Tick,... Tick,... Boom!

 VOGUE 73 QUESTIONS AND A DRESS TRAILER

Both the videos I shot for this production were very fun and easy. The cast and crew are very kind and I have enjoyed working with them as the videographer.

I was asked by Sal to do a Vogue 73 Questions with video with Mina, the Associate Director, and Peter, who plays Michael, during the run of Carrie: the Musical. We shot the video in ten minutes in the Oxford playhouse; we did two takes in that time. I shot on Sal's phone, in the 8K setting, and using my DJI gimbal, which allowed for smooth turns and transitions. I think the camera movement looks good, especially since I didn't have prior knowledge of what the path would be. The lighting is not ideal but that is due to limited resources and the lighting within the setting. I have fixed the contrast and colour of the video so that it appears a bit better. Sal does a brilliant impersonation of the interviewer in the Vogue videos, and Mina and Peter's discomfort makes the video all the better. A very clever marketing idea – I might have to steal it.

I was also asked to film the dress trailer. I used the OUFF camera – the first time I've filmed with it – and got to see the show before it opened (it's so amazing I'm going back to see it on one of the performance nights). The camera is very fun to use (and relatively simple once you know what you are doing). I recorded most of the show; the battery life isn't great so I had to turn off the camera when possible. The audio was recorded through the sound setup for the musical. 

I went through the footage looking for stills, which I'm really happy with, and that helped me get a sense of the footage I had. It was a particularly useful experience given the volume of footage I recorded. I then went through the audio (I was given four key songs to use) and picked out bits with the best audio quality and lyrics. I edited them together in Audacity and played with the frequencies to make them sound better. I didn't really have an understanding of what I was doing – I was just copying YouTube videos – but it seems to have improved it. I honestly listened to it so many times I lost the ability to discern what had changed. 

I went through adding my favourite bits of footage to the video in DaVinci Resolve. I cut it to the lyrics and beat. 

After speaking to Felix (the Director) and Max (the Producer), I crossfaded the songs in Audacity (a very good suggestion, I'm not sure why I hadn't done it before), and we decided to cut Green, Green Dress because of the audio quality. That bit was my least favourite in terms of the visuals I'd chosen, so I was happy with the change. The video is also long enough without it.

I'm really happy with it and the footage! The quality different between a phone and film camera is striking... I kind of want one now....