PTGet a quote
Get a quote
Back to portfolio

Motion Design

Cafofo — Music Video

Ideologia & Tal

A wooden pavilion at night with filament bulbs overhead and a person in the background. The establishing shot shows the place before the party starts.
Widescreen for a cinematic lookThe wide frame makes room for the stage and the crowd and gives group shots breathing space, with the cinematic language the video called for.
A tight group facing the camera, everyone looking straight into the lens, with the frontman in a striped shirt and dark glasses up front. The closeness puts the viewer inside the party.
Fourth wall brokenLooking into the lens at face level pulls the viewer out of the observer's seat: they become a guest at the party.
Abrupt movement, on purposeOn a handheld Steadicam, the abrupt movements were deliberate: they bring impact and motion to the edit.
Four men posing on stage, three in dark suits and one in a hoodie, with chains and dark glasses. Behind them, the blackletter "Cafofo" sign under violet light.
Blackletter sign as a signatureAdded in post over the stage backdrop, it returns in several shots: it ties different scenes together, reinforces the track's name and links the video to the group's identity.
A singer in a lilac suit and dark glasses holds the mic to his mouth in front of a white flare of light. Behind him, a bandmate in a red hat holds another mic.
A planned flare as a bridgeThe backlight flare, built into the lighting plan, floods the frame to hide the cut and joins two shots with no visible transition.
Daylight as counterpointThe daytime scene interrupts the run of night shots and shifts both rhythm and color temperature, which refreshes the viewer's eye.
Close-up of a singer in a red hat and blue mirrored glasses singing into the mic, with the blackletter "Cafofo" sign glowing violet behind him. The red of the hat stands out against the deep blue of the stage.
Red as an accentThe red hat, repeated across many shots, is the color point running through the video and guiding the eye through the violet light.
A bar counter lit in pink and blue, with two glasses, a bottle and a person's hands resting on the top. The detail shot breaks the rhythm of stage and crowd.
An insert planned for the lineA short shot timed to the song's theme: it breaks continuity for a beat and resets attention. The pink neon is the third color register.
Night returns harderAfter a daylight scene, the return to night hits harder: the contrast makes the fuchsia and the green weigh more.
An MC in a cap and heavy chains raps into the mic, caught mid-motion in front of the blackletter sign. Beside him, two bass guitars lean on the railing next to a red drape.
Fuchsia and green: the color of nightColors tied to the absence of light, to the night and to the party-and-dance mood, the song's theme. In two layers of light, green behind and magenta on stage cut the performer out from the set.
A singer in a red hat, dark glasses and a suit looks into the camera beside the mic, with a blurred white curtain and colored lights behind him. The red hat returns as a visual signature.
Warm skin against dark backgroundsThe color grade keeps skin tones warm against the dark backdrop, which lifts the face and carries the close-up.
Cuts led by the beatsShot changes follow the music and highlight beats and vocals; a longer close-up lets the voice lead.

Context

I wrote the script, shot, edited and directed the video, and handled cinematography, art direction and color grading. Ideologia & Tal asked for it to promote their new song: “Cafofo”, featuring NEEN of Coktel Molotov, released on June 23, 2022 on the band’s channel. It is the same group whose visual identity I created, so here the brand appears in motion.

Creative insights

Breaking the fourth wall to include the viewer. In the face-level group shots, everyone looks into the lens. The viewer stops watching the party from outside and becomes a guest at it.

Letting the music drive the cut. The edit is led by the beats and highlights both the beats and the vocals. With about 200 cuts in 4:49, the 1.4 s average per shot reads as a pulse, not as chopping.

Daylight as counterpoint. The daytime scenes (car, bar) interrupt the run of night shots and add contrast in both rhythm and color temperature. When night returns, it hits harder.

A signature that repeats. The blackletter “Cafofo” sign, added in post-production over the stage backdrop, reappears in several shots. The repetition ties very different scenes together, reinforces the track’s name and links the video to the group’s identity.

Art direction decisions

  • A reference moodboard: I built a moodboard of references for the video.
  • Widescreen for a cinematic look: I chose the wide format to give the video a more cinematic feel. The letterbox stretches the frame, makes room for the stage and the crowd, and gives group shots more breathing space.
  • Wardrobe chosen together with the band: the clothes were picked jointly with the group, so the look on screen passes through the voice of the people in it.
  • Customized blackletter sign, added in post: I started from an existing font and customized it to build “Cafofo”. I added the sign in post-production, over the stage backdrop, along with the effect on the edges of the letters.
  • Fuchsia and fluorescent green: the color of night: the idea was to bring back fuchsia and fluorescent green, colors that relate in a particular way to the absence of light. That evokes the night and ties into the party-and-dance mood, the main theme of the song.
  • Red as an accent: the red of the hat shows up in many shots and works as a color point running through the video, guiding the eye.
  • Warm skin against dark backgrounds: the color grade keeps skin tones warm against dark backdrops, which lifts the faces and carries the close-ups.

The set: where the most advance planning went

The set was the part of the video that got the most planning before the shoot, and it shows on screen. Set design, lighting and set carry TODDYS TAVARES’s credit, and each element has a job in the image.

The planning started from a script in table form (version 2) that I wrote, tying each section of the song to a scene: the lyric, the shot description, the location and who appears. The script named the party’s spaces, such as the club, the bar, the garage and the car, and pinned the detail shots to precise points in the music. One of them is the neon bar shot, planned to land on the line about the party’s drinks and a night with no set end time. Every location in the script was shot.

  • Lighting planned in two layers: green in the background, magenta and blue-violet on stage, in line with the fuchsia and fluorescent green that guide the palette. The separation cuts the performers out from the set and keeps the frame readable even in fast cuts. The backlight flares are part of that lighting, not an accident.
  • Pink neon at the bar: it is the third color register. It appears in few shots, so it works as a change of atmosphere within the same party.
  • Wooden pavilion with filament bulbs: the warm base. The wood and amber light support the skin tones and anchor the cooler, more saturated colors of the stage.

Planning the set before shooting gave light and color a coherent base, and it was over the stage backdrop that I added the sign in post. The fast edit could lean on a consistent visual world.

Editing: techniques applied

  • Cuts led by the beats: shot changes follow the music, and the beats and vocals are highlighted in the edit.
  • Abrupt movement, on purpose: the camera was on a handheld Steadicam and the abrupt movements were deliberate, to bring impact and motion to the edit.
  • Flares as a bridge (1:03–1:07): stage-light flares, planned along with the lighting, flood the frame and hide the cut, joining two shots with no visible transition.
  • A planned, in-camera whip-pan (≈1:49): the camera sweeps across the frame, and the blur is real camera motion, not an effect added afterwards. I shot it knowing it would be used as a transition, and in the edit it covers the swap while the motion carries from one shot into the next.
  • A planned insert (≈2:26): a neon-lit bar shot of about 0.3 s lands in the middle of the crowd scene. I planned it to sync with the line about the party’s drinks: it breaks continuity for a beat and resets the viewer’s attention.
  • Title card at 0:12: the track name appears right after the opening, orienting the viewer before the party speeds up.

Technical sheet

  • Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, 55 mm lens
  • Support: handheld Steadicam
  • Editing and color grading: DaVinci Resolve
  • Format: 1920×1080, 60 fps, usable area of about 2.16:1

Credits

  • Executive production: 3DRÃO PRODUÇÕES
  • Feat: NEEN — COKTEL MOLOTOV
  • Music: IDEOLOGIA & TAL
  • Music producer: GORY | Studio ARSENAL 13
  • Set design, lighting and set: TODDYS TAVARES
  • Artistic and photographic direction: GILMAR DIAS

More projects

Graphic Design

DNIT — Visual Identity

DNIT — Brazilian National Department of Transport Infrastructure

Graphic Design

Esoteric Mundi — Identity & Packaging

Esoteric Mundi

Graphic Design

Ideologia & Tal — Rebranding

Ideologia & Tal