MattyB – New Kids from ECG Productions on Vimeo

MattyB: Behind The Scenes of New Kids

In ECG’s latest music video we had the distinct pleasure to work with internet phenom MattyB, a 12-year-old rapper whose trending YouTube videos have been raking in the views by the millions (at the time of this writing his channel has over two billion – with a “B” – views). When MattyB’s manager, Marshall Manning (Mars to his friends) came to us with his concept, complete with rows of funhouse-style mirrors, we were beyond thrilled. Mars’ concept was undeniably great, but it certainly came with its own set of challenges.

First major hurdle: how to safely transport a ton of large, very heavy mirrors from the store to our studio for art department to complete their build, then to our set at Studio Space Atlanta? We moved almost 30 mirrors from store to studio, then in their custom frames from studio to set with only 3 casualties. We’ll call it a win. Luckily we came prepared with a few spares. 😉

The other major challenge: mirrors, as you may have noticed, reflect everything. How were we supposed to get good clean shots of MattyB and his talented co-star, Ivey Meeks, without having our DP and his rig in every shot? This is where seasoned music video director Jason Sirotin’s creative mind came into play. Putting the mirrors on rolling Z-stands allowed us to not only stage the mirrors in a way that kept our cameraman (and crew, and equipment, etc., etc.) out of the shot, but also made it possible to shoot multiple scenes and room layout concepts with a fair amount of speed and ease. The mirrors, while originally challenging, proved to be an outstanding tool for getting interesting, varied shots with minimal reset time.

Once we overcame the challenges of the mirrors we were able to truly embrace the concept and create some incredibly stunning visuals. Mars completed a fantastic assembly edit in on tight timleline, then turned the reins to ECG for VFX, color and finishing. The piece really began to sing after the color grade and visual effects passes were completed. We think you’ll agree that the primary color palate pops, the visual effects are stunning and the piece as a whole is an absolute home run (as evidenced by the over 2 million views this video has collected in just over two weeks).

Client: MattyB | Profile: Music Video