Lost in Atlantis: Making of and Production Stills

Here are a bunch of stills we took during and around the production of the Lost in Atlantis (LIA) "Tek No" music video.  HUGE thanks to Paul Hudson, and Lizette McCorquodale at Lizardland Video for the equipment rentals and support on set when we were shooting.

We ran some tests using my Canon 7D and an LED ring, but quickly realized that for this particular type of project, we needed as minimal spill and frontal light as possible.  So we opted to film on a separately lit blue screen and white backdrop.

The concept was relatively simple, we wanted to create a video using an awesome technique we witnessed on a vimeo video called Eye of the Storm.  The filmmakers used black lights and florescent reactive tape to control patterned colors and silhouettes in post for a very illustrated quality.  Since our budget was pretty small, and we didn't have any locations other than the studio, we thought this was the perfect platform to base our shoot off of.

You can see the great music video here:



EYE OF THE STORM | Lovett from Lovett on Vimeo.

So using this base, we bought a bunch of black light tubes and filmed using 4-bank Kinos blasted onto our actors, with the background being lit by regular 4-bank Kinos.  The result allowed us to put patterns on the costumes and control the patterns with things like audio waveforms, color, etc...  You can see some of the setup below.  We also wanted the max resolution at the time so we shot on the RED ONE.  We also used a secondary AF100 as a backup/alternate camera.

The post production process was also interesting.  We filmed each band member separately, compositing each one of them into the shots when needed.  We knew that we wanted them to be in silhouettes during the "space" portion of the video, so lighting them this way made it feel relatively consistent.

Conceptually, the we wanted to give the video a loose narrative.  After discussing with the band we came to the conclusion that the song is mostly about perseverance.  The band had a space theme to their branding, so we created a kind of chase in space feeling to the video.  The band would go through an asteroid field, take a beating, but eventually rise from it and blow through all the obstacles.

This was actually not too different from the actual production of the video.  We had major changes and obstacles that took place immediately following and during the videos production.  Frankie Mendoza, the video's original Director, had to leave to work in Floyd County on the FX show Archer.  He left right when production got heavy, so the reigns of the project were put in my hands as Director, and we all had to make adjustments.  Post production was scattered between 3 different cities, with Kevin Rich in Tucson, me in Tempe, AZ, and Frankie Mendoza in Atlanta, Georgia.  Although this put a big strain on communication, we did finally make it work and ended up with a very collaborative project that I feel is just as much the bands as it is ours.

Serving as a wonderful testing ground for new ideas and techniques, the LIA "Tek No" music video was a blast to make and experience.  I hope to work again with Lost in Atlantis and other bands to direct and create entertaining and high quality music videos in the future.    Thanks for reading/viewing! :) Follow my blog for more updates on projects!

Paul Hudson and I are talking about the next set of shots.  Paul and Lizette were AWESOME to say the least.

No fun shoot would be complete without some goofy images.

This shoot was my first real experience working directly with the RED ONE camera.  It was a great learning experience.

The LED ring we tested on my 7D.

We had some very helpful Interns on the shoot.  Thanks to Tallcat Productions.  

Rebecca Martos was an outstanding Producer for the video.  She gave us the flexibility we needed to make the video but also put her best foot forward in keeping things moving and simply put, producing the video.  She was invaluable in making this project.

More of the wonderful interns.

Kevin Rich was our 2nd Camera Operator, as well as a G&E and other things on set.  He was also responsible for all the interior 3D background elements, pre-visualization, and a Co-Editor on the video.

Liz on Set.

 Audrey, Kevin's dog, kept things interesting late at night when we were building the costumes.

An example of the costumes.  We used black fabric and the florescent reactive tape to create interesting silhouettes with the blacklight.

On the hunt for various supplies for the shoot.

We always have a little fun after all the shooting is done and we are leaving for the day or packing up.

Say hello to my little friend!

Next up.  The video!