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F
THE BIG APPLE
How London was briefly transformed into
New York for Let The Beats Roll
or a few fleeting hours in the spring, a small piece of London became New York. Shooting the pop promo Let The Beats Roll for Tim Deluxe ft. The Audio Bullys, featuring ‘Bongo’ Eddie Folk,
DP Ed Wild and director Eran Creevy had a day to tell an entertaining story set to the thumping bass of the song.
A blind bongo player beats out his rhythm relentlessly, oblivious to a passing stranger who spies the pot of cash by his side. About to steal it, the stranger notices passengers heading his way and in order to mask his guilt begins to dance energetically to the old man’s music.
The treatment was something Creevy had in mind as a possible short story but it works well in this form with a nice twist at the end. It was shot on 35mm Eterna 500T 8573, at an underground station in the City.
“We had to shoot with available light in because of the location and as there wasn’t any room,” says Wild. “We ended up with three kinoflows and a little generator. We didn’t colour
correct anything, just put gels on the lamps to match it to the lamps, which were a greeny tungsten, and matched the kinoflows to that. Shooting it on 35mm made it feel richer. We wanted it to look slick and American but, at the same time, not overly slick.”
With the would-be thief dancing in all manner of ever extravagant moves, the important thing was to capture the grace of his self choreo- graphed routine – shot over a gru- elling 12 hours – without making the camera work itself too flashy.
“It was quite difficult because we set one shot and that was great for one move and then he did a different move and disappeared completely out the frame. We just had to pick our sweet spots for each move.
“It wasn’t strictly choreographed. It’s not like he had a routine and went from one thing to another. He’d say he’d do something and I’d decide the best place to shoot it. That was also why we shot a 2:35 frame, because we wanted to be able to frame him in it.”
Produced by Ben Pugh of Between The Eyes, for the Skint record
label and post-produced at VTR, the promo combines a strong narrative, a sense of humour and a technical accomplishment – not bad for one hectic day’s shoot in April.
“Basically,” says Wild, “on some- thing like this you you’re trying to get enough shots so the edit can tell the story. That’s the trick on a promo where it’s a narrative thing on a very limited day. Often that narrative side can just disappear down the plughole, and you end up with half a video.
“On this we knew it was important to get a lot of angles and a lot of shots to tell the story. That’s why I decided to shoot it much more simply and strip the lighting right down. In the end it worked out well, I think.” ■ ANWAR BRETT
Let The Beats Roll for Tim Deluxe ft. The Audio Bullys was originated on 35mm Fujicolor Eterna 500T 8573
Photos: scenes from Let The Beats Roll with The Audio Bullys, featuring ‘Bongo’ Eddie Folk
Fujifilm Motion Picture • The Magazine • Exposure • 31