Martin Sagadin discusses the creative approach towards shooting the music video for Adous Harding’s new single, ‘The Barrel’.
Martin Sagadin – interview
Give us a bit of detail about yourself – background, profession, how you got into filmmaking and your current role
I’m a genderqueer filmmaker, from Slovenia originally, but have been living and working in Christchurch, New Zealand for the past 13 years. I went to film school in Christchurch and finished with my Masters last year. My Masters film Oko na Roki played at the New Zealand International Film Festival last year and this year, they premiered my latest feature film Spring Interlude. Because it takes so long to make feature films, I need a faster way to be satisfied creatively, which is why I do music videos.
Tell us about your film – how did it come about?
I got my start making videos with Aldous Harding, and The Barrel was a great reunion for me and Aldous as co-directors. It so happened that Aldous was back home for Christmas last year, which allowed us enough time to plan and realise this one.
How did you find out about FilmConvert?
My collaborators regularly use FilmConvert and I fell in love with it pretty quickly. I got my start with 16mm filmmaking, so grain has been important to me from the start. Obviously, with digital cameras, there is a lot more control and flexibility, and when you combine that with the capabilities of FilmConvert, it’s an unstoppable combo really.
Why did you decide to use FilmConvert for this particular project?
This project required a veil between the audience and the performer. We filmed it in a studio draped in silk sheets and there was a mist filter on the lens already, but to create an additional level of texture, FilmConvert was the perfect tool. To make this video crisp clear would not have been a good move because even though things are bright, we needed to maintain a level of mystery and that extended to the way visual information was relayed.
What was the particular look or style you were going for with your video?
The brief for this video was “womb-like.” The idea was to create the feeling of being safe and warm, but to have our main character like some sort of thorn inside it. A very delicate balance between inviting and forbidding.
Tell us about your workflow. What settings, film stock, camera profiles and tweaks did you use in FilmConvert?
We used the FJ VALV 100 35mm film stock and did the rest of our colour correction with DaVinci Resolve. Our main challenge was that the majority of the video was filmed in shades of skin tones, which made it very difficult to adjust the colour of surroundings in relation to the colour of Aldous Harding’s skin. FilmConvert was used to obscure our colouring imperfections and tie things together as a final touch.
What other effects or tweaking did you use?
We didn’t use any other effects on this video. The final delivery was quite simple
