First foray into music videos with The Jessie Rose Trip!
(Shot on a Canon EOS 7D too)

For some unknown reason I've never been that bothered about this sector of the industry. Why? I don't know. Unreasoning prejudice against some of the character types that seem to permeate the music world? The low budgets and constant desire for something for nothing? The vague feeling that I should be involved in 'something that makes a difference'? (A bit rich coming from a former skibum). Possibly all of the above.

Well that's all changed.

I've worked with Georgia Merton, a friend from my skiing days, on several other jobs, she called me a couple of weeks ago asking if I fancied shooting and editing a music video that she was to direct for Garden Records a new record label founded by the folks behind the Secret Garden Party music festival, for the first single of their first signing - The Jessie Rose Trip. I checked out the band's website and liked the tunes enough to overcome my initial reluctance and say yes. 'A change is as good as a rest' they do say after all.

I'm glad I did!

The band proved to be a good laugh and (forgetting the drummer's consumption of half a bottle of Captain Morgan's Rum - this is rock 'n roll after all) both enormously talented and professional. They endured the 18 hour shoot stoically, and hit their cues bang on time and time again. Jessie demonstrated acting talent too, looking suitably scary when singing in the sleeping stalk-ee's ear (The song is about a girl stalking her ex).

The budget was incredibly tight, so I used a very basic lighting kit and shot on my EX1 and a borrowed 7D. It was the first time I'd used the 7D in anger and was pleasantly surprised by how good it is.

Why the 7D?

There's a lot of buzz about HD-DSLRs in the indie film production world right now. They offer great low light performance and the large sensor allows one get really shallow depth of field - something that one associates with high budget productions shot on super 35mm, they are also dirt cheap (on the surface, to use one properly one needs to invest 1000s in add-ons and lenses). There are pitfalls though - they use a codec from hell, just because you can focus on a pimple at f1.4 and have everything else out of focus doesn't mean you should, the dreaded jello cam is hard to avoid without support and one has to be constantly on one's guard against stair-stepping and moire.

There's a lot of 'bokeh porn' out there ('bokeh' meaning the blur one gets in the out of focus portions of an image to the uninitiated), and as someone who is used to working with small sensors it's a seductive path to follow - my aim was to use the 7D judiciously and depth of field as a narrative tool, rather than an end in itself.

One of the good things about doing something so low-budget is that one feels that one can take risks. I possibly used the 7D too much (it's very difficult not to get excited about it when one shoots on it for the first time), and controlling focus in low light on still primes with endlessly rotating focus rings handheld with no follow-focus is somewhat challenging (read almost impossible). However when it works, boy it looks good!

The edit was completed in a couple of days between other jobs, and the end product signed off, uploaded to the band's website, downconverted to DigiBeta and sent out to music channels in less than a week.

In short, a great experience, a lot of lessons learned, and a lot of enthusiasm for the next music video... bring it on!

One last thing, these guys are so talented they deserve to be big... pre-order 'You Won't Forget Me Boy' here, help make it a hit, and make your ears happy! Record launches on March 22nd 2010.

Credits:
Director: Georgia Merton
DOP / Camera / Editor: James Vernon
Wardrobe / Stylist: Stephanie Sian Smith

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