When creatives meet, if they have time and synergy, amazing things can happen.

I had been commissioned to film the launch of a new AI/web3 venture, to be held at Canary Wharfe in central London, on Wednesday 8th of March.

I spent the weekend creating several carefully costed proposals. The booking was confirmed on Monday the 6th., and I started preparing my equipment. On Tuesday, I completed the preparations and then drove most of the length of the country. A friend had invited me to stay at their house, just outside the capital, I was tired when I arrived at about 9 pm but it was lovely to see my friend.

On Wednesday morning snow was expected and people were advised to stay home. Naturally, I set off early, hoping to be on location all rigged and ready for a sound check by early afternoon. The snow gradually changed to sleet and then to rain. The road into London was almost deserted so I made very good time.

So far, so good.

Martin, the event organiser, had very kindly agreed to arrive early to help me carry all my gear into the venue, which was such a blessing. However, after I rigged all my equipment,  there were last minute programme changes, and filming was no longer required.

On the face of it, this sounds like a bit of a disaster but when faced with such situations, a positive attitude can make great things happen.

One of the people I was supposed to film was New Bee Jane, a singer-songwriter. Her involvement was also no longer required.

Finding ourselves with time on our hands and in my case much equipment to hand too, I proposed we make a music video. After all, we had 2 more days blocked out, which were now free and clear.

Jane loved the idea.

She had just finished recording and mastering her latest song, The Veil. So, we spent Wednesday evening and all of Thursday in pre-production for a shoot that was not even an idea, Wednesday lunchtime.

Thursday lunchtime we visited locations that Jane thought might work for her embryonic ideas for the film. At this time I had not even heard the song.

Given the time pressures, we had to shoot the film the next day, Friday. So, without even knowing if we would get permission to film in any of our shortlisted locations, Jane hired the props we would need. I love a positive attitude.

Back at her home, West of London, mid-afternoon on Thursday, Jane started telephoning the preferred locations to ask permission to film the next day. Messages were left. Urgent replies were needed.

Whilst we waited for what we hoped would be a green light, Jane started preparing her costume, whilst I prepared the camera and finally got to listen to the song in question.

Wow! I was blown away. It is a truly unique and beautiful song and very profound.

So, with a copy of the lyrics printed on a sheet of A4 paper, I started to make a storyboard to convey the meaning of the song, as explained to me by Jane.

Then the phone rang. It looked like our first choice location would be available but the final decision would only be known at 09:30 the next morning. Of course, this was as last minute as possible but it looked like we had a location, and by bedtime, we were all set.

Up early Friday, Jane and I drove the few miles to Chobham, to film The Veil. I for one was very excited.

When we arrived, I had not even seen the interior of the venue, a beautiful Norman church built just 14 years after the Norman conquest, almost 1000 years ago.

We met the church’s Director of Music who told us our shoot was approved. She was welcoming, interested in our project, and extremely helpful. She showed me how to use the various house lighting presets and how to access the bell ringers’ area above the entrance. She then left and we had the church all to ourselves. Perfect!

I had been booked to film a very limited event in a much smaller modern office location. So, I had taken lighting equipment sufficient for that assignment and situation but even though the church is a much bigger space and our project required a different aesthetic, I managed to light the church and by late morning I had set up my camera, and we had blocked the first scene.

This shoot had many moving parts, all of which had to align perfectly. I was the entire crew: Director, Cinematographer, Gaffer, Grip, Camera Assistant, Floor Runner, etc. Jane was: Wardrobe and Props Mistress, Hair & Makeup Artist (HMUA), Lead Creative, and of course, the Star. We only had a few hours to complete the shoot. The pressure was on, and even if we had the benefit of a crew at least 2 days would have been a much more realistic schedule. So, it was an intense, although very creative, and enjoyable shoot.

We had a storyboard yet the creative ideas were flowing and every time we dreamed up a new idea, careful thought was needed to ensure the complex film would still work. Such important thinking under pressure is always stressful.

Yes, I would have preferred to shoot several more shots but by end of Friday, when the man came to lock up, we were shooting the last mission-critical slate, except for a couple of exterior shots required for the intro sequence. It was dark by this time, so we rescheduled the exterior shoot for the next morning.

Wednesday, we had snow and rain, and Thursday was showery. So, being in the ideal place, we prayed for good weather for the exterior shoot.

Friday night, we were pretty tired but delighted with all we had managed to do, and weather permitting, we knew by lunchtime the next day we would have everything in the can, just in time for my long drive home.

My alarm woke me early and I eagerly looked out of the window. Our prayers had been answered. It was a fine dry day with no wind to speak of. Ideal for our last two shots.

On arrival at the church in sleepy little Chobham, the Saturday morning traffic was nose to tail and utterly relentless in both directions. Our first slate of the day was the opening shot of the film, a big establisher, a tilt down from the spire of the Church to reveal New Bee Jane walking away from the camera, towards the church door, to be filmed from a position on the opposite side of the road. Vehicles in the shot would ruin the vibe. This was not guaranteed to go our way. I had to time the tilt to match the length of the section of music (8.5 seconds approx), cue Jane’s walk before I could see her in my viewfinder (about 5 seconds in), stop the tilt at the exact right time, framed perfectly, of course, and all this based on anticipating when there might be a few seconds with no cars in shot. This was made doubly difficult as I was in a narrow alleyway at 90 degrees to the road, so I could not see the traffic as it approached from either side. Miraculously, after a few attempts we had a couple of vehicle-free shots in the can.

The final shot, a profile view of Jane walking into the porch, did not require traffic management and so was a great deal easier. We completed it in just a few minutes.

Only after we thought it was all done did I notice a small yellow sign over the entrance to the porch. I removed the sign and we reshot the last slate. Five minutes later we had our shot. I decided to remove the sign from the first shot digitally, in post-production.

I re-hung the sign and loaded my equipment into my vehicle.

That’s a wrap!

Time to say Au Revoir and start my drive home.

So, out of disaster, a film was born but more importantly, so was a fabulous working relationship.

Jane and I originally met on LinkedIn. She introduced me to Daniel Fulga. By coincidence, we had known each other some years earlier but lost contact. Daniel contracted us both to work at the Canary Wharfe event that Wednesday and indeed he brought much priceless energy and creativity to the project throughout.

It seems very clear that this team of three kindred spirits will go on to work on many more film productions in the future. In fact, we are currently starting to discuss a shoot on a very beautiful and spiritual island that might become the location for Jane’s next music video.

But, back to The Veil. A film is not finished when shooting wraps. Post-production is often a much bigger aspect of the work. Editing The Veil was scheduled for 3 days or so, about 2 weeks later.

But that became a whole other epic story. Watch this space!