.JPG "Better Days Promo: RED best low-budget")
Better Days Promo: RED best low-budget
Shoot UK has completed its promo for ‘Better Days’, the new single from Speech Debelle, the genre-defying south London rapper/hip-hop artist.
The project was low budget from the outset, explains Shoot UK MD and producer, Harri Cauthery, “but spending the bulk of the production budget on the RED One was a priority, as we wanted a video of very high standard.”
Harri wanted a look that was cinematic and as the promo treatment itself was very simple, she needed a camera that would make the video look as high-quality as possible.
Harri had worked with the RED One previously on other projects, as had DoP JP Gossart, who also brought his own links with VMI. Gossart suggested going to VMI for a quote, citing his good experience with the company and the quality of equipment it hires out.
“Richie [at VMI] was extremely helpful and went out of his way to ensure we got high-quality equipment for the best price possible,” she says. “They did their utmost to accommodate us, even after what seemed like the hundredth time we renewed the quote.”
With the quote finalised and kit on-site, filming could begin and Harri was pleased to see the pictures coming out were “outstanding, very cinematic, even at 2k.
There were a few teething problems, however. “We lost about an hour’s worth of filming time as the RED turned itself off and we’d have to wait for it to reboot. On a tight schedule, this wasn't what we needed.”
Harri had anticipated that using RED might cause some issues in post. “I have had problems in the past posting on RED,” she admits, “but when you have a crew who know what they are doing, capture the footage correctly and have the right equipment to edit, then there are no problems. The main thing is to remember to keep plenty of free space on your hard drives.”
Looking forward to other productions to be filmed in RED, says Harri. “The slight glitches in performance, such as the shutting down, need to be ironed out for it to be 100% reliable,” she states. “However, the quality of the footage is very cinematic and really gives it the edge over other HD cameras.
It’s possible to use the RED One on a low budget and come out with a video that looks as though it had a much higher production cost.”
