The last few days have been a mad rush here to get everything together for the upcoming music video shoot for the song Loaded Gun, performed by acoustic rock duo Lloyd & Bruno. The song is the theme song for the documentary Finding the fable, completed recently and now available on DVD from the NWU's African Centre for Disaster Studies.

 
Above: Scouting locations for the upcoming Lloyd & Bruno music video “Loaded Gun” with the help of the SA Army. The video will be shot in a old military bunker on a disused firing range near Potchefstroom. Pictured here are SANDF Sgt. Wilders, ACDS director Dewald van Niekerk and band members Lloyd Peltier and Bruno dos Santos.


Above: DOP Eduan Kitching's planning for the night time shoot. The completed music video is aimed at broadcast television and will be available as a bonus feature on the "Finding the fable" DVD

After Lloyd Petier en Bruno dos Santos saw one of the first rough cuts of the documentary film, they kindly allowed us to use their new single as the theme song for our film. Right away the music and the documentary's visuals were an absolutely perfect match. The music video will now coincide with the song's release and will feature imagery from the documentary. The music video will also be available as a bonus feature on DVD copies of Finding the fable.

To give the music video the magic touch it deserves I've enlisted the help of DOP/editor Eduan Kitching for the project. Eduan has extensive production experience and has produced music videos for popular acts like Straatligkinders . The music video will also be unique in that we'll be utilizing some new camera technology in the form of a Canon 5D DSLR. The 5D is digital still camera that has the added feature of being able to shoot high-quality HD video images. The camera's video capabilities, coupled with prime photographic optics, has made it a weapon of choice for shooters of television commercials, cinema and television drama series like House.

In terms of both production and post-production the project is a massive logistical challenge. The military firing range is only accesible by 4x4 and power for the night time shoot will be supplied by large generators. Images from the documentary will be projected behind the band.


Above: a test image shot at night with the Canon 5D in prepartion for the shoot. Images from the documentary will be projected on canvas sheets behind the band members

In terms of post-production the editing is equally complex. To allow me to continue with other editing projects and to allow Eduan maximum creative freedom, the video will be edited on his own Apple Final Cut Pro system. For this HD footage from the documentary will be exported from my Avid in DNxHD format to the FCP system, the cut completed on Eduan's system, and then moved back to my Windows-based Avid-system for HD client preview via a Matrox MX02 unit.

Listen to the song on Lloyd & Bruno's Facebook page.

The music video shoot is scheduled for 10 March 2011. Updates on the project to be posted here and on my Facebook page