The D.R.E.W film is 26 shots in 1:49.6, built with ffmpeg: hard cuts only, no fades, no captions, no codes. The cut is where the takes become one film. claudia.gallery's Motion design and the edit goes much further (graphics drawn in code over every line); DREW's film keeps it simple: the shots, the song and the words. It exists as 16:9 and 9:16.
The song goes back on top
Every clip was made with the sound off, so the real song runs under the whole cut. Each rapped piece is placed at its song time. If a piece is placed right, his mouth lands on the words; if it is a few frames off, slide it, don't regenerate it.
Cut on the line changes
Cuts land on the song's line changes (2.7 seconds per line in the verses). In the film the hooks are performance, rapped to camera; the verses are mostly b-roll, about one picture per line. Let the shot list set the cuts: a new line, a new picture.
Every word on screen
The lyrics are subtitled, every line, at the moment it is sung. The film shows the sung line only, small, white, centred near the bottom, one line at a time, with no other text on screen. To time them, take each line's start and end from the song, not from the clip.
Trim in the edit instead of regenerating
The log records two trims, both done with ffmpeg:
- Shot 21, Claudia in the passenger seat: the first 1.5 seconds, where she looks into the camera, are cut. The shot uses 1.5s to 5.25s of the clip at normal speed, scaled to 1080p.
- Shot 22, the key toss: the first 0.33 seconds are cut so the shot starts later, after the longer hotel shot.
Shot 10 went the other way: the clip is 10 seconds, the first 3.36 seconds are used, slowed to fit 2.8 seconds.
Before it goes out
- Watch it through with sound, then again with the sound off, watching only his face.
- Check every line is on screen when it's sung.
- Check the never list in every shot: one blue loc, no text or logos on him, no car that drives itself into frame, no look into the lens when he isn't rapping, Claudia's eyes on him and never on the camera.