It has been a lot of fun getting to collaborate with the music community that revolves around Earwig Studio up in the Wallingford neighborhood in Seattle. So many great musicians and bands playing cool music. Earwig’s vibe just brings out the best in people and Don Farwell is the big big reason that vibe really reverberates out into the community. Putting on these live events and working to capture a video of the band performing in a live atmosphere is fun and exciting because there is going to be only a one shot opportunity to capture that moment. To grab the performance in an interesting way visually when you don’t know the changes. I’ve played enough music I can do some guessing when the chorus is coming. When the singer is about to start back up. Where the guitar solo might be. Trying to have the camera in that place at the right time is a great challenge. Deena helps me out and we do a two camera set up in order to always have a back up shot that is more conservative if necessary.
The bands and the crowd and the atmosphere that Don creates helps a lot to get in the spirit and groove of each tune. It is fun to try and match the style and energy of the band with the visual approach and how the final edit might look in relation to the sound and feel of the music. More movement for faster songs and big swaying movements for the slower tunes. It has been a great challenge because it isn’t just one set up per volume. Usually we do three bands and the turn over with equipment and keeping a live audience in the mix and the room you have to move around. It is this cool experience you are immersed in while trying to capture that feeling at the same time. Having the gimbal is essential with this approach, but can get heavy after a few hours of filming. Though it’s worth it to get that more immersive quality in a less jarring way.
Looking forward to stretching out and trying new things with this series. Don and I have wanted to do something like this for awhile and the first three volumes have been so much fun. There has been a lot of learning curve on how to best approach the set up and the time line, and all those productions details of running your own live event that is being filmed and recorded. Also maintaining an indie rock approach when it comes to budget and giving the bands something affordable. We’ve got more ideas and continue to suss out the sweet spot, but none the less looking forward to more of these and discovering where they take us and who will get to enjoy the experience with.
