Archive for January, 2010

Project Title: Epica in Belgrade

Client: Epica Awards – European’s Premier Creative Awards

Agency: New Moment Magazine

Directors: Julio Wood & Ivo Martinovic

Production Year: 2010.

*click here to see TVC.

A couple of weeks ago we were presented with an interesting challenge by New Moment’s Chairman and founder Dragan Sakan. We were asked to produce a promotional video; to be broadcast on television; a music video and an end credits title sequence for this year’s Epica Awards held in Belgrade.

The project did not have a budget and so we were required to be quite lateral in our thinking when developing a solution for the problem. A soundtrack had already been produced for the promo and we chose to use this as a starting point for the technique that we would apply to the piece. Having no money and less time, we were limited in our options as far as what type of technology we would be able to utilise when shooting the piece.

We eventually decided to attempt stop frame and to shoot all the material in high definition resolution using high end digital stills cameras. We asked two photographer friends to assist us on the project and spent two miserable evenings in the snow and cold trying to get the cumbersome cameras to give us legible and usable material; especially when attempting any type of movement which inevitably caused havoc with focus and motion blur.

In addition to the cameras being clumsy to work with, the post production process proved to be hellishly slow because of the sheer amount of high definition material that we would need to process and edit. With a seven day deadline looming and with a large amount of graphics and animation still needing to be designed and implemented by our in house designers and animators, we had to find a different way of solving the problem of how we were going to shoot the material we needed.

The solution had been staring us in the face all the time. Ironically, it took a ridiculously simple form in the shape of a three year old, entry level Canon Ixus 75 stills camera with a time lapse function. We had shot our initial tests with the camera and as a classic example of the stereotypical film maker that believes only in the virtues of big, expensive technology; originally excluded the possibility of using it because of its low resolution, basic functionality and embarrassingly small proportions – the camera’s no bigger than a cigarette pack you see and film makers like their cameras to be large. Understand? Yet it was precisely these very characteristics that gave the piece its charm and attitude and allowed us the mobility and flexibility that we required during both the shooting process and post production process.

Even after all these years doing the job, one is constantly reminded that sometimes simple is just better.

Special thanks to all the guys that worked over new years holidays: Coa, Tijan, Ivan & Marko