It's A Wrap!

I have officially called wrap on the 'Thousand Words' music video production today! We've done it! An incredible amount of work has gone into just these three short days worth of shooting and I can only hope that we have more than enough coverage and footage for an amazing and smooth edit! Despite all the ups and downs with issues with lack of space, public liability, props and most of all lighting (!) we have managed to pull it all off and I am so incredibly proud of the progress of this project, from start to finish.

It all couldn't have been possible without an amazing team behind me! Many thanks to everyone that helped on this production, I am truly humbled and honoured to work with such a wonderful cast and crew that have gone above and beyond to make this production as successful as it has been. It has been such a pleasure working with such a talented and dedicated group of creatives that have so kindly put in all their time and effort into making this music video possible. These words simply do not express my gratitude and I can only hope that you have all gained some valuable experience from this, as well as had lots of fun in the meantime, despite the stupidly long hours and hard graft that comes with the job!

More details and pictures to come of the shoots themselves! Watch this space people, some exciting stuff coming this way very soon! In the meantime, a shout out to my fantastic cast and crew on 'Thousand Words': Luc Sung, Seun James, Tom Fuller, Will Oakley, Chris Lee, Becky Hall, Chantal Chevailler, Ellie Rees and most of all, Chris Gill, my wonderful adopted older brother who worked himself like crazy to get this production to where it is today. And special thanks to Karl Roberts and Raj Toot, whom were incredibly gracious and not only let us borrow all their lighting equipment, but were generous (or foolish depending on how you think of it haha!) enough to let us turn their rehearsal/living space into a film studio! Thank you everyone, "a thousand words are never enough"!

'Thousand Words' Final Pre-Production Meeting

 

Photography by Christopher Lee

The final 'Thousand Words' crew meeting for Pre-Production took place on Sunday 13th February. It's been a while since I've had the chance to post this entry, hence the gap in between the event and this post. You'll be glad to hear that everything went very smoothly though, it was a wonderful opportunity to get everyone involved together for one last meeting before the shoots began. 

Amongst the hundreds of handouts I had to give out on the day (literally, no joke!), the crew seemed to connect well with each other. Everyone was keen to start production on 'Thousand Words' and it was great to have so many talented and dedicated individuals working with Chris and myself on this project. There have been a lot of ups and downs already, mainly dealing with location, the final remastering of the music track and getting our hands on some decent equipment were the issues that worried me the most, but after finalising these details, everything just seemed to slot nicely into place. 

There was (and still is!) a ton of paperwork to complete on this project for health and safety and insurance reasons, as well as something as simple as keeping everyone updated on every aspect of the production. Being a Producer is certainly not an easy job, but when you're partially managing the Recording Artist as well as Directing and Editing the entire production, things do get crazy, especially if you're juggling an MA alongside! But at the end of the day, I'm having a really fun time doing it all and despite the late nights and short sleeps, I've never been happier working! I know all this hard work is going to pay off in the end and it's not just me that's working incredibly hard! I couldn't have asked for a better cast and crew, everyone is so hands on and willing to help I feel so grateful to be surrounded so many supportive members. It has definitely helped the process along, even if I have preferred to deal with the majority of it myself, it's reassuring to know there are many ready to help. 

I want to thank my entire cast and crew for all their hard work so far in this production. I am truly humbled to work with such wonderful people and I'm confident that this amazing energy will transfer to every corner of this project and the end result will be (hopefully!) everything we hoped for in the early stages. A special shout out to Luc Sung, our wonderful Cinematographer, whom is so incredibly hard working and dedicated that even though he was super ill, still came out to sit with us for 2 hours to have this meeting, you never cease to amaze me "darling"!

Still to come...a sneak preview of Behind the Scenes photos (courtesy of our talented Production & Commercial Photographer Chris Lee!) on our first shoot that took place on Sunday 20th Feb in Central London! Blog post to come very soon! And of course, our final shooting weekend this coming Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th February! Very exciting stuff! Keep checking this space!

'Thousand Words' MV Green Light

After some serious issues with crew members, schedules and even more so, location we have finally sorted out 90% of everything we need to give the "Thousand Words" Music Video the green light for production. With a general shooting schedule confirmed, locations decided and booked, we are putting together final details in order to commence shooting from the 20th February onwards!

Many thanks to those who expressed their interest and applied to work with us on this project. We had lots of applications but have chosen some talented and enthusiastic people for the job and I'm confident that it's going to go really well! (Fingers crossed this is not famous last words!) And an even bigger thank you to those that have offered to help in other departments such as location, equipment etc. You have no idea how much of a help you've been and contributed to the green light being called on this production!

Wish us luck everyone! Let's make cinema magic! More information to come on this project as and when things are happening! So, watch this space!