This year we are doing a big push in the commercial world. Closing out 2018, for a release today, we shot a music video for a Toronto based musician Illvibe with Veronica being featured on the track. In early chats with Illvibe, he had sent some new tracks and Another One definitely hit the mood I was looking for in terms of creating a video. The relaxed atmosphere would fit the visuals I was going for. The inspiration for the look was Michael Mann’s driving epic; Collateral. That movie is filled with so many incredible exteriors and interiors and it’s digital. Though I wasn’t shooting on the 80k Sony F900, it was no matter, creating cool shots can be done on any camera at any level. Part of the project was to experiment with the new Matthews Car Mount system and explore some creative ways to capture natural lens flares. For most of the shoot, I was in the front seat with a rig that had flashlights and LED lights shining directly into the lens. Long live the zip tie! There are definitely some post-production lens flares (mostly on the exteriors) but I’m proud to say that digital flares were not a crutch and more than 80% of the lights and refraction is in camera.
I was very concerned with stable exterior shots. I did a couple of driving tests and then sped up the footage as that is where I would be able to see see the bumps and shakes. The Matthews Car Mount system has 2 points of articulation for stabilization. I was happy with the day tests and was able to wipe the sweat from my brow as the camera did not end up in the canal. Check out a quick export of some of the test footage of first actual driving test.
A few stills from the test shoot so you can see the setup and a funny screen grab showing my face being blasted with the LED. Both performers had to deal with this type of lighting in their face over the two night shoot.