Summer time is my favorite time of the year. Not because school is out, but because OMG! Cameras Everywhere! is in. OMG is a free summer camp put on by professional (read: awesome) music video directors in LA for kids ages 7-15, and this year I got to go! (Not as a camper, as a counselor, but still!) And rather than try to teach kids things I know comparatively nothing about, I was given the important task of capturing the behind-the-scenes video, and because of that, I’m particularly qualified to write a blog post about how cool it was.

We’ve talked about OMG extensively on our site in the past because when there are really awesome, positive things happening in the music video industry, it’s our duty to talk about them. And despite the fun environment of this camp, covering it was an extremely serious job and I didn’t take it lightly, highlighted by this photo of me in the middle of working. 

Photo credit: Dugan O'Neal

Camp ran from August 6^th 2012 through the 10^th, and the goal was to teach kids how to make movies (mainly music videos) through collaboration with some of the dopest music video directors in the game right now. Seriously, like 25% of the guests of Music Video Land have volunteered at some point in the past year. Some of the directors you may recognize from the podcast that were there this time around include Isaac Ravishankara, DANIELS, Hiro Murai, Dugan O'Neal, Ben Fee, and Alistair Legrand.

Originally, I planned on really trying to articulate what was going on from the perspective of the campers in this post. I began my work trying to get in their shoes and see things through their eyes. Then, I realized, why should I try to tell you what it’s like for them? THEY should tell you what it’s like for them. So, here they are doing just that:

First of all, that might be the cutest thing we’ll ever post on this blog, so let's take a moment to appreciate that.

What I think this video really shows is how involved the kids truly were in the making of the videos. Sure, they’re working with some of the most talented and creative people in the industry, but the ideas originate with the kids, and the kids handle most of the production process. I don’t know about you guys, but when I was a kid, I went to a camp that was also supposed to teach kids how to make movies. And the main thing I remember about that camp was kids weren’t allowed to touch the cameras. At OMG, it was the exact opposite. In fact, for some scenes, there were 6 or 7 kids with cameras floating around just a few actors. 

The acting was mainly handled by super cool pop artists. As you’ll see in the next few days as OMG releases more of the videos made at the camp, there were a bunch of great musicians who showed up to the camp and gave their songs for the campers to use in the videos, like The Summer Set, Madi Diaz, and Baron von Luxxury. The best moments were when an artist would try to suggest a change to one of the kid's ideas, and they'd calmly shoot the idea down without making the artist feel bad or slowing down production. Solid pro.

There were a few workshops showing the kids how to edit and apply special effects, but the directors handled most of the post-production, which really helped tie the whole camp together. It allowed the kids to come up with any idea they wanted to and see it come to life within a day or two. It also allowed for OMG to have it’s own screening at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood less than 24 hours after camp ended. That was thanks in large part to a crazy all-night-all-morning-all-afternoon editing session. 

In conclusion, my summer vacation was great. I got to go to the coolest summer camp of all time, and not only got to watch how some of the best music video directors of today work, but also likely got a chance to see how some of the best music video directors of tomorrow work, too (Awwww! I was wrong, THAT was the cutest thing we'll ever post on this blog).

Doug Klinger is the co-founder/content director of IMVDb and watches more music videos than anyone on earth. You can find him on twitter at @doug_klinger.