It was great to work with musician, composer, instrument maker & teacher Rob Zielinski. It was a thoroughly enjoyable collaboration. We put together a number of videos for his duet with Manuela Centanni and also shot some portraits for the artists. The timeline was pretty tight from shooting to delivery as Rob was leaving New Zealand.
This weekend's feature in the Otago Daily Times chats about Rob's skills as an instrument maker. The interview features Rob and his idea to make a viola sourced from New Zealand native timber, primarily Kauri. The article showcases some of the photos shot by CMPNZ. Check it out here: https://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/magazine/quest-holy-grail-timber
Recently Rob and Manuela played a private concert in Halfway Bush, Dunedin. After the concert, Rob decided to record a number of songs at the location.
The recordings occurred a week or so later. The first song recorded, The Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow was shot with one camera but with a number of different takes to accommodate different angles. An audio take was selected on the day and the other visual takes cut to the selected audio track. You can read about Rob's approach to the audio recording at the YouTube link to the video below.
The idea was to match the lighting to the background vista of the location. Two Forza 500's at full power managed to light the subjects and substitute sunlight streaming into the room. Reflections when shooting with lots of glass is challenging. The second video, The Bull's March was shot with a different look by blacking out the room and lighting the subjects with a Nanlite Parabolic 90 from above and Godox strip boxes. Although the final video I think the Godox strip boxes were swapped out for a single Nanlite strip box from above and behind.
The final video featured Rob solo and featured a single Nanlite Fresnel Fl-20G positioned above and illuminating Rob's instrument. Rob and Manuela wanted videos that authentically showcased their work as artists simply and effectively.