Hello everyone! I had been wanting to invest in some great slick-promotional videos for a while. It's sometimes hard to choose who to go with when there are so many options of studios and fimographers. Do you go for live video? Studio Video?! Location Video...?! 3K, 4K...5K CAMERA?!?!?
You can choose to film live at a gig which can be great for 'in the moment' promotional footage. In my experience it can also have it's problems with audio balance e.g - instrument clashes, vocal feedback, audience chatter. You may have the option of plugging straight into the Engineer's desk but that's not always accessible with specific equipment needed which is of course, is extra money to hire.
Soooooo....I'd been thinking lots about the options and wanted a studio live in-house shoot for definite. Fieldgate Studios in Penarth, Cardiff had been on my Wish List for sometime. I'd been gigging a lot as a jazz-swing trio with Richard West - piano and Steven Tarner - Double Bass. We knew our repertoire down 'to a T' and I thought two of our jazz-versions would be perfect for Fieldgate!
The session went fantastically. So easy and slick between takes, we only did two takes of each song. Andrew really has the experience and knows what he's doing.
FIRST SONG: Estelle American Boy - My go to choice for any gig/open-mic/jam night. I still LOVE IT after six years since it was released!
With Steve T, Andrew Lawson (FG Studio) & Richard W...
** TIP TIME **
Professional studios like Fieldgate will be set up and ready to go. It costs money to hire a studio but in the social marketing world we live in right now, high-res impressive videos are a MUST MUST MUST! :)
Take you time and do your research on finding the best studio near you...It took me nearly a year to find the best place for my recordings. RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH! :D
SECOND SONG: The Zutons/Amy Winehouse Valerie. I think the piano's so very beautiful in our version and when the bass kicks in I melt watching it back...
** TIP TIME ** When choosing songs to record it's so important to go with choices you really love and know the lyrics by heart. With time constraints it can potentially be stressful to perform something you're not 100% with when there is a fixed allotted time to film, especially when you've hired a studio...
Please do visit my YouTube for more videos and the ones in my blog are also up on my Helena-May FB page. I'm so happy with them and I hope you love them too. Thank you Andrew Lawson for making them happen and of course Richard & Steve...