PRACTICAL DV FILMMAKING

Practical DV FilmMaking

• Overview
• Inside video
• Films and how they work
• Pre-production
• Production tools
• Production aesthetics
• Post-production tools
• Post-production aesthetics
• Careers and distribution
• Mapping the industry
• Glossary of film and video terms

Figure 3.4 Music promo makers endure tough working conditions, but the stakes and rewards are high. This still is from Dominic Leung's promo for Moloko, The Time is Now.

Music promo

The music promo occupies a peculiar position in films in that it is more a marketing device and can be either narrative or non-narrative. The entirely narrative promo is rare today and most have slim narra­tive threads on which to hang a series of crucial images. The idea of a short film that accompanies a piece of music grew out of films including A Hard Day's Night (Richard Lester, 1964). This form has always been a primarily commercial one, since it is explicitly linked to the promotion of an artist for increased sales. But, as with the advertising commercial, there are increasing numbers of film direct­ors who have found this form a place to define and develop their style. For many it is the freedom from narrative that is most liberating. It allows the director to focus purely on the visual aspects of a film and move far from the theatrical or literary aspects. For the emerging filmmaker, there are many reasons why this form is seen as the real-life film school: the fast production process means you make mistakes quickly and learn quickly, the tight budgets and strict client demands mean having to be creative with what you are given, and the short nature of the promo means having to grab a viewer's attention quickly and sharply. Beyond this, though, there are real benefits for filmmakers who would not nor­mally make these kinds of films: narrative films gain greater depth of meaning when you allow non-narrative passages to coexist with the main plot.

My kind of people?

Single-minded, realistic to the point of being existential and with a skin as tough as old boots, the promo director can seem like the one most likely to succeed. On promo shoots stakes are high, with expectations

Figure 3.5 Advertising commercials demand production values as high as those seen in films, as in this shot from Neo's ad for Nike, directed by Jake Knight.

and pressure from artist and record label for 'the big idea', but the promo director takes delight in push­ing their energies to the limit, taking pride in handing the client the movie on budget and on schedule. Nicknames are often variations on the 'Terminator' theme.

Advertising commercial

As with the music video, this form is also a training ground for new filmmakers