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Janet Jackson video “Rock with U” – bad song, neat cinematography

Posted on March 16, 2008 by


Yes, I know the song is not good.  Seriously, it has four words.  And the costumes are hilarious.

But watch how the cinematographer shot the video.  It’s ONE LONG TRACKING SHOT.  There’s like 50 dancers in it, with Janet Jackson singing, dancing and moving between three different rooms.  There’s complicated choreography and blocking, dark lighting. Not one cut-away, zoom or transition. It’s ridiculous.

In the frenetic world of music video production, this kind of one-shot structure is almost unheard of except by artsy, indie productions.

I wonder how many takes the video took?

 

4 thoughts on “Janet Jackson video “Rock with U” – bad song, neat cinematography”

  1. Armine Abrahamyan says:
    March 17, 2008 at 6:28 am

    I think she looks better with less weight and longer hair:)
    -armine

    Reply
  2. Hiro Pendragon says:
    March 17, 2008 at 2:06 pm

    I think you’re right about the style of the cinematography, but I disagree in your assessment of the difficulty being much more than usual.
    Consider:
    1. If they were doing this on stage live at any of their shows, they get only 1 take.
    2. These dance routines must take a ton of rehearsal anyway.
    3. In between rooms the light fades off. I bet they broke up each room to each shot.
    4. The final room was mostly just people bouncing their bodies up and down like they’re casually having a good time at some party. No biggie, there.
    I wonder if the lighting effects was done during the shoot or during post-editing?

    Reply
  3. chalethia says:
    April 20, 2008 at 9:04 pm

    i actually love this video and the costumes, well that’s just her style. Like the son, too! the rythm is soothing with her soft voice.

    Reply
  4. Impotence causes says:
    October 4, 2010 at 3:03 pm

    no doubt women are the greatest thing that the man known in his life, thank God for creating women! Excellent post thanks for sharing. thanks for letting me express myself

    Reply

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