Sound and Lighting for a Pop Promo
Today at 12.00, our production crew for the pop promo was destined to meet with the client to start filming his music video in a hotel we booked nearby.
The most important lesson started right then and there:
For our client did not turn up to our appointed meeting place for 2,5 hours. We attempted to call and email him, but he didn't respond to either calls or emails and when we finally managed to reach him, he seemed profoundly confused that we were set to film, even though he confirmed the filming day this same morning. We were not able to reschedule since we had booked the hotel and couldn't afford to reschedule both budget-wise or time-wise. So we decided to pack up afterwards, drove the equipment over to our filming location, unloaded and set up our equipment afterwards before the client finally popped in, bringing his rest of the equipment along.
Since the client was extremely specific about the colour scheme of black-white-red during his pitch and the entire pre-production, we not only took out the Dedo Felloni 2 lights bot also the LEE gel packs, and I decided to set up the lighting additionally to me being sound op.
Now you will ask: Sound op for a music video that will overlay the soundtrack anyway? Why do you need a sound operator for that? You don't necessarily need foley sounds or wild track, so why bother? I initially signed up for the role as a sound op because in my mind, I imagined the video to start slowly, setting the mood before actually starting with the song, which would naturally need not only wild tracks but also foley sounds. But I was needed for one more aspect:
I was there to record the client performing his song with the correct timing of his actual song and thus to give the editor key points to sync the actual song with the performance of our client.
But back to the lighting, I set up one key light with a red gel, a normal white fill light and used a reflector to either backlight the client/actor by bouncing off the fill light or to enhance the red light falling onto the client/actor in close ups. After a bit of experimentation and in accordance with the client's wishes on set, I finally set the key light to 4960 K and to an intensity of 84 %, whereas I set the fill light to 3200 K and to an intensity of 2,2 %.
The set up was done, and we were finally able to start filming, breezing through our production schedule, discussing shots and framing with the client so that we would ensure that we film exactly what the client wanted. After approx. eight hours of filming, we were finally done and were able to de-rig and go home.
People in the industry say that you are not allowed to call yourself a proper filmmaker unless you've used a Magic arm with a super clamp on set... Nearing the end of the shooting day, we came across a wide shot and we realised that the light stand as well as the key light were visibly in shot. The issue was that they could not be tremendously moved or turned off for reasons of continuity. So after a bit of thinking, I remembered the claim above and I decided to step up my game by using a Magic arm with a super clamp and clamped the red-gelled key light onto the TV-arm that was already in the hotel room. Since these TV-arms are legally required to be able to carry at least 25 kg, I quickly estimated the combined weight of TV, LED light and Magic Arm and came to the conclusion that we still have a tolerance of about 5kg left. Said and done, I mounted the Magic arm onto the TV arm and, voilá! It was stuck like a limpet.
So I guess I am allowed to call myself a proper filmmaker now?