Matt Gillan’s Music Video Production Helena Day - 'Every Time We Say Goodbye'

Edward Heredia (director) approached me with a treatment to shoot a one shot steadycam music video for artist Helena Day. What was clear from the treatment was Ed’s desire for a painterly look to the piece.

I had experience with the Cooke Speed Panchros from TLS on a previous production and felt they would be a good fit for the project with how the lenses handle bokeh as well as the softness to the lens. To my eye they create a dreamy swirl which felt appropriate for creating brush strokes.

The rehoused lenses were hired from a reputable rental company ‘The Unit Bag’ https://www.theunitbag.co.uk which I have used previously.

The housing by TLS is always of such a high standard and it always feels so smooth to pull focus or change the iris on a lens. This is especially useful when you’re working on a film designed to be one shot and every element has to be perfect for the take

Overall, the shoot day itself was tricky as there were many moments we wanted to capture to make the shot work throughout and required lots of teamwork, communication and testing with Mike Vega (steadycam operator) who did an excellent job overall. Having to navigate light stands, reflections in mirrors, shadows and balancing the rig around a classical piano proved to be difficult at times however the take that made the video was the final take we managed to do where for 4 minutes everything seemed to go according to plan.

The entire crew did a fantastic job on the day and it was a great team effort to keep attention to ensure every take had the best chance of succeeding.