Behind the video with Philip Goode

Tell us about your gear – everything from your camera and lenses to editing software.

Man gear really sucks, haha. What an expensive career to have with some of the most expensive tools to do your job. I currently own the E2 F6 cinema camera by Zcam. It’s actually a fairly new company altogether. Only been around a few years and a lot of people don’t even know it exists. So it was pretty risky to invest in a camera system that really doesn’t have a long track record like the other main brands that you can easily research and see sample images before purchasing.

But I took the risk and have never looked back. I am super happy with it. The image is superb and honestly competes with the industry-standard Red cinema cameras. I’ve had many situations where actual Red owners mistook my footage for Red footage which definitely made me feel like I made the right decision.

I do own a variety of lenses as well as rent when the client’s budget allows for it. I don’t believe in having a “go to lens” that I use for all projects. I think every video has its own feel, therefore, deserves its own lens/ lenses. In my last couple projects however I have used a mix of the Canon 24-70mm 2.8, Sigma 18-35mm 1.8, Rokinon Cine Primes, and the DZO Pictor Zoom lenses.

If the client has a rental budget however I will always push for an Arri Alexa Mini cinema camera paired with a Angenieux EZ-2 15-40mm…sorry for geeking out.

As for editing over the years, I’ve jumped back and forth between Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro. Lately, it’s been Final Cut Pro paired with the Color Finale plug-in because I really love manipulating and having so much control of colors. Actually working on the transition to Davinci Resolve pretty soon for color as well. Gear talk is obnoxious and I am so sorry for putting readers to sleep, haha.

How did you get into videography?

My dad would always film my childhood memories and I, for some reason, was always jealous that he had that cool camera gadget. He would never let me play with it so I became determined to someday get my own. I bought my first Handycam camcorder when I was about ten years old with my own money from shoveling snow. With that, I started learning without an instruction manual and just trial and errored my way to filming funny little skits with friends or creating little short films. All of which I could only edit in camera and only show people on the camera LCD screen because I was still a kid and had little money to afford a computer.

Then years later I got into music and I would find time to film behind-the-scenes stuff with my old band The Born Ready when we would play shows or be on the road. Once I decided to move on from music, I still had all my music connections and started filming music videos for free just to try it out.

I spent thousands of hours on YouTube learning videography from tutorials to just watching other music videos and adapting to styles and creating my own in the process.

I did a bunch of free videos for friends and friends of friends to grow a portfolio or video reel. Once I had a video reel I started getting asked to do paid gigs for artists and companies that saw my work and wanted me to do videos for them.

Today I’m honored to be able to do this full time and collaborate with so many amazing people bringing their videos to life.

If anyone out there would like to follow in your footsteps, where’s a good place to start?

Maybe start by not following in my footsteps, haha, you’ll get shit on your feet because there was a lot of failure and frustration along this way.

I do get people that ask me about video stuff and my answer is always “YouTube it”. I know that saying is so cliche and sounds almost like I’m too lazy to be helpful but it’s actually the opposite of that.

Everything I learned about video as well as what camera I thought was best for me was all from researching on YouTube. Every question I was curious about or a situation that I needed help troubleshooting I literally typed into the YouTube search. YouTube University is the best school for video and you don’t need to stack up loans to get a degree.

Once you have the camera and some knowledge, the very first thing you should do is get a portfolio going. Whether that is doing work for free or very cheap it is important to get a reel together so that you have something you can show potential clients.

Walk us through the process of creating a music video. How do you come up with the concept, etc?

Every video definitely has its own unique process but for the most part an artist will reach out to me and before we discuss anything I will ask them if I can hear the song. They might already have an idea in mind but I also like to come up with a quick concept on my own just to bring to the table from a different perspective. Plus some artists really do enjoy not having to come up with those ideas. In the end a good number of times they actually choose to go with my concept unless the song is about an ex that they want to get back then I am all ears to help out their game plan haha.

I will then create a storyboard and shot list just to keep as a blueprint even though most of the time that gets pushed to the side on set. From there we’ll identify the things we need to acquire to bring this video to life such as locations, rentals, talent, props etc.

Shoot day is always fun because that’s where the real action happens. That’s where we are bringing what’s on paper to life and with that comes some improv which I am always welcoming to.I always believe you can plan so much and it still probably will not end up the way you planned. That’s why I’m so open to the on set last minute ideas. I always embrace the accidents because they really end up being the most memorable parts of the shoot…. as long as no one got killed.

Once we wrap, I like to jump on the edit right away while the same energy is flowing and I usually like to push up the first draft around 72 hours after the shoot. I don’t like sitting on edits because my mind likes to wander, so I want to get as much done as possible while I’m still in the moment.

After that the artist gets their final video and we all get matching tattoos.

Can you share your favourite project with us? Why do you love it so much?

This question is very hard because I am literally never 100% happy with any video I make. Normally when I get asked this, my answer is “The next video will be my favorite”. Which is also a lie because I am honestly pretty hard on myself and always find things to nitpick in my videos and from those I just really can’t wait for the next video to be able to correct or do things better that I learned from the last video.

But I am a color guy and love doing videos with amazing colors that just suck your eyes in. So I do have two videos that still stand out to me as two of my favorites videos I’ve made as far as color.

Those would be “Words that Rhyme with Liar” by Rematch and “Your Love Is Killing Me” by The Mild West.

It’s rare that you have projects where you almost get 100% free reign on the creative. I feel like in these videos I was lucky enough that the artist trusted my direction to let me make a lot of decisions in pre-production to where we were able to execute the colors so well. These videos ended up being super appealing as far as colors and I am so honored to have been a part of those.

If you could grab a drink with five people who’s either inspired you or who you’d consider a muse, who would it be?

Five people? Man, I didn’t even have five people come to my birthday party last year.

Let’s see if I can get to five.

First would have to be Wes Anderson hands down. I am a huge Wes Anderson fan, his films are just amazing pieces of art. His color palettes for each film and the set design to have all the colors just compliment each other so well is just remarkable. Not even including his unique shot selection and camera movements. I would love to be on his set for a minute some day.

Second, would be the late Robin Williams. Growing up his face and voice were the ones I would get exposed to the most in movies such as Hook, Ms. Doubtfire, Aladdin, and Ferngully. Knowing him as the goofy guy and then being able to see him progress his range as I got older to movies like Good Will Hunting and One Hour Photo was impressive. It opened my eyes to this idea that the best dramatic actors/ writers could actually be comedic actors that were allowed to crossover. But overall he always seemed like the kindest person from everything you hear about him and I feel like speaking with him would be less about film and more about life. I would love to have chatted with him and mainly just listened to the things he had to say. That would have been something.

Third would be Jared Leto. Jared Leto is an enigma to me. As most people went out to Hollywood to pursue acting they would support their livelihood by working regular part time jobs. Jared went to Hollywood to become a musician and his part time job was acting. His music is phenomenal and all his songs have been paired with the most fascinating cinematic music videos.

His acting is amazing from the performance to the behind the scenes dedication to every role. I would love to have a conversation with him about his experiences and his motivation for all his ideas.

Fourth, would be Jordan Peele. This is a last-minute one for me because although he just recently jumped into stardom with his Oscar win for Get Out. I have always been fascinated by his writing in Key and Peele because it was a comedy show, yet a lot of the skits did end up with weird, creative, dark twists that I know he was responsible for. Recently allowing himself to go all-in on directing and writing movies he has really found his path and is only getting started into the more horror genre which is fascinating again coming from a comedic genre. I would love to pick his brain on what interesting ideas are floating around in there.

And last but certainly not least would have to be my fiancé Melissa. I would love to have coffee with her always because she’s a cool lady and she’s going to read this, and I’m not trying to get yelled at because “I didn’t put her in my Top 5”.

Honorable mention would be The Rock because who doesn’t want to meet The Rock. What a guy!

Any other tips?

I think asking questions is good but I think jumping into film and just doing and learning from your mistakes is the best way to go. Learning from someone else makes you adapt to their style, while trial and error helps you create your own style. Again YouTube is the best for this.

Don’t get caught in the gear trap. I see so many people talking about the best camera and comparing cameras to the point where they do more analyzing vs creating. The camera market is oversaturated right now to where everything puts out an amazing image nowadays. Almost every camera shoots at least 4k, and almost every camera is at least 10 bit. Just pick one and get good at it.

Cameras are not everything. I see too many people focusing on what the best camera is but at the end of the day they don’t have the skills to produce a quality video. It’s better to be able to produce an amazing video with a lower budget camera, than it is to have the best camera and not know how to create simple quality videos.

Lastly, create a video reel. That is how people will see what you can do. So if you just start, don’t be afraid to do free work here and there. Opportunities sometimes take a little sacrifice so if you are always about the money then you will close a lot of doors for yourself.

See more of Philip’s work @super_goode on supergoode.com.