Soul Fire Saints - Live at Corp 25/01/14

On Saturday 25th August we were invited to take live footage and conduct an interview style concept meeting at their gig at the Corporation. 

Back Stage Passes                                Free SFS Promo CD                              Notes

We took over 20 minutes of footage when discussing the band's concepts using a hand-held camera. I used this method to get closer to the band and focus in on each member's face when talking, laughing or demonstrating an action. I feel this made the video more personal than a steady cam.

When filming the band's live set, we used a tripod and camera with a wide angle lens and set it up behind the mixing desks in the corner of the room. It was cramped and we had to improvise using our environment but I think this made our shots even more satisfying. The lighting was great and  the band were turquoise and purple under them. From this angle we managed to get the whole band in the shot.

We also used a fig rig and camera with a standard lens to get some up close and personal shots from the middle of the crowd and backstage while the band were playing. 

Concept One - Nursing Home

 I really like this concept. The idea of the elderly people dancing and playing instruments breaks stereotypical ideas about their lifestyle and I can imagine the concept vividly in my mind's eye. It's witty, tongue-in-cheek and could potentially be an incredibly funny video if done right. 

Discussing this concept with the band, some of them suggested friends and family may be available to play the parts of the elderly people. We decided that it may be more accessible to use young people dressed as older people in the video, but use actual elderly people to play the main parts. We could use our friends to play the nurses

We also suggested using a community center or church hall to film the video inside, as opposed to a real nursing home because we believe that option may not be possible!

This concept would require a considerable amount of planning including call sheets for actors and treatments, but I believe it would be an exciting and challenging concept to follow up.

Concept Two - Animation

The second concept the band came up with is a mixture of live footage and an animated narrative, involving an old television set. They'd like a smooth animation that would morph back and forward between actions.

I suggested that we sketchup three or four different drawing styles of the same character and animate them, then ask the band which style they prefer and then produce the content following the storyline.I also suggested that in terms of a scene with an old TV breaking up the animation, we could take an angle from behind the TV, showing the band in the background sat on a sofa, watching the set. I'm sure I've already seen a music video which uses a TV set like this, so I wonder if it would be more original to use an old projector onto a textured wall. 

If we were to select this concept and were to carry the animation out to the best quality, we believe it could take a long time to produce. However, with the live interjections/TV set we think the video will be considerably more manageable within our time scale.

We are now discussing the possibility of carrying out both music videos alongside each other. The band suggested we use another new single for the first concept, of which we agreed. We think playing to our strengths within the group, this may be possible.