS on Noisey - looks like a really tricky situation that you had to navigate there. How did you keep morale up on the day? more importantly how did the conversation go down between you and the girls shooting the sausage-eating scene??

(also I think your next project NEEDS to be with Corey J, that kid's going places)

Yea the noisey BTS is a great side of this to see. I kept morale up as best I could by cracking jokes and keeping it light hearted. But after a while it became evident that it was a distasteful jokes couldn't hide.

For the sausage scene girls, I asked my 1st AD to ask them.

Do you want to direct films/ TV shows eps at all?

Yes, very much so. Surprisingly this video has led to a lot of interest from that world, so hopefully that will be a reality in the near future.

What are your current favorites of both?

I'm very into docs actually, i rewatch American Movie all the time. I thought The Revenant was incredible. TV wise I watched Stranger Things in a day and love Black Mirror. I also really like this Norwegian show called Occupied about the Russians taking over Norway to restart its oil production.

Have you seen Westworld?

No but I've heard very good things

If you could work with any artists past or present, who would it be and why?

Prince & MJ. together!

hi loved the video,

i helped with the wiz khalifa video that was never released.. how often do you finish a project and just have it scrapped entirely by the artist?

Great job making the best out of a shitty situation.

thanks for being on our wiz project, shame that didn't make it out.

unfortunately, projects are scrapped occasionally. it sucks, but sometimes people just don't understand a filmmaker's intent, or get cold feet, or things go horribly wrong... (i.e. this video)

I loved this video.

Does the actual VICE footage exist?

It does!!! it just came out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cfp7OkOPnw

This may sound like a strange question but what are manners like on set? (Please, Thank you, yes sir no sir three bags fucking fu...Sigh.) I've just graduated and film school sets were lined with egg-shells.

Just be a kind and good person, help out others, joke around and be patient.

Do you have any negotiating advice?

CLOSERS ONLY.

seriously though:

1. always offer options: A or B makes the question about choice of which product rather than wanting the product or not.
2. always ask for 15% more than you want.

What equipment do you usually use? Camera, lights, sound: if you know specifically?

I generally shoot on RED Dragon or Weapon because I work very closely with my projects in post and like the crazy high resolution. Our best/least sexy piece of gear is our 40tb 10gbe file server.

What's your mac/pc specs?

now you're speakin' my language! I work off of a Mac Pro (trashcan edition) with 3.5 ghz 6-core xeon e5, 64GB of ram and a 6gb AMD FirePro that doesn't play well with After Effect's CUDA support.

<edit: GB not MB>

Hey, I seen the video yesterday and I felt like it was something special. Sure enough at the end of the day it was trending #1 on YouTube. Congratulations!

As a young thug fan, his behavior isn't surprising at all. He'd done this to several interviewers and photographers before. How much did you know about Thug before shooting? Did you research him? Were you shocked on set by his antics?

Thanks for the AMA and awesome video!

I did a bit of research but not a ton. Before I shot, I did remember in that Jamie XX Good Times video he had a feature, and he's barely in it in a low-lit scene, so I assumed he wouldn't be there very long. Rappers are frequently late, but I didn't realize he'd be over 2 hours late... not to mention 10... and ultimately never get out of the car.

What tips would you give to students wanting to become filmmakers in the future?

1. Be patient! You're going to need to make a bunch of shitty projects before you make anything you truly like. I still look back on projects from the past couple years, and cringe. It takes time to get good at concept & craft.

2. Don't be too much of a slave to Gear. Use what's around you! iPhone/Android camera is great to work with initially.

3. Never lose the element of having fun when you're making a video. It'll definitely be a challenge, and you'll get pissed off at yourself and others, but if you don't ultimately enjoy it, you're wasting your time.

whoa didn't expect bold big ass type..

What was the plan for the Requiem for a Dream reference?

It said: "Jennifer Connelly basically did the same thing in Requiem for a Dream" or something to that effect.

How long were you on set for?

12 hours

maybe longer actually

are there any works out there you want to adapt?

Blood Meridian

Not sure if it's too late, but in your previous project "Dope Dealer", where some of the POV scenes inspired by the movie Lord of War?

Very much so, I love that intro and how it sets up the story. I drew parallels between the ideas of weapon production and drugs and ran with it.

Thanks for answering my question! As a small sidenote, if you'd be willing to sell any of the storyboard art for the Wyclef Jean video then send me a PM.

Let me see if our storyboard artist still has the original

The video made it seem like you were pretty salty at him. How do you feel now?

yea i was pissed. still am a bit annoyed. but I'm eternally grateful for him being crazy late and then never getting out of the car. his absence was an unintended creative contribution that allowed this video to happen.

Did you listen to young thug before working on this video? and will you listen to his music in the future?

Yea I listened to him a bit before this, not a ton. I'll still listen to him, and I oddly still like the track.

Where do you get your ideas from? Is it difficult coming up with new ways to shoot videos of the same genre?

It's a constant struggle. I find that running and creative exertion is a great way to get the brain working.

Was there a lot of vanity involved in the making of this video? Was the star hard to work with?

never met the dude so i don't know. i'm amazed he let me put the video out so he can't have been too vain.

Do you know roughly how much those power wheels cost? Like one of them lol?

I think about $500-$700 if I recall? We actually only had budget for 5 and had to shoot 4x plates for that intro shot, then composite them together to make 20 power wheels. You'll notice they repeat.

Lmao true they do repeat. That Maybach one is baller af! And sorry for my ignorance but what does "4x plates" mean?

Sorry, more jargon. 4x plates means 4 different shots. we filmed the same camera move 4 times and moved the cars 4 times then added them together in post production so that there were 20. we had to do this 4 more times for the girls.

that allowed me to easily introduce them in post right when he says "I want like... 20 of them..." you'll notice they pop "on" in groups of 5 if I recall correctly.

Damn that makes so much sense. I just saw it frame by frame. This is fascinating stuff that you really don't pay attention to unless you create it yourself! Awesome job man!! Probably my favorite rap video in a long long time!

thank you! we also had to digitally trace the girls in the foreground so we could composite them accurately...

What was it like working with Vince Staples for the all nite video?

Vince was incredible. He got the concept so quickly and needed very little direction. I think by the end he was annoyed that we had to do so many takes to make the different "time slices" effect work, but he plowed through.

hey guys i'm finishing up the AMA! I've exhausted about all I can say on this. Apologies if I didn't get to anyone, still a bit of a reddit lurker and not used to actively commenting. I really appreciate everyone chatting with me and watching the video. I've been blown away by the overall reception. I now await the impending backlash with a heart full of nice people saying they dug my work. be well, make things that excite you, and always try to enjoy the process.

Kind of a weird question, but are the labels (like 300) intimidating/rude or mean when associating and communicating? Thanks man, loved the video!

It depends on who you interact with at the label... they can be incredibly supportive collaborators, or truly psychotic, insufferable monsters. Luck of the draw!

Any interesting stories regarding the labels? Possibly with the psychotic ones haha

Columbia is the most professional and supportive label, I'll just say that. True collaborators and fans of the craft.

Nice job, I really enjoyed the video!

Has the video's popularity landed you more videos with YT? Would you work with him again?

Thanks! The video's popularity has landed me a ton of opportunities beyond music videos, I'm very excited currently. I would work with him again.

Where could I find the productions you did with Lil Wayne, J Cole, and ScHoolboy Q?

Also, Were the cops on the set the entire time?, or did they leave and then come back.

Those videos are can be viewed at my production company Pomp&Clout's website pompandclout.com or my personal site ryanstaake.com

Re: cops, film permits are bizarre, and yes, we had to have those officers there all day. They were honestly very chill and awesome. I just thought the visual of them watching us bash up a car was fucking hilarious. And they did get into an argument with his security.

The shot of the cops watching them destroy the car was hilarious. I though it was a nice touch to put the winking face on them towards the end of the video.

It was surreal man. The winking was a late addition. I liked the idea of projecting an emotion onto the blurry face of an officer.

Even though Thugger never showed up/got out of the car, did you at least have fun while working on set?

Yea at times, but overall it was a nightmare. I tend to have the most fun in post anyway though.

Have you had any similar experiences with other rappers/artists in the past? Do other artists ever request a specific scene or shoot like Thug did?

I've never had anyone this late, BUT I OWE THIS VIDEO TO HIM BEING LATE/ABSENT. Lil Wayne was 2 hours late. Vince Staples was an hour late and incredibly professional. J cole was punctual and playing with puppies. ScHoolboy was totally into it and down to smoke blunt after blunt for the video.

I rarely do videos where the artist has an idea, I'm selfish and generally like to make music videos based on my concepts.

Did you expect this video to actually become the official video? Did you expect it to blow up as much as it did?

When i first pitched the "behind the scenes" idea, I thought it had a 50% chance. That steadily climbed up more and more until I felt it was at a 95% chance of happening after I delivered it. I had no idea it would blow up.

It was a good song, but the video made it!

Did you like the song?

I do, it's catchy as fuck

How much of the budget was spent on those Power Wheels cars?

I think about $3000. We only bought 5 and digitally repeated them. See below

Favorite McDonalds menu item?

A good greasy hash brown and a coffee.

Who were the women in the video? Asking for scientific reasons because I definitely do not recognise that one of them starred in adult movies.

Full credits are up on: https://vimeo.com/198763338 Start sleuthing.

I thought the video was extremely witty, do you see there ever being a trend of videos made like this because of the success your video had? Many people thought this was entirely staged but judging by your answers it seems to have been 100% legitimate and you simply managed to turn a crappy situation into something fantastic. So big props to you :)

i think we're going to see media get more meta, and more self-referential, but I don't think I will have started that—it seems to be more a response to the bizarre times we live in.

and yes, the video was 100% real. don't let that "staged" rumor spread!

[deleted]

I'll gladly answer this. YES. many people in the music industry can be incredibly self centered and horrible. not all, but some of them. some people seem to lose all sense of common decency and turn into horrible garbage people.

i did meet madonna once to write a treatment at her studio though, and she owned that primadonna thing (maybe because its in her name). was courteous and chill, but obviously ran her life exactly how she wanted it.

how do you feel about all the exposure you are receiving after making this music video?

It's been surreal. I'm riding the wave, and anticipating the eventual crash. It's insane to have worked on something so intimately for a while, then have the internet "freaking out" over it.

How did you choose/meet the DP?

I'd worked with Trevor Wineman previously on my Clams Casino ft. Vince Staples - All Nite video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zGVJaFwOyo) and he did a stellar job working with natural light, and rolling with the punches of my outlandish video concept. I knew he was the right person for the job on this one. Ontop of that he's just a very thorough DP and all around nice guy. I was originally introduced to him via a producer I was working with in LA. He has a cameo in the video, we're both sitting with eachother watching the monitor during the girls-driving-power-wheels scene.

Damn had no idea Trevor shot this. I've been following him on Vimeo for some time now. Small world. From a directors standpoint, any advice as to young DP's and what you look for in a reel?

It changes on each project, sometimes I need a DP with really ultra pure, almost surgical look and a ton of motion control experience (which Trevor had from his GTA/Vince Staples video with David Helman). Othertimes I want someone organic, with a lot of handheld operation experience. My advice to a young DP would be to start out eclectic, find what sticks/is your strong suit, and prioritize focusing on craft.

Super informative - thanks so much for the advice. Hats off to you, Trevor and the rest of the team. Really loved "Dope dealers" as well. Excited to see where this takes you and for whats next on the horizon.

If you're curious, I'm a 20 year old DP myself from Toronto. Style and reel wise, here's where I'm currently at - https://vimeo.com/179145693

damn man, that's a great reel! keep it up!

That video is dope. I'm going to see Vince in concert in a few months, and I'm really excited!

Vince is a natural performer, you'll have a great time at his concert.

Dude that's an amazing video re: all nite, really well done

Thank you! it was a long labor of love. there's a bts up on Clams Casino's youtube

how do I become a model for music videos?

I guess just don't show up?

Or show up before your co-director

Hey Ryan!

Has this project given you a fresh perspective of how much you can push boundaries with future music video projects? Maybe loosened up some expectations or habits?

PS- big fan of you and P&C's work, keep it up! & check us out over at vhpost.tv 😁

I really don't know yet to be honest, still need to wait until the dust settles a bit after this one. If anything, I hope music video directors are able to exert just a little more power as a result of the curtain being briefly pulled back--that would be cool.

Will check out vhpost!

Can I get a picture of the editing timeline? Aspiring editor/colorist here and I love looking at this stuff to analyze peoples workflow. If you have any comments on that it would be great as well.

My workflow was so messy on this. We did use "replace as after effects compostion" clips to incorporate our vfx touch ups, but aside from that it was a multichannel monster with not a ton of cohesion to it. I'll try to post a screen cap when in the office tomorrow though, because I fully respect the interest in post workflow.

Yaasss

The only thing this really shows is that my workflow was messy as hell. http://imgur.com/a/obYWB

I'm a young youtuber and I can honestly say the way you portrayed yourself and your personality in this video is something I strive to do on a daily basis!

When you finally got approval to make this video, how long did you actually spend on the edit? Like I read earlier it was like 3 months or something but did you really edit this every day for 3 months? I'm asking because I'm moving to more tradition filmmaking and I sometimes can't find a reason to keep myself editing... Either way you rocked the shit out of that video! Incredible and inspiring!

I only had to edit for 3 months because the label took forever to get me feedback.... technically I think I could've edited this in a week, giving ample time to bounce it off of friends, and re-write the text.

Do you personally edit all your videos? And if so do you enjoy it, because it seems like it lol. I've been shooting music videos professionally for the last 6 years and although I enjoy actually being on set and interacting with new people all the time, I still dread going home to edit videos. Its to the point where I've begun to hire editors even if it substantially cuts my profits.

I don't always have time to edit my work, but when I do have time, I edit it all myself. I see it as the final pass of creative direction on a project.

What was your favorite part of filming the project? Also, shout out to Lil C Note, just for short.

The baseball bat girls it was so savage watching them let out this anger on a cop car--a symbol of authority (while the cops watched).

What advice would you give to an aspiring music video film making enthusiast?

You're not going to make much money in music videos so have a side hustle to support yourself. Vfx, editing, motion graphics or if you're lucky, commercial directing.

Hey, hope it's not too late.

What happened to all the powerwheels (cars) after the shoot?

After weeks of emailing back and forth to line up a pickup, Young thugs manager's assistant came by to pick them up from our production designer's office... only he thought they were "hot wheels" and only drove a sedan, so he had to come back later to pick them up with a truck or something.

So have you met thugger since the music video or his he still MIA?

I have yet to meet him but I'd really like to. I want to get a Nixon/Elvis style pic with him.

What's your method of ingesting footage before editing?

Our interns at Pomp&Clout bring it into Premiere and generally catalog it/log shot names, takes, etc. nothing too complex.

Lyrically, this is one of the stupidest things ever committed to paper or a record. Does that bother you?

It's a brave new world... Buckle up.

Nothing against the work you did! Specifically about the lyrics. I just went and read them after watching the video and it was insane how bad they were. Intensely bad. Juicy J levels of bad. "In Love With the CoCo" bad. Kind of insulting actually knowing Talib and Kendrick are still out there.

Given the chance to work with a good hip hop artist, do you have anyone you'd really love to work with, or whose music you already and enjoy and have ideas for?

Would love to work with Kendrick.

The video only worked because of you. Now, why can't he call the women women? I get the police car/ children cops/ bashed up idea, some cops have provably discriminated against black people, with that in mind, why does the artist think police brutality is bad but misogyny is fine? (I understand you can't and shouldn't answer but I needed to say. )

Thanks! He'd have to answer that one for you though...

I doubt he'd turn up to do so. lol

yea don't hold your breath

Your video wasn't that great to be honest family. Obligatory question mark?

you sound like someone who isn't afraid to share a contradictory opinion