“A scarf is worn. A star is born.” If this were a blockbuster movie about a girl in a scarf, that would be the perfect headline. It’s delightfully weird and I’m happy to present, Scarf, a short fashion parody…
It simply began by setting out to create a fun piece of creative film with my friend Helen Pavlovskaya. She’s into fashion and I’m into practicing film stuff, so after a few months of postponing and back-and-forth planning, we made it happen. I used this collaborative opportunity to practice some shots in motion with my new Ronin SC gimbal and Canon EOS R. After about 5 years of learning my way around cameras with a Rebel T3i, I decided it was time to take it up a notch. For me, this new gear works really well and helps me train with equipment that’s a bit closer to the pro level.
I also wanted to practice directing another human and some cinematography in an outdoor environment. So starting with a storyboard, I made sure to think through some of the actions and bits Helen could do. During the shoot, we improvised and abandoned some ideas that didn’t seem to be working. Staying flexible was key. Once we were in the flow, the shoot was really comfortable and fun and we got some great laughs in the process. Thankfully, the sun shined and the weather stayed on our side — making it a really great way to spend a Sunday morning.
Notes to improve: I need to practice some camera moves and transitions, specifically the rotational pivot move with the gimbal. Also, I wasn’t particularly happy with the color and exposure, a few of the shots have blown out highlights. I’m planning to keep the camera in manual mode and shoot in Canon log next time to see if shooting with a more high dynamic range will solve the issues. For editing, I used Premiere Pro and some hack-arounds in Photoshop for the graphics. There are some rudimentary animation and effects, but over the next year or so, I plan to amp up those skills so it’s a faster creation process and more appealing to watch.
Another note, I didn’t really have a quality way to record sound. The gimbal is quite sensitive to weight and I didn’t want to add weight or clunk to the top of the balanced camera. So I’ll need to figure out a way to mic up a subject and invest in some sort of practical gear.
The nice thing about these practice runs and making little videos like these is that I don’t have to worry about selling a product, I can just focus on making something that makes me chuckle and feels entertaining. This is important to me, the reward is a little shot of creative joy. Helen has a similar approach to her fashion and creative work. She shares the desire to create things that are idiosyncratic and fit her own style — so in that regard, we are on the same level. It’s rare, but finding people who share your style really makes a huge difference. It’s what makes the work like this feel like play.
Here’s to more to come.
Scarf.
And here’s the storyboard I put together:
