Negotiated Specialist ProjectArbee - M'Agace Music Promo
Overview
Mathieu Lamontagne is an ambient / experimental musician and producer based in Quebec who works under the name Arbee
Following the success of our previous collaboration, the music promo for his track Wintercomp, we decided to collaborate again.
Mathieu stated that this track would be more emotive. I decided to do something less abstract than our previous work and make a video that would connect with people and their emotions.
My idea was inspired by life in Manchester. We are surrounded by people but are largely disconnected from them. We all live our separate lives. I want this film to show this disconnection with brief moments of connection with people. The viewer should see real emotion and feel a connection with the people on the screen. I hope this idea will resonate with people who watch this film.
Treatment
Title: Arbee – m'agace – music promo
Topline: Making intimate connections with the strangers around us. Connecting with people’s emotions.
Scene Breakdown:
Set up / Incitement, Confrontation / Setback, Resolution / Climax
While this is an instrumental music promo, and there will be no speech, there will be a story running through this film.
Everything will be filmed in slow motion, with a short depth of field. The focus will stay on the distance for filming each person’s reactions as much as possible (if it looks terrible, change the focus until it looks good). This means that people will be nicely blurred until they are very close to the camera.
The short depth of field will look good but the idea is that while we are surrounded by people, we don’t really connect with any of them. When they come into focus, it signifies making a connection with someone. Eyes will be the key to this connection.
Mathieu Lamontagne music promo - Structure |
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Acts & Contributory Questions |
Scenes |
Sequences & Format Points |
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| PRE-TITLES | Busy urban street scene filmed as described above) - wide | Music fades in | |
| TITLES | |||
| ACT ONE | Closer shots of people walking past (these will appear throughout) | ||
| Close up shots of interviewees. | The first happy question. | ||
| Slightly wider shots of the interview scenes. | |||
| ACT TWO | Closer shots of people walking past (these will appear throughout) | ||
| Close up shots of interviewees. | The sad / angry question | ||
| Slightly wider shots of the interview scenes. | |||
| ACT THREE | Similar range of shots |
Most emotive responses. Each person’s happy response that opens them up the most to the viewer (opening a window to the soul). |
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| Busy urban street scene (same or similar to the start – not same clip though!) | |||
| Credits, web links.
Music fades out. |
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Test Filming
With a treatment in place, I set out to make a short test film that could be used in the presentation for this assignment but also see how well this idea works on screen.
I took a minimal set up (GH4 camera with shotgun microphone and viewfinder) to First Street in Manchester. Due to the unusually cold weather, there were fewer people around than expected, but I did manage to film three people. I recorded in real time but filmed at 96 fps, the faster frame rate my camera can achieve.
Each time I stopped a person, I asked if they would be happy to answer a couple of questions on film. I quickly built a rapport with each person, making sure to try to keep as much natural eye contact as possible. This meant that when I brought the camera up to my face, even though they could not see my eyes, they continued to look in that direction, now directly down the lens of the camera!
I asked each of them two questions, one designed to produce a positive response (eg. What is your favourite place?) and the other to get a negative response (eg. If you could change anything in the world, what would it be?). What I wanted from each interviewee was the expressions of emotion on their faces. The footage of them talking would be no good for this project. With this in mind, in between each question I pretended to check that the camera was still recording. This meant I got more footage of each person looking straight into the camera.
Production Details
I will act as a one filming person crew, although I will have another person with me to look after model release forms and the equipment while I am filming.
Budget
Equipment / Personnel |
Cost |
| GH4 camera and lens, 3 days | £445 [1] |
| Manfrotto 501HDV Tripod, 2 day | £30 [1] |
| Producer Director, 4 days (including pre-production) | £545.50 per day; £2182 [2] |
| Producer Assistant, 1 day | £112.85 [2] |
| Editor and Edit suite, 1 day | £550 [3] |
| Transport | £20 |
| Insurance | £4 [4] |
Total |
£3343.85 |
References:
1 - www.vinorth.co.uk
2 - www.bectu.org.uk/advice-resources/rates
3 - www.slinkyproductions.co.uk/edit-suite-hire
4 - www.policybee.co.uk/videographer-insurance
This price is calculated from the above online sources. In reality, I used all my own equipment and edited in my home office. Had I charged for this commission, I could have given the client a much better deal.
Call Sheets and Risk Assessments
Call Sheet #1 – 25th February 2018
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| Unit Call Time: 11:30 | Weather
Temp |
Sunny Intervals
2°C |
| Main Production Contact | Brin Coleman | |
| Producer/Director | Brin Coleman | |
| Preliminary Schedule - subject to change | ||
| Time | Action | |
| 11:30
11:40 12:30 |
Unit Call and set up
Film Pack Up and Crew leave |
Unit Wrap Time: 12:30 |
| Location | ||
| Tony Wilson Place, First Street, Manchester M15 4GU |
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| Health & Safety | ||
| All crew to wear protective footwear (No flip flops, sandals or open toe shoes)
All crew to wear sensible clothing (No shorts. Only jeans or long trousers permitted) Full risk assessment attached. |
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| Production Requirements | ||
| Rushes
Parking Catering Toilets Medical |
To be downloaded and backed up on set.
N/A N/A Public toilets nearby First aid nearby |
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| Risk Assessment #1 – 25th February 2018 | ||||||||
| SITE: | Tony Wilson Place | DEPARTMENT | Moon & Bacon productions | HOD | Brin Coleman | |||
| ACTIVITY | Video Shoot | ASSESSMENT COMPLETED BY | Brin Coleman | |||||
| HAZARD REF NO | HAZARD | WHO IS AT RISK | HOW MANY | HOW OFTEN | EXISTING CONTROLS | LIKELIHOOD OF HARM | SEVERITY OF HARM | OVERALL RISK |
| 1 | Trips, Slips and Falls | Crew, Talent | 1 | Any time | Crew members to be aware of the surroundings. | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Obstruction | Crew, Talent | 1 | Any time | Crew members to be aware of the surroundings. | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Electrics equipment | Crew, Talent | 1 | Any time | Crew alert | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Manual Lifting | Crew | 1 | Any time | Crew alert | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | Filming equipment safety | Crew, Talent | 1 | Any time | Crew alert | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| HAZARD REF NO | ACTION REQUIRED | RESPONSIBILITY | TARGET DATE | COMPLETION DATE | ||||
| 1 | Ensure all wires are out of the way. | Crew | 25/2/18 | 25/2/18 | ||||
| 2 | Make sure equipment is tidy. | Crew | 25/2/18 | 25/2/18 | ||||
| 3 | Ensure all cables and equipment are tidy. Keep equipment away from public. | Crew | 25/2/18 | 25/2/18 | ||||
| 4 | Carry equipment correctly, minimising impact. | Crew | 25/2/18 | 25/2/18 | ||||
| 5 | Make sure equipment is kept tidy and in a safe place, in view and not obstructing. | Crew | 25/2/18 | 25/2/18 | ||||
Call Sheet #2 – 26th March 2018
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| Unit Call Time: 13:00 | Weather
Temp |
Light Cloud
9°C |
| Main Production Contact | Brin Coleman | |
| Producer/Director | Brin Coleman | |
| Production Assistant / Sound | Sigsbert Rutajunara | |
| Preliminary Schedule - subject to change | ||
| Time | Action | |
| 13:00
13:10 15:00 |
Unit Call and set up
Film Pack Up and Crew leave |
Unit Wrap Time: 15:00 |
| Location | ||
| Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester M60 1AY |
 |
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| Health & Safety | ||
| All crew to wear protective footwear (No flip flops, sandals or open toe shoes)
All crew to wear sensible clothing (No shorts. Only jeans or long trousers permitted) Full risk assessment attached. |
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| Production Requirements | ||
| Rushes
Parking Catering Toilets Medical |
To be downloaded and backed up on set.
none none Public toilets nearby none |
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| Risk Assessment #2 – 26th March 2018 | ||||||||
| SITE: | Manchester city centre | DEPARTMENT | Moon & Bacon productions | HOD | Brin Coleman | |||
| ACTIVITY | Video Shoot | ASSESSMENT COMPLETED BY | Brin Coleman | |||||
| HAZARD REF NO | HAZARD | WHO IS AT RISK | HOW MANY | HOW OFTEN | EXISTING CONTROLS | LIKELIHOOD OF HARM | SEVERITY OF HARM | OVERALL RISK |
| 1 | Trips, Slips and Falls | Crew, Talent | 1 | Any time | Crew members to be aware of the surroundings. Notify talent. |
1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Obstruction | Crew, Talent | 1 | Any time | Crew members to be aware of the surroundings. Notify talent. |
1 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Electrics equipment | Crew, Talent | 1 | Any time | Crew alert | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Manual Lifting | Crew | 1 | Any time | Crew alert | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | Filming equipment safety | Crew, Talent | 1 | Any time | Crew alert | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| HAZARD REF NO | ACTION REQUIRED | RESPONSIBILITY | TARGET DATE | COMPLETION DATE | ||||
| 1 | Ensure all wires are out of the way and make the public passing aware of the wires | Crew | 26/3/18 | 26/3/18 | ||||
| 2 | Make sure equipment is tidy and others are made aware of equipment | Crew | 26/3/18 | 26/3/18 | ||||
| 3 | Ensure all cables and equipment are tidy. Keep equipment away from public. | Crew | 26/3/18 | 26/3/18 | ||||
| 4 | Carry equipment correctly, minimising impact. | Crew | 26/3/18 | 26/3/18 | ||||
| 5 | Make sure equipment is kept tidy and in a safe place not obstructing. | Crew | 26/3/18 | 26/3/18 | ||||
Call Sheet #3 – 9th May 2018
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| Unit Call Time: 10:30 | Weather
Temp |
Sunny Intervals
14°C |
| Main Production Contact | Brin Coleman | |
| Producer/Director | Brin Coleman | |
| Preliminary Schedule - subject to change | ||
| Time | Action | |
| 10:30
10:40 12:00 |
Unit Call and set up
Film Pack Up and Crew leave |
Unit Wrap Time: 12:00 |
| Location | ||
| Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester M60 1AY |
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| Health & Safety | ||
| All crew to wear protective footwear (No flip flops, sandals or open toe shoes)
All crew to wear sensible clothing (No shorts. Only jeans or long trousers permitted) Full risk assessment attached. |
||
| Production Requirements | ||
| Rushes
Parking Catering Toilets Medical |
To be downloaded and backed up on set.
none none Public toilets nearby none |
|
| Risk Assessment #3 – 9th May 2018 | ||||||||
| SITE: | Manchester city centre | DEPARTMENT | Moon & Bacon productions | HOD | Brin Coleman | |||
| ACTIVITY | Video Shoot | ASSESSMENT COMPLETED BY | Brin Coleman | |||||
| HAZARD REF NO | HAZARD | WHO IS AT RISK | HOW MANY | HOW OFTEN | EXISTING CONTROLS | LIKELIHOOD OF HARM | SEVERITY OF HARM | OVERALL RISK |
| 1 | Trips, Slips and Falls | Crew, Talent | 1 | Any time | Crew members to be aware of the surroundings. Notify talent. |
1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Obstruction | Crew, Talent | 1 | Any time | Crew members to be aware of the surroundings. Notify talent. |
1 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Electrics equipment | Crew, Talent | 1 | Any time | Crew alert | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Manual Lifting | Crew | 1 | Any time | Crew alert | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | Filming equipment safety | Crew, Talent | 1 | Any time | Crew alert | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| HAZARD REF NO | ACTION REQUIRED | RESPONSIBILITY | TARGET DATE | COMPLETION DATE | ||||
| 1 | Ensure all wires are out of the way and make the public passing aware of the wires | Crew | 9/5/18 | 9/5/18 | ||||
| 2 | Make sure equipment is tidy and others are made aware of equipment | Crew | 9/5/18 | 9/5/18 | ||||
| 3 | Ensure all cables and equipment are tidy. Keep equipment away from public. | Crew | 9/5/18 | 9/5/18 | ||||
| 4 | Carry equipment correctly, minimising impact. | Crew | 9/5/18 | 9/5/18 | ||||
| 5 | Make sure equipment is kept tidy and in a safe place not obstructing. | Crew | 9/5/18 | 9/5/18 | ||||
Filming and Editing
The first day of filming was for the test shoot. The footage from this was successful enough to be included in the final edit.
(photo: Sigsbert Rutajunara)
On the second day of filming, myself and Sigsbert Rutajunara met and set up in Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester. However, it quickly became apparent that this was not a good or safe place to film: people were stressed and in a hurry and we noticed people taking too keen an interest in our filming equipment. We decided to move to St. Peter's Square. This was a much more pleasant location (looks and atmosphere) and we quickly filmed a variety of people.
During the initial editing process, it became clear that I needed more cutaway shots. I had two good shots of people walking past me in the street which looked effective. I decided to go out again and get more of these. On 9th May, I took my Lumix GH4 camera out to film these extra shots.
I shot at 96 fps (the fastest frame rate on my camera) in Cine D, a reasonably flat setting. My camera has V-Log but I have achieved better results grading footage shot in Cine D. I used a very short depth of field (f1.7) with a 25mm prime lens (equivalent to a 50mm lens on a 35mm camera) and focused very close to the camera. This meant that people were blurred as in shot but became less blurred the closer they got to the camera. I made use of glass buildings, filming people and their reflections.
The idea here was to echo the shot used in the close up face shots, where each person is crisp and in focus, while the background, and importantly, other people are blurred.
Behind The Scenes
This video shows the process of interviewing people on the streets of Manchester for the music promo.