Assisting on Ellie’s project was a great experience working on a well constructed set where we could manipulate every element like lighting and set design to create a consistent visual style, and not becoming trapped by what the location had to offer. It was great to be on hand to simply assist in realising the vision Ellie had for the video, as it was a visual style that I know personally I wouldn’t have attempted out of the same observation we were basing the video on. This felt a lot closer to how working in the production industry operates, where we are just creative cogs in the wheel, hopefully all operating towards the same goal of creating the best possible product, which is where I was so pleased with how the video turned out because everyone on set was so invested in making this video to a really high standard with a consistent visual style.

The only issue we ran into was after a long shooting day, we all felt too tired to continue going at the same creative energy level. On other shoots I had been on, in particular night shoots, once the energy level of the crew starts to decline, so many concessions arise, as the main goal quickly becomes to finish the shoot, rather than maintain the quality till the end. Due to the fact we locked off all outside light from the kitchen set, we were able to film multiple days later and maintain the same look over the two shooting days.

So when we came in to begin editing, we were really impressed with our consistent the shots were to each other, and it was obvious even before assembly or colour grading that the visual style and flourish of the video was going to be appealing. Too many of the video projects I’ve created have started with the thinking that most elements can be created or improved in editing, mostly through sound and colour grading, the two areas I am most confident in. By focusing much more on the production design and consistent lighting, I was out of my comfort zone in a really refreshing way. It was great to compare my solo project with this project as I could contrast the creative process I have when creating a video with someone else’s from a different background, and I think I learnt more from assisting on this shoot than operating my own, as I was able to seperate myself from it and look at the project objectively with the sole aim of creating the best possible video we could all be proud of.