A Collaboration with Panasonic LUMIX & Atomos Global
Brand Collaborations
‘THE STAGE’ FILM PRODUCTION PROJECT
Written by Tommy Rowe
As a professional filmmaker, it’s genuinely quite hard to think of any bigger compliment you can receive, than to be asked by some of the world’s leading filmmaking brands to collaborate and partner up with them on real world video production projects. When there is such an abundance of incredible talent out there in the filmmaking world, it really is nothing short of a privelege when market leading brands come to you.
I was recently commissioned again by Panasonic LUMIX UK and Atomos Global, to work with them on a new project to promote the brand new Panasonic LUMIX GH6, and Atomos’ Ninja V line of monitor recorders.
This isn’t the first time I’ve collaborated with Panasonic and Atomos. I previously worked with them on projects such as ‘Kernow’, and ‘Him’, and each has been a unique and enjoyable experience. I do intend to write further blogs on these projects soon, as I didn’t get round to it at the time, so stay tuned for that.
Every time I have the opportunity to work with these guys, I jump at the chance. Not only because I already use their equipment on a day to day basis and consider them to be at the cutting edge of photo and film technology, but one of the things I enjoy the most about this line of work is, the brands are coming to you quite simply because they love what you do. They like your style, the kind of content you create, and they want to be able to make use of it themselves, to promote their own products. This means that there is always an incredible amount of creative freedom involved in the production of this kind of work. It’s truly amazing, and really quite humbling, that they are happy to let you do what you do, and trust you enough to do so. As a creative, it’s hard to think of a more enjoyable way of going about your work. The filmmaker gets to flex their creative muscles and earn an income telling visual stories that mean something to them on a personal level, and the brands get to show what their products are really capable of in real world production environments. All in all, it’s very much a mutually beneficial, win-win situation!
When LUMIX and Atomos contacted me about this new project, the brief was simple - create something with the GH6 and Ninja V+ (shooting specifically in Apple ProRes RAW format) that really showcases what they are capable of as filmmaking tools. I immediately got to work thinking of concepts, ideas, and potential subject matter. The first step is always to decide what you want to shoot, and then how to shoot it.
Having brainstormed a few ideas with the team at LUMIX UK, we settled on the first idea I proposed; to create a short film / mini-documentary about UK based musician, renowened guitarist, and former cage fighter / mixed martial artist, Kris Barras. I would call this piece The Stage, focusing on his journey, and the creative parallels between the two ‘stages’.
As a globally renowned guitarist and the frontman of the awesome UK rock band, Kris Barras Band, I’ve had the pleasure of working with Kris many times over the years creating video content for the band; from filming live shows around the country including the iconic Royal Albert Hall in London, to producing official music videos for their new releases. Years down the line, I’m now privileged to consider him a friend, and have always found his creative journey an incredibly interesting one. So I reached out to Kris, and I was so happy when he said he was interested. A huge thanks to him for allowing me to tell this little part of his story!
One of the key aspects of my proposal, was to take some inspiration from the recent movie The Batman. I wanted the piece to be part mini-documentary, part movie trailer, to really show how capable and versatile this camera/recorder combination is for such a wide variety of filmmaking and video production work. Whilst telling an actual story is important, ultimately the primary purpose of the content is to show what the equipment is capable of. If I could create visuals that came even close to the same vibe, tone and overall quality of ‘The Batman’ movie, using equipment that is accessible to pretty much all video professionals today (rather than being exclusive only to multi-million dollar Hollywood productions), then I considered that to be a great thing to be able to show. It was quite an ambitious idea, but one that I was truly excited to try. The teams at Panasonic and Atomos were equally enthusiastic about the idea, so I put my little production crew back together and got straight to work.
Focusing the film on Kris’ journey from cage fighter to rockstar, there were certain elements that I could make use of in the production, to pull in inspiration from the movie. I wanted to capture the grit and determination that Kris showed as he pursued his dream of becoming a successful rock musician. To achieve this, I drew inspiration from the movie which features a dark and gritty aesthetic that perfectly captures the mood I wanted to convey in my film.
I wanted the visuals to be raw and emotive, and I drew on a range of techniques to achieve this. I used handheld shots to capture the energy and passion of Kris's live performances, and incorporated slow-motion footage as well as speed ramping editing techniques to emphasise the emotion and intensity of the story. I experimented with dramatic lighting and colour to create a moody and atmospheric look that perfectly suited the subject matter. The colour red was used very strategically in ‘The Batman’ so I interpreted this in my own way. Capturing shots of Kris in the studio, I used the colour red to create a similar mood, motivated by the ‘red light’ associated with recording in the studio.
Another aspect we decided to incorporate was anamorphic and vintage lenses. ‘The Batman’ was a highly stylised film from a cinematography perspective, and they made use of vintage lenses, as well as lenses that were actually broken, to achieve an extremely different look. Therefore we filmed the ‘The Stage’ with a similar approach, using Sirui anamorphic lenses, and some of my own vintage Canon FD lenses. I even used the same Soviet era ‘Helios’ vintage lens that they used in the car chase scene in the movie. This choice of lenses, combined with a Super 35 film emulation, created a very unique aesthetic reminiscent of the visuals seen in ‘The Batman’.
Each element and stylistic choice I incorporated into the film was done with purpose. Everything from the frame rates chosen and choice of lenses, to the way I rigged the camera, was primarily driven by the incredible features and tools provided by both products. I wanted to make use of as many of the features that they provide as possible, to truly show what they are capable of when used in combination with each other on set.
I’m happy to say ‘The Stage’ has been very well received and both Panasonic and Atomos were very happy with the result. Kris even liked it too! The film has been featured widely across the film & photography media, and on social media.
Another key part of these projects is not only producing a film, but also creating a Behind The Scenes or ‘Making of’ feature to go with it. The brands love to use this content to not only show what their products can do, but also to show how creatives go about using them. If you’d like to see more about what went into the making of this film, be sure to watch the BTS!
As a filmmaker, I'm always incredibly grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with these brands and to help showcase their latest products through my work. I thoroughly enjoyed working with them on this project and look forward to collaborating with them again in the future.
If you’re a brand looking to collaborate with Tommy Rowe, get in touch today.