Red Sky Photography » Videography

Escape Fails

Rick — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 01:39:55 +0000

I was asked recently to work on the video for a very promising rock metal band Escape Fails promoting their new single “Livestock”. I first met Tim, Paul,Aaron, Mark and Graham at the offices of Scattered Images to discuss and finalise the video which would be shot over two days in a field in Derrytrasna. The guys were really enthusiastic and happy with Marty’s idea and were open to anything. They had some great ideas for the video which added to the overall authenticity of the final outcome. On a cold December Saturday morning we started to build the set which consisted of barrels of fire, metal fencing and throughout the day we burned anything we could get our hands on….. at one stage I was dancing around with my boots/jeans on fire and had to pull out the footloose moves. Good times.

I was responsible again for shooting the video and lighting the scenes. It was a challenging setup considering the video would be shot at night and without the help of my brother in law Vincent, we would have had serious diffs as the generator Marty had wasn’t able to take the load. We were stretched to the maximum at times due to the damp and muddy conditions and again the band had to perform in -1 oC in t-shirts. This would put most men off but the guys kept warm jumping about and getting into each take.

Graham the lead vocalist was cast in some of the scenes and was brilliant at turning it on when needed. Unfortunately the band were outclassed by the extras going crazy in the pen as people were shoved to the ground and run over in a frenzied panic! Mal, Aaron ‘Maiden’ McAvoy and Jonny Burch were the ringleaders of the herd and were fantastic when it came to kicking down things and beating the living daylights out of strangers. Legends! Larry Cowan from Lamb Films took us all to acting school with a stellar performance in a rubber mask. Next time I hope to video his beautiful face instead.

We got the opportunity to see the guys performing on the barge at the waterfront last Friday night. JackalFeud (great band!) were supporting and killed it with a fast-paced heavy set that got the crowd fired up and when the guys came on the place went mental. I never knew there was such a loyal following for homegrown talent and it was great to see it. Enjoy the video! If you’d like to know more about the Behind the Scenes check out Alan McCracken’s very cool video Livestock – Behind the Scenes

Rick.

Voodoo Band Video

Rick — Wed, 19 May 2010 18:06:00 +0000

We recently shot a new music video for the Belfast girl band Voodoo. The girls approached Marty with a script and together we added a little extra spice to make the story more interesting. The entire video was shot again on my Canon 5D MKII and in this instance, I had to pay particular attention to the low light scenarios. My two goto lenses for the job were the 50mm f1.4 and the 16-35mm f2.8 as I had to shoot wide and shallow for the most part. It was a tight deadline as we had to film the whole video in one day bar one scene.

A word of Thanks:
At one stage I used my skateboard as a human dolly for the moving shots at the fashion show and without Chris McGeown at the helm pulling me to safety I’d be writing this with a cast on! It was Chris’s first day on the job and his enthusiasm was appreciated late into the evening when things got tough.

Special thanks also to Michael Mulholland who stepped in as the role of photographer for the video and did a great job. Ben and Sam from Hooptedoodle Films have been documenting the group’s movements for a year now and were very encouraging and at one stage, we used Ben’s on-camera light to help illuminate the final scene…HERO! Ben had actually recommended us to the girls in the first place when they were looking for a music video.

ENJOY THE VIDEO BELOW:

Here are the final images I shot for the video. Note Ben’s video light used as a strobe in the red light scene!

The Human Time-Lapse: Dawn to Dusk

Rick — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:32:42 +0000

I knew this was no ordinary challenge from the start.

On paper the concept was a simple one: Sit a subject in front of a camera for 48hrs and record the moment with a camera. In reality it was to be one of the toughest challenges I would face as a photographer.

Location
When Martin from Scattered Images and I set about to do this challenge, we had dismissed the outdoors as a no-go situation taking into account the weather conditions, batteries and above all personal safety. Fortunately a friend had recommended we shoot at a new apartment block (Victoria Square Apartments) in the heart of the city and arranged a meet with an estate agent. After a recee, we were sure that the indoor location was perfect and we set about letting Belfast know of our intentions. On Thursday at 6:30am, we were going to start our 48hr human timelapse in the comfort of an apartment.

It wasn’t until late on Wednesday afternoon that we were informed that permission had not yet been authorised to shoot our piece at the apartments, two hours before we had planned to leave to set up for the following morning. This really was the end of the line until Marty put a call in to Ciaran from Kaya Studios at Blackstaff Mill (we had never met him before) and at the last minute he welcomed us down to shoot from the rooftop at his place of work. I am still amazed by Ciaran’s generosity and trust as he left his business open to us overnight and during the day (access to his power outlet) without even catching our surnames. He’s really one in a million and we owe him a debt of gratitude!

Diet
If you are a mum or a fitness junkie with a calorie controlled diet I would skip this chapter. Marty and I headed out that evening at 11pm for supplies for the next two days. Let me tell you there are some strange people grocery shopping at that time of night. I should have guessed that this was going to be a bit of a disaster when I walked over to the fruit aisle and Marty asked “what are you doing over there?” In truth I was lost and looking for the kids aisle. We ended up getting cokes, pot noodles and cup-a-soups, savoury scotch eggs and cold cooked cocktail sausages, chocolates and enough crisps to feed a small army. We did buy oranges and apples but they were really for show. Eventually when we unloaded our groceries on the roof it looked like a scene from my 10th birthday party.

We were ready for anything.

The Cold
There was a new catch. We were now shooting outdoors in temperatures as low as -6 Celsius without any shelter whatsoever. My only concern was my Canon 5D MKII being able to perform in these temperatures as I had troubles in the past with the shutter and electronics in freezing conditions. What I didn’t prepare myself for was the effect the cold would have on me personally. I’m not your typical survivalist so my cold weather gear consisted of a hoody, scarf, gloves, jeans and a Marmot jacket. The first night saw temperatures of -5 Celsius and my makeshift bed frosted over as I woke from a 20min nap to start my work at sunrise. It was bitter cold, a kind of bone chill I hadn’t experienced before. The day’s sun was our only heat and a chance to catch a few Z’s in between the 40min interval timer press. Martin however was decked out in the latest Arctic attire, one could be forgiven for thinking he had planned a trip to Everest but changed his mind at the last minute! Even with his Arctic gear Marty also had trouble keeping warm as he was stationary and could not move about.

Technical
From a technical perspective there were a multitude of problems I had to overcome. The idea of exposing a sunrise/sunset manually was daunting for the most experienced of landscape photographers, but to bring a subject into the equation changed everything. It was the challenge of manually exposing the subject with a household light that sent shivers up my spine! In the time leading up to dawn and dusk, light changes rapidly. This in turn affects the camera’s setting and measures must be taken to ensure the appropriate exposure is dialled in. Meanwhile, the light on my subject is also changing and this too must be balanced with the camera’s exposure – in short, it was a race against the clock. I timed the shots in 30sec intervals leaving us with a grand total of approx. 6,500 images.

I brought a dedo light in from left of subject at times to give it a bit of extra punch. The dimmer was a great help when having to change for the amibent light.

We also had issues getting an interval timer to enable us to shoot stills every thirty seconds. We finally bought ours at Amazon and it thankfully arrived next day as promised.

Thank Yous
There were many people who took time out from their businesses and I’d like to say a big thank you to them:

Ciaran at Kaya Studios – Location, power, and for trusting in us
Kieran McAinden at Creative Juices – photography
Sean Duncan at RedCap Productions – Behind the scenes
Gary McGinstry at Carpe Diem Videography - Behind the scenes
Alan Morton at VisionWorks – Press Release and advice
Vinny Hurrell at The Vinny Show Feile FM – Radio interview and support
Mathias Sorum for providing the track “Airport” from the Artist Vital (you can download the track free here also)

A big thank you to all who tweeted and texted throughout our time on the roof. You definitely made life easier in the cold hours! Enjoy the Video below and some stills from my iphone!

Rick.

Have a look at what Marty had to say about the experience also. His new name is the man of steel for sticking it out in the chair for the full 48hrs: Marty’s Blog

The Human Time-Lapse

Rick — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:56:36 +0000

After getting involved with Belfast4Haiti Marty and I wanted to do something extra to raise awareness in our own social and business circles to hopefully get people talking about the Haiti and Chile disaster. We settled on heading in a direction that would take us out of our comfort zones and encourage others to do their bit. We are planning to complete a 48hr time-lapse piece involving a human subject and we are hoping to raise £500 in the 48hrs of filming it.

Time-Lapses are a beautiful and modern interpretation of our world in motion. It has become common place in cinematography and some pioneers have travelled the world capturing our cityscapes with extreme dedication. We decided to do our own time-lapse piece in Belfast city, with a difference.

This poses a number of issues from a technical perspective not to mention the obvious sleep deprivation involved in being the human subject (sat stationary for the duration of the time) and the photographer/cameraman. Marty decided to put himself forward for the challenge and we set about organising it. We are still awaiting confirmation for the location but the image above will give you an idea of the proposed backdrop.

We will be dedicating this piece to help raise funds for both countries and all money will go to the Disasters Emergency Committee justgiving.com/belfast4haiti

Below is a trailer for the piece. Enjoy!

Rick.

Good Morning Mr. Jenkins

Rick — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:25:20 +0000

We weren’t really expecting much when Marty and I wrote the story of Good Morning Mr.Jenkins one afternoon in a local diner off the motorway but I guess that’s where all great ideas are born, from humble beginnings.

We had to write a short for Filmaka (a global short film competition) as one of our previous shorts Blood Stained Footprints had been selected as a divisional winner. We were over the moon to say the least but apprehensive because we had to write, shoot and edit a new short in a month. It was a huge challenge and a superb effort by all involved.

The video can be seen below and I have also included a behind the scenes for you to have a chuckle at.

Rick.

Behind the scenes with Red Sky and Scattered Images:

Belfast4Haiti Documentary: A look back on the day

Rick — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:24:38 +0000

The video documentary is finished courtesy of Marty from Scattered Images. It’s a brief summary of how the days events unfolded and an exclusive interview with the original organisers. These guys felt strongly enough to act on behalf of the people of Haiti in response to the atrocious disaster that unfolded.

A special thanks to all who have given their time and money in support of this cause.

Rick.

Band Shoot: On Location Vid

Rick — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:43:23 +0000

I thought I should start a sequence of videos showing the nature of my shoots and giving users a behind the scenes look at how I go about shooting a subject on location. This first video is just an introduction so stay tuned for more in-depth coverage of your typical approach to outdoor people photography.

If you love the word ammmmmm you’ll love this video! A special prize for whoever posts the correct amount of ammmmm’s in the comments section (a free 20 x 16 signed print from the band shoot and a straight jacket for sitting and counting them!)

These are some of the processed shots from the day. As you can see I decided to go for really gritty processing. In this case gritty works well but it’s not for everyone. Special thanks to Marty at Scattered Images for shooting the video and putting it together. He’s one classy videographer and full-time hero. For the video gearheads (geeks) Marty shot this piece on Sony’s EX3. Head over to Marty’s site to find out more about his weapon of choice.

Rick.

Belfast4Haiti: 50 bands and a sell out crowd

Rick — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 12:38:29 +0000

When I heard of the Belfast4Haiti all day music festival and the promise of 50 bands in one day I was somewhat sceptical at first. What I didn’t know at that time was the sheer effort and organisation that was being put into the event. Marty from Scattered Images and I went down to meet with Dino, Anto and Aaron to start shooting the documentary and to interview the guys one by one. Their reasons for putting on the event and their passion for the Haiti disaster came through loud and clear and from this moment on I knew this was going to be a great day. I was wrong, it was truly FANTASTIC! CDC Leisure and the guys were on the ball and the day went like clockwork.

The atmosphere in the pit was electric as fans chanted over the barriers singing the songs almost as loud as the band on some occasions. Carrie Davenport received a couple of blows to the back of the head from an adoring fan as she tried to get a shot of the answer. Like the true pro she is, Carrie worked in between the smacks to get a steady shot

At one point we had to leave by the stage door at the Limelight and round the outside of the building to get set up for the next band at the spring and airbrake due to the sheer volume of people herding to and from each band. It didn’t help that the bands in Katy Dalys were rocking the middle stage – TOTAL GRIDLOCK! (Jamaican Accent – not the Brad Pitt one though in Meet Joe Black – OUCH!)

My hat goes off to the fellas who started the ball rolling as they raised over £20,000 and gave the fans something to truly remember! A big shout out to the bar staff and security who helped us get from A to B and kept us on the straight and narrow. Thanks also to Sabrina who was there to answer the most mundane questions and always had a smile on her face. Here are a few shots from the gig I managed to snap in between shooting the video on the 5D MK II. Enjoy.

Rick.

If you go down to the woods today…

Rick — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:39:36 +0000

If you go down to the woods today…, originally uploaded by Red Sky Photography.

A shot from the Music Video shot completely with the Canon 5D MK II. “Face the Future” is Black Bear Saloon’s latest single and we were fortunate enough to be able to shoot the video for them.

Goldie can be seen here: Black Bear Saloon – Face the Future

Any comments on the Video are more than welcome.

Enjoy!

Rick.

Black Bear Saloon: The final scenes…

redskyniakai — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:00:30 +0000

It was time to shoot the final scenes so we headed up to the woodlands not far from forestside where Richie and Moyah walk the dog every evening. The place was perfect and had an eerie atmosphere…..probably down to the fact that we were filming right next to a mortuary! I guess you could say that the ambiance was just about right so we kicked off the last few scenes in style with Moyah getting back into muddy wet clothes and giving it everything she had.

Can’t give too much away at this stage but we were delighted with the finished shots and its now up to Marty at Scattered Images to cut up the footage and edit it. NO PRESSURE MART!

Tonight I was up a tree, kneeling in muck, running after myself, (hard to explain really) standing on stools, narrowly avoiding shrapnel from flying objects (Marty let his inner grizzly bear out finally) and also got the production team hooked on Jameson’s Caramels. Richie and Marty made the most of being bears for their three seconds of fame and literally trashed the place. NUTTERS! I must give a big shout out to my brother Faraz who loaned me his wellies (3 months ago – SORRY!). I promise to clean the muck off and return them before your 60th birthday

Got the chance to rock out with the band as they played the song at the end……GOOSEBUMPS! Can’t get the song out of my head now….and for once it’s a good thing…

Here’s a few shots from the evening.