Ockham Media

Here are a few still frames from the footage we have so far. This is raw footage, so no effects or filters have been applied yet.

Occasionally there comes a moment during the production process when you know it’s all worth it. All the hours of tedious preparations and work pay off in an instant. I experienced that moment this evening. I was looking back over today’s footage and one shot just sent chills through me. It is a shot of the lead singer releasing a dove (yes, a real dove) up to the heavens. I shot this on a special “slow motion” camera. I didn’t realize how awesome it was at the time. I spend hours visualizing what a shot should look like in my head, but when the reality is even more stunning than the imaginary, it takes my breath away. I can’t take credit for the perfection of this shot. It was just the way the dove flew straight up while a couple feathers slowly fell from his body. It was just the expression on the singer’s face. It was a rare moment of amazement captured by a lens. I feel honored to have witnessed it.

It was a very busy shooting schedule today. We worked with the singer, both actors, and the dove. The location was “bedroom”. We had to make the room look like 2 different bedrooms. The final edit will cut back and forth between the actor and the actress each in their own rooms getting ready for work. The dove was mostly cooperative and only tried to escape by landing on the ceiling fan once. Today was a challenge for me, directing wise. I arrived at this location sight-unseen. I immediately had to start changing my vision to fit the reality of the location. I feel like I spent all my energy doing this rather then being aware of the actors and what was going on around me. But, I am still very happy with how things turned out. Two shoots down, three to go. I will post some stills from the footage tomorrow.

First day of shooting went smoothly. I like that we started with the easiest day. Just one actress and only 7 shots to pull off.  We had one shot inside, but everything else was outdoors in the “meadow”. The hardest part of the day was a shot  in which a feather falls delicately into the actress’ open palm. That feather was being quite pesky. It fell on her arm and right next to her hand, but after 30 takes, it still refused to cooperate. We had to rig a 2nd shot where the feather was dropped much closer to her hand. This time we got it on Take 6. I will surgically connect the two shots into a seamless flow during the edit. Also, my three-year-old daughter ran across the set right during a take. Otherwise things went without a hitch.

actress, Kari, getting fanned in the meadow

making camera adjustments

After 8 months of planning, Music Video #2 finally starts shooting tomorrow. I can’t quite believe it. There is something so amazing about the day before a big shoot – the quiet before the storm. The last day before the imaginary pictures are replaced with real ones.

This project, my most ambitious to date, has been a true leap of faith. I experienced first hand the power of intention as everything fell into place. I was determined to get every location, person and piece of equipment and animal (yes, there are animals in the video!) precisely as I wanted, yet stay within a decent budget. On Friday the final pieces came together. I am in awe of the incredible deals I have received from random people to make this vision happen. I was nearly certain I would have to give up my goal of getting a special “slow-motion” camera. But then I found a great deal on the final shooting location. Then for some reason my rental house decided to give me a HUGE discount on this special camera. Nothing is compromised. I am full of gratitude to each person lending their touch to this project and for hearing my vision and helping me make it happen. Wow.

I will be documenting the shooting progress here on this blog. Mostly for my own amusement, but feel free to follow along! To me there is nothing more exciting than when a mental image begins to form in the tangible world as an artistic expression.