Let’s Get Creative- Motion.

“How will you create something that’s unique, to the point, and tells a great story?” you ask.

Like any artist, I often lose motivation when I’m not inspired. Luckily, planning for a shoot inspires me.

If it’s a film or video project, I sometimes begin by writing a script. It always starts out with a big idea, something a bit ludicrous and probably way out of my budget. From there, I whittle it down- why it works, what’s the core moral of the narrative, and how it could fit in a smaller scale scenario. If it has dialogue, it needs to flow, compliment the story without mansplaining it away. Don’t underestimate the power of implication.

Next, I decide based on the genre of film, how it will be shot. Am I going for something Wes Anderson-esque: symmetrical, aesthetically pleasing, and humour woven into camera movement? Or perhaps the opposite direction- more unplanned, brooding, or handheld videography style. Is it designed for social media, or as a campaign website piece? Usually as I’m writing the script, the imagery will come naturally and I’ll know the right way to storyboard it. I always make sure to run the wordy part of the project by fellow creatives to fine tune the story.

And now comes storyboarding, a crucial part of my process. I started drawing long before I first picked up a camera, but the practice has always stayed with me, and I love integrating it into my video projects. Sometimes I find it difficult to explain how exactly something looks in my mind. From angles to framing, getting your point across to a third party can end up being lengthy and frustrating. That’s why I love to draw each shot, to help myself lock in visuals and share my ideas with you! Might be a sketch, might be a watercolour- could be a huge mess of arrows + boxes on an A1 pad. Regardless of the medium, seeing it will give you 2020 vision of my concept and story.

At this point, I’ll make sure you’re happy with everything. You’ve  given the script and storyboard a once-over (twice if you’re generous), and you’ve picked either your own licensed music or one of 5 choices I’ve provided. Phase one complete! 

If i’m feeling extra wary or unconfident about a tricky shot, you can bet my next step is to practice that frame in my own time. Whether it’s uncharted territory in lighting, a camera movement, or the pacing of an interaction- the best way to get it right on the day is to go for a trial run.  I’m pretty committed to getting it right for you guys whenever I can! If you’re unsure about how something might be executed, I’m always happy to shoot my version + your brief, and see if it suits what you’re looking for. 

On the day of the shoot, I make sure my gear is fully charged and we’re off! If it’s scripted/storyboarded, we’ll make sure to get the shots in a logical order. If it’s impromptu/BTS footage, I’ll capture a wide variety of interesting frames and provide direction to models when needed. As someone who has experience on both sides of the camera, I’ve got an idea of how good artists work.

From then comes the editing. Whatever kind or length of video you’ve specified, i’ll be choppin’ to. Seeing it all come together is undoubtedly my favourite part. I also work with a talented audio engineer who I outsource my sound design to, and a graphics guy who can turn titles into a main event- adding that cherry to your video sundae.

To make it easy on the both of us, once I’ve finished the first picture lock draft, I’ll send a compressed version over for you to respond to. Once you’ve let me know what you love and what can go, I’ll alter the video, colour grade and finish off all audio/graphics before sending over your web ready final.

Now that you’ve heard the gory details of what my creative process entails, let me know if you’d be interested in talking through an idea you haven’t made reality just yet.

How did I get here?!

Well well well, you’ve come to know how I ended up in this line of work.

I was always drawn to cameras as a child, and would never pass up the opportunity to be in a photo. It was only in 2009 that I first trialled being on the other side. Using a hot pink Fujifilm Finepix Z, I started creating rudimentary talk show films, operating under “Scruffy Dog Company”. Frustrated by the 1 minute record limit, I set out to find something with heftier storage. I only realised a few years later the internal memory was just begging for an SD card.

My second camera was when I started getting serious about film. I persuaded my Dad to enter into a bidding war for a chunky Panasonic during a live auction. A video camera that folded out? To my eleven year old eyes, it was state of the art technology. From then, I wrote a 50 page script detailing an adventure trilogy like no other. The “Witch Slayers of Gardenia” was sure to be a worldwide success. Sadly, it was cancelled by the funders- Mom and Dad.

Alas, I was not broken. I wrote and shot many more short films with my sister and neighbours, the only cast I could leverage, all the way until the very end of high school. During which time I managed to rustle up accolades for media, as well as familiarise myself with film’s motionless counterpart.

After 12 years of studying, I thought I deserved a break. This break consisted of three things: 1) Working at Noel Leeming, 2) going overseas for 3 months, and 3) missing the creativity associated with writing and shooting films. So in 2019 I enrolled in a film school I shall not name, for it was just average. However, I met the greatest like minded crew ever, and in mid 2020 I started a company called Fallow Street with James, a fellow student.

For a year and a half we worked part time, and “ran the business” part time. Sadly, it was quite half assed on both of our parts, but we managed to get out there, learn plenty and shoot awesome people and places.

This year I have decided to convert Fallow Street into exclusively weddings, and run Oddfallow parallel as its fashion/commercial counterpart. My creativity is far better expressed through short films, video projects and photography with a strong story undertow, and Oddfallow is for me, for you, for businesses wanting to create cool content + get seen. I’ve decided the best way to make progress is to immerse myself in projects- left right and centre!

So if you’re on the fence about it, just send me a message! I’m here to chat, work with you, and hopefully take things to the next level.

Thanks for reading, ready to shoot?

“Lighting is my passion”

-10y/o Me