I’ve recently been doing some web design work for a small British online cosmetic retailer called Unique Luxe
In order to better market themselves and to boost sales through their own branded website, rather than just via the very price sensitive eBay and Amazon Market Place, I’ve recommended that they concentrate on putting content on the website and creating videos for sharing sites to drive traffic.
I shot this advert for a popular product that they stock – Lily Flame scented candles. The shoot was very basic and short, and I had with me simply a rucksack of camera equipment – and myself. In their office I assembled the idea. We wanted the distinctly English scent of the candles to evoke a lucid imagining of what they represent. I also believe that although the idea for the ad was very conservative and probably wouldn’t be viral, at least if the advert was well shot it would increase the credibility of their marketing and their site.
Viral videos are very difficult. When you watch one, it has the aura of an easy to make video but actually viral video ideas are like gold dust. A good example is the Canon 7D versus Barbie Video Girl. It has a few nice traits – it’s amusing and original. I’ve never seen a Barbie doll with a camera in it’s chest being compared to a Canon 7D. Marketing companies around the world have attempted to make viral videos which catch people’s attention, but have mostly failed.
My original idea was to have a satire of viral videos itself. How To Make a Perfect Viral Video. The ad would feature a model in a bikini, holding a kitten and be presented like a Gordon Ramsey (UK celebrity chef) recipe on the F-Word (his TV programme) with the fast paced cut away shots and single word narrative… ‘girl’, ‘kitten’, ‘bath’ like a cooking recipe. But we had to work around our severe no-budget constraints and do something more simple and less convoluted.
The other challenge was that working with friends who are not actresses is often time consuming because they need more detailed instructions. Usually I would talk to an actor or actress about the character and their feelings, and then they’d improvise it and I’d say whether I liked it or not. I know when I like something, but I don’t always know exactly what I want until I see it.
With a non-actor you need to micro manage their acting for them and do many many takes before you get what you need. It’s a process of refinement which stops when you judge that all the relevant details are in place.
On the camera side I had the hacked GH1 in 44Mbps AVCHD mode (full HD). I had a Hasselblad 85MM Zeiss lens which is interesting. It has a very soft look and fantastic bokeh – great for portraits – but on Micro 4/3rds not so much. It is quite a specialist lens and the 85MM focal length on a non-full frame camera like the GH1 is not a good thing to have in the confined spaces of a bathroom. I found my Canon FD 35MM F2 much more flexible.
The GH1 is also a bit tricky when it comes to fast wide shots and maintaining some form of shallow depth of field on wide shots. With a full frame 5D Mark II and fast 24mm lens you get a better look to wide angles. On the GH1 I had a 10-22MM Canon EF lens and the 14-140mm Lumix HD kit lens but these are very slow lenses, at F4. For certain things I love the wide angle look but they don’t have the dreamy cinematic feel like of, say a 20mm F1.8 on a 5D Mark II.
The camera’s newfound picture quality is stunning. Many will expect a flawless camera which never crashes. I had one crash, but with the hack the way it is, pushing the hardware to the limits, this is the trade off we have to accept. I didn’t expect it to crash but it did, and I pulled out the battery to reset it. So just be aware that at the limits (44MBps 1080p) you can expect it to bite you in the arse on certain projects. I wouldn’t recommend pushing it to the limits on live event filming for instance. Reel it back to more reliable settings, like 32MBps 1080p for live events.
Whilst working for Unique Luxe, by complete coincidence they were renting out part of their office to a film production company. They’re based in London and Berlin, but are in the Peak District to film The Holding (more on the BBC) – a horror film about a family at a country holding – a farm like cottage – in the middle of nowhere. The landscape of the Peak District in Derbyshire, UK is perfect for this kind of film.
The producer says that they’re shooting on RED, but they are aware of DSLRs and did consider them for the shoot. I visited the set on the final day of filming and they were regularly working until 2am at night before wrapping. They’re a relatively small UK production company, whom’s next film will be shot for ÂŁ15 million in China.
I will seek an interview with the company, and possibly the creative team behind the film to get their thoughts on the current state of the film industry, especially in the UK.
I believe the UK has in the past missed almost every opportunity to take the fight to hollywood, in terms of production and it’s not for lack of talent. L.A. is and always has been business central for movie production. Hollywood and Silicon Valley are two of the world’s most incredible industries and California has done amazingly well over the past 30 years to have two cutting edge industries as profitable as these. It’s time for Europe to step up to the plate.
We can’t compete in terms of size or money, but we can at least try to outdo our American friends with innovative new ideas and business models. I believe the internet and DSLR video cameras can play a huge part in this.
