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MUSIC PROMOS
PLAN B, AKA ACTOR/DIRECTOR BEN DREW, WAS RECENTLY NAMED BRITISH MALE SOLO ARTIST AT THIS YEAR’S PRESTIGIOUS BRIT AWARDS. DP LOL CRAWLEY TELLS ROSA KAFTAN ABOUT THE CREATIVE PROCESS AND INSPIRATION BEHIND THE VINTAGE AESTHETICS OF THE PROMOS HE SHOT FOR THE WHITE RAPPER’S NUMBER ONE ALBUM THE DEFAMATION OF STRICKLAND BANKS.
There were five promos in total. Robbie Ryan shot a couple but I started it off with Stay Too
“Long, She Said and Love Goes Down. We won a whole bunch of Video Music Awards for Stay Too Long, in- cluding one for Best Cinematography.
I got involved after the director Daniel Wolfe saw Ballast [2008, a Sundance Festival winner set in the Mississippi Delta], and he approached me to see if I’d be interested in shooting a promo.
The whole Strickland Banks concept has a Northern soul influence, which is fairly retro. It’s not specific to an era but it references a lot of the 60s and 70s, so we looked at the early work of filmmakers like Alan Clarke, and other British directors working in those decades as quite a strong point of reference.
Our preparation was slightly limited, because we were working so quickly in finding the locations. Also, so much of what I do is a reaction in the moment and less about prepara- tion. There was certainly that kind of spontaneity to shooting Stay Too Long.
The camera I used for it was the Arricam LT, whereas She Said and Love Goes Down, which were shot on 16mm, used the Arri 416. Both cameras are lightweight, which was great because the director was a fan of my hand-held work. We also knew we needed to work very quickly in a range of locations and those cameras lend themselves really well to that.
The film stocks I chose for Stay Too Long were 35mm ETERNA 500T and ETERNA 250D using Cooke S4 prime lenses. The other two promos were shot on ETERNA Vivid 500T for a richer look and used both S4’s and Cooke Century 2000 prime lenses.
I wanted to try out the new stock to explore the high saturation, vivid colours and the exceptional fine grain the 16mm stock offered. I had just finished shooting a feature [Here] in Armenia on various 35mm Fujifilm stocks using the Cooke S4 pirme lenses and i became a big fan of the combination. They create a very nice texture and soft look. The Century 2000 lenses have a familiar Cooke feel but with a softer, older feel that suited the Strickland Banks retro look.
I find Fujifilm copes well with mixed light sources or different colour temperature lighting in a single environment, so shooting with these stocks was a clear choice to make.
The scene at Ronnie Scott’s in Stay Too Long was definitely a lit scene but with the other locations, there was a mixture. For some locations we just went in and swapped a couple of the domestic light bulbs and went with what was there.
Anyone who knows my work, will know that I’m a fan of available light. I think if it’s working, there’s no need to change it for the sake of changing it. In the snooker hall scene in Stay Too Long, we couldn’t really do anything other than stage our action and shoot. We couldn’t put up lights. But it turned out be some of the best-looking stuff in the promo.
Other than using neutral density filters and soft effects filters, I tend to generally shoot fairly straight. But, for Stay Too Long, I took an optical flat, which is a clear filter and I daubed a small amount of Vaseline on it to make a streak effects filter out of it. It is a homemade effects filter, which basically spreads any light that
hits it laterally or horizontally.
“FUJIFILM COPES WELL WITH MIXED LIGHT SOURCES OR DIFFERENT COLOUR TEMPERATURE LIGHTING IN A SINGLE ENVIRONMENT.”
THAT’SARAP
Stay Too Long was originated on 35mm Fujicolor ETERNA 500T 8573; She Said and Love Goes Down on 16mm ETERNA Vivid 500T 8673
Photos: Scenes from Stay Too Long, She Said and Love Goes Down; DP Lol Crawley ”
FUJIFILM MOTION PICTURE • THE MAGAZINE • EXPOSURE • 39