We were thrilled when Swift Medical contacted us to shoot a promotional video for them. They are in the business of saving lives, and that is something we are more than happy to be a part of. Wound care is not an issue that people in general discuss or think about, but when you hear some of the stats, you sit up and pay attention. The more we learned about what Swift are trying to do, the more we knew how important it was to make them a great video.
Before shoot day, I visited their office in Toronto and scouted out the premises. Where was the best location for the interviews? What props could I use? What was the best gear needed to capture everything in a dynamic way? Was there noise in the office that would affect the interviews? And most importantly, what was the main goal that Swift was trying to achieve with the video and what associated visuals did we need to make it happen?
After checking out their office space, I found some great shooting areas which would give our crew enough space to set up without feeling too cramped. I made some notes of the best areas to film in order to use the space effectively and show off their best assets. Once I spotted that they had a robot, it was a no-brainer to use it in the background for the interviews.
The camera of choice to shoot this promo video was the Canon C500 Mark II. It had just been released a month prior to the shooting date and we wanted the best camera for the job, and it didn’t disappoint. I love shooting with Sony’s most of the time, but those Canon colours are always on point and it made the colour grading process a piece of cake in post. When grading my Sony footage I often have to put a lot of work into making the skin tones look natural. With Canon, I never have this problem.
For shoots that require quicker set up times, and a lighter all-round camera package, I love the Sony A7s ii. That’s my go-to for live events where you need to be quick and nimble. Check out this boxing match I covered with the A7S ii. It would have been impossible to achieve these shots with the C500 Mark II. I’m just imagining switching between handheld, monopod and gimbal between the boxing rounds in order to get different movement in my shots. No chance! The fight would have been over by the time I changed from one up to the next. And as for the quality of this smaller camera, well you can judge that for yourself, but I for one am very happy with the final look. On this shoot I ended up using the A7S ii a few times as a director’s viewfinder before we got the C500 Mark II set up in position for the final shot.
We went with a smallish crew of 3 for this project. There was one DOP, one Gaffer, and I took care of the directing. Normally I find myself behind the camera but for this shoot I found it better to use my directing skills for a change. We had a wireless monitor which really helped me stay on top of everything. Without it, I would have been tempted to get behind the camera too much and peer over the DOP’s shoulder half of the time. For lighting we used 2 x Aputure 300D’s, both with light domes attached when we wanted a softer look. These were great and gave us enough light for the desired look.
Overall I was thrilled with how the final video came out and the team at Swift felt the same. Here are some BTS shots from the filming day and some stills taken from the final video.
Until the next post,
Henry
