Storms hit Warrnambool on Tuesday, June 24th, and I was there with my gopro at the right time in the right place to witness the sea at its wildest. I didn’t intentionally go out to get wind blown and soaked by the giant waves but sitting at my desk doing work when I knew there was some crazy action going on just five minutes down the road from my home was way too tempting.
So I grabbed the gopro and set it to 50 fps. I wanted to over-crank the footage so I could gather some nice looking slow motion footage of the waves smashing. I chose the gopro for its water-proof housing. The weather conditions were such that you would not be able to stand out in it with a camera and tripod- it was the kind of wind that was blowing over trees, lifting off roofs and destroying trampolines (think flying trampoline smashes into backyard fence). The weather was way too wild to be walking around in, so I opted for attaching the go pro to the front of the Defender.
The idea of shooting on the gorpo was great in theory but unfortunately when I got home to view the footage, I was utterly disappointed. To the point where I wasn’t even going to upload any footage. In my head I had imagined I had this A-M-A-Z-I-N-G footage, the type of footage that news services would grab at, and it would go viral on social media. I imagined it because thats how I experienced it; TOTALLY WILD! What a bumma that my camera didn’t capture it just how I was seeing it.
I cannot blame my camera because I know how it works. I know its pitfalls, as well as its capabilities.
The problems I had shooting with the gopro were;
What I did like about the go-pro, apart from its ability to shoot in 50 fps and that it is water-proof and durable, is that once I took the camera off the front of the car and had a walk around with it, I loved the look of the spray of the waves smashing onto the camera. I did also enjoy the excitement of not knowing what you’re going to get, until you get home and load it onto your computer; a bit like the old days of the pin-hole camera and darkroom photography.
To solve a few of my problems, I am going to upgrade to the latest go-pro. Namely, for the view-finder, the richer, sharper image and its ability to shoot 120 fps. That’s right 120 FPS! Imagine how those waves would look with that kind of slow mo. Now, all I need is another storm…
Do you have a creative vision for your next music clip?
If you are musician you need an online presence. Your fans will expect to see photos and video of you performing. Creating a music clip shouldn’t cost you the earth. In fact, making a creative music clip is now cheaper and more accessible than ever. First Ladies Productions would love the opportunity to work with you to make your next music clip.
In Deep Water from First Ladies – Colleen Hughson on Vimeo.
The ‘In Deep Water’ Music Clip (2015) was created with hip hop artist Jacob Pugh and musician Cooper Lowe. Created for the Blarney Book’s Biblio Art Prize in Port Fairy. The concept is to create an artwork inspired by a book selected from a wheel burrow of books at Blarney Books & Art Gallery. The selected book is named “the ABC of Public Speaking”. Jacob Pugh come across a section in the book “in deep water”- basically about being on stage and freaking out and he wrote a rap about it. In the clip, Colleen wanted to represent the fear of public speaking, as well as the art of emceeing; flow, confidence and the stream of consciousness.
While working as an ABC Open Producer, Colleen, together with Ballarat ABC Open Producer, Marc Eidon, initiated and successfully ran a popular project called WxSW. The project teamed up filmmakers with local bands to produce a series of music clips that were broadcast on RAGE. They had Triple J Unearthed on board as a project partner. To read WxSW blogs, check out photos and to watch all the behind-the-scenes videos, click here.
