Monday, April 7, 2014

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Hapuku Lodge and Tree Houses


 Creating a Promotional Video for Kaikoura's Top Luxury Lodge



A couple of months ago i got the opportunity to head down to Kaikoura and spend a few nights at the The Hapuku Lodge and Tree Houses, a beautiful Luxury Lodge that sits just North of Kaikoura and looks on towards the Kaikoura Ranges. In the early hours of a cold September day I jumped on the ferry in Wellington and made my way down the coast. The plan was to spend two full days and two nights filming at the lodge while staying in one of their famous Tree House rooms. From here i would be able spend my time filming around the lodge, capturing bits and pieces of the architecture, wild life and the natural landscape to create a short promotional video for Hapuku's website and social media platforms. The idea being that this video would convey the sense of energy, space and feel that the Lodge possesses, which is hard to communicate via photos alone.


First stop was a well known seal colony at Ohau Point, about a 15 minutes North of Hapuku Lodge. A stream leads inland from here and during a few months of the year, young seal pups enjoy freedom from the rest of the colony by making their way up the stream to a waterfall catchment pool. Here they dive and play about all within easy viewing distance of a well sign posted track for tourists and sightseers. I spent an hour or so here getting coverage of the pups frolicking about, as way to add a bit of variety to the final video and provide a close up view of one of Kaikoura cutest attractions.


Upon arriving I was totally spoiled at the Lodge, Chris Sturgeon (General Manager), and his team were fantastic to deal with. Right from the get go my access to the Lodge and it's facilities was top notch, i was free to make my way around and get the footage i needed, setting up various cameras to timelapse the clouds passing over the lodge. My Treetop room was everything i had read about and more, peacefully settled a good five metres off the ground, i was perched right in the trees with a view looking straight into the Ranges to the North-West, and to the South my room overlooked a large olive grove. Although staying it such a glamorous room was a double edged sword; as while i had access to all the spoils of this luxury room, i spent minimal time there as i was either out lugging camera gear around the lodge, or up at silly hours of the morning catching the morning light. Speaking of which...



No time for sleep, the next morning i was up pre-6am to capture sunrise along the coast, just a 2 minute drive away.... or a 5 minute walk for those not traveling with a car load of camera gear. While the morning was overly cloudy, this actually worked to my favour as the clouds provided a nice sense of depth and the contrast of the deep blues of the early light and the sun rising created some very memorable shots to start my video with. For the rest of the day i moved around the lodge, aiming to get more shots of the bird life that nestle around the tree tops, and the deer that graze on the paddock in front of the lodge.




That night i set up in the Kitchen, as Chef Fiona Read (also Chris's Partner) and her team put on a show creating a number of meals for the guests dining in the other room. Normally observing and filming such delicious looking meals would've been torture, but not to be forgotten, i was treated to a feast myself after we had finished. In fact, the whole time i was at the lodge i was always looked after with another meal right around the corner. Absolutely fantastic!



On my final day Chris set up a helicopter flight with a local Heli company with the idea that i would be able to grab some aerial coverage of the region. An overhead shot of the Lodge was priority, but also some shots of the coast and towards the ranges would add another dimension of scope to final video. With the door taken off the side door of the chopper, i was able to position myself with the camera and choose some good lines for the chopper pilot to follow to get some good runs. After an hour long flight, i grabbed one or two quick final shots from around the Lodge, and it was time to say goodbye and return to Wellington. A great experience! and one i won't soon forget!

After a month or so of editing, the final product came together in an energetic, concise and fast paced video. I am very happy with the final video and i think it reflects the feel of the Lodge very well. i highly recommend visiting if you're in the area a Chris and his team set the bar incredibly high!


Friday, August 2, 2013

Wedding Videography


Better late than never, here is a post on my first foray into Wedding Videography.


Last November i had the pleasure of filming my friends Calvin and Pam's Wedding and creating a short film/music video of their big day. While i have to admit i was apprehensive at first due to the sometimes overwhelming stress and pressure that would accompany filming such a big event in someones life, the day was actually thoroughly enjoyable and i couldn't be happier with the finished result. Any doubts that i may have held were put to rest early on in my discussions with the couple when i saw first hand the amount of preparation and hard work that they were putting into the day. With a Vintage Carnival based theme set amongst the beautiful grounds of Ohariu Valley Farm, the day was well placed to be a stunner.


I began the day at Pam's house where she and her Bridesmaids were having their makeup done. I darted around the house for thirty odd minutes grabbing quick shots of the proceedings. I knew early on from my discussions with Calvin and Pam wanted a handheld 'indie film making' type aesthetic to the film, this meant that i would shoot primarily handheld with a very shallow depth of field, often moving the camera/subject into focus instead of pulling focus.


Next it was off to Ohariu Farm where Calvin and the Groomsman were preparing in a cottage just across from the main farm stay. Here, i darted around again grabbing some quick shots of the boys whilst the were getting ready. At this time i also noticed that the clouds in the sky were quite dynamic and whipping by at quite a rate, so i grabbed a few quick shots there too. These proved useful for the final video in the opening scene.


Next up, the ceremony. Overlooking the whole of Ohariu Valley, the wedding ceremony was absolutely picturesque. As i knew that i was only making a 3-4 minute short film from the days footage i realised that i could move about to get coverage of the event without having to stay in one spot to capture a whole sequence for the sake of continuity. This allowed me to jump from one side of the party to the other to create the illusion of a multi camera shoot.


After the ceremony i tagged along with the Bridal Party and the Photographer to capture some cutaway footage as the group posed for various photos. My goal here was to give the Wedding Photographer their space whilst still getting a number of beauty shots of the couple in different settings. This mainly meant i was using longer lenses to shoot the couple from a distance. The end result was satisfying as i captured a solid number of great shot, most of which made the final cut.

Next it was the speeches and reception. From our discussions, the couple and i decided that we did not want to cut in speeches from the evening into the video but that i would still capture parts of them just in case something fit. In the end i used a few brief cutaway shot from the speeches but no actual dialogue was edited into the final video.


Lastly, after the speeches and dinner, the couple took their first dance and the party moved to the ballroom. A nice touch from Calvin and Pam was moving the party outside and introducing fireworks sparklers to all the guests to play with. This added another dynamic to the night and gave me a great opportunity to get some lovely night time shots with the couple. It provided a fantastic end to the night, and served beautifully as the final shot in the film.


So after a 12 hour shooting day, a few weeks of editing, and a solid colour grade the final video was ready to pass on to the happy couple, and thankfully they were absolutely thrilled with the final result. What began with a bit of apprehension on my part has no doubt become one of my more proud pieces of video work, a very nice surprise indeed :)

The finished video is below, i hope you enjoy.

Wedding Video: Calvin and Pam from Luke Frater on Vimeo.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Behind the Scenes on my 2012 Showreel.




 
 A Short Film/Showreel from my South Island Road Trip.


Two weeks ago, i was sitting at home looking at a blank schedule for the next week or so on the work/project front.... spare time was aplenty! I had long wanted to undertake a road trip of the South Island, just loading up the car with camera gear and driving, town to town, and stopping whenever something caught my eye. As it was coming into Spring and the last big snow dump of the year having just occurred it seemed like it was now or never... (or maybe next year i guess). Regardless, eager to push myself, my skills, my gear, and my finances, i loaded the car with gear, clothes and snacks and jumped on the ferry.

My main goal of the trip was to not only visit all the big scenic spots that the South Island is well renowned for but also to try go 'off the beaten track' a little bit as well and see what i could find. Another goal was movement, whilst i'm a big fan of tidy composition and static video shots, with this showreel i wanted to be a bit more proactive in finding movement in the objects and landscapes i filmed. If that was not possible, then i wanted to move the camera either via tilt or pan on the tripod, or using my Glidetrack Slider. I also found that when shooting at 200fps slow motion even the most shaky hands generates footage that is still very 'floating' like. So for a number of shots i was able to film moving subjects handheld yet still pull off a controlled type look which suited the piece.

While i was mostly quite fortunate on the weather front i did often find myself dodging the storm fronts that were coming in, on one day this worked to my advantage however as i was able to race ahead of the front that was coming from the South and set up to film it approaching the Southern Alps which generated a very cool looking lenticular cloud at the center of the two opposing fronts. I set up the 5DmkII on a 20mm lens to get a wide shot timelapse of the sky and the fence and tree in the forground. I then set up my Sony FS700 on the long end of a 24-105mm lens to get a close up of the lenticular cloud doing it's thing. Shooting at 1fps (and speeding up x2 in post) i got a really great looking shot which intercut well with the wide shot.



In the South Otago, i set up down a local farm road to film two seperate 
timelapses of an approaching storm front over the alps. A still from the 
5D mkII timelaspe is below, and the close up from the FS700 is below that.



Next, i found myself zipping through the Catlins on the South-Eastern Coast. While the weather was pretty shocking and had thwarted a lot of my attempts to get some 'beauty shots' of the region, i knew i wanted to visit Purakaunui Falls. I knew they would provide an epic looking shot, but I was also extra keen to check it out because with the large rainfalls that had just fallen over the region the waterfall would be absolutely raging, and it was. It was lightly raining when i arrived, so i chucked a plastic sheet over the camera, trekked down to the falls and clambered out onto some rocks off to the side and set up. I did a few tilts and static shots at 200fps (framing out the hippies who were meditating and juggling over to the right side), packed up and headed back to the car.



Purakaunui Falls, in The Catlins.




Next up i stopped by the Otago highlands in an oddly calm and clear day, i took a drive down a few farm roads and pulled over near one of thousands of interesting rock formations that litter the area. I jumped a few fences and set up the 5DmkII to do a timelapse, meanwhile i roamed around out of frame doing some shots with the FS700 and the Glidetrack (only one of which i ended up using i believe).




The 5DmkII timelapsing (above) and the final shot (below)



Another key motivation on this trip was to get some time up in the mountains via a helicopter. Fortunately, knowing a friend who worked for a local Heliski company meant that if i made a short promo video for them i would be able to spend a day up with a group of Heli skiiers free of charge. Perfect. While i hadn't skiied in years, i geared up, stripped the camera down to it's barest form, wrapped it in a plastic cover and jumped in the chopper. What followed was day of breathtaking vistas over the Southern Alps mixed with terror at navigating some of the slopes (especially with a camera looped around my neck). Nothing can quite describe the feeling of being dropped off my a chopper at the top of a mountain, watching it take off and then having it majestically come pick you up at a nother peak. Just incredible. While only a few shots from made it into my final reel, the footage will now go into the promo video for Southern Lakes Heliski which i am editing now. 






Eight days, seven nights and nearly 4,000km later i made the final journey from Christchurch to Picton and jumped on the ferry back to Wellington. It was an amazing trip, the freedom of moving from place to place and filming whenever and wherever i wanted was invigorating, and an experience i won't soon forget! Below are a few more stills and photos from the shoot, as well as the finished video at the bottom:







SOUTHWARD - Short Film/Showreel from Luke Frater on Vimeo.



Thanks! 

- Luke



Sunday, August 19, 2012

The Sony FS700; a new era begins....




My new camera, the Sony FS700. But first let's take a journey
looking back at the previous cameras i've owned and shot on 
over the years,,,


Oh how things have changed in 6 years. When i begun my Film studies degree at Victoria University in the mid-2000's any project that i wanted to undertake would have me relying on my parents trusty old Sony Hi-8 Video Camera. It shot to Digi8 DV tapes at a not so great SD and interlaced resolution.


 The Sony HRV320 Camcorder in all it's glory, suction cup
mounted on my car of the day, an '89 Toyota Corolla....

 Which helped myself and my friends, Derek and Adam, create 
memorable car shots for our short project 'Urban Blackout' (above). 
Although i believe we did not have  asuction cup at this point, so 
ample amounts of masking tape had to suffice.


After shooting a few successful short projects and Uni shorts on the Sony Handycam, and wanting to further explore filmmaking and camera operating i invested in a 'Prosumer' level Video Camera. I picked up a Canon XM2. 



 The Canon XM2, recorded to MiniDV tape, 20x zoom, shot Progressive and in 16x9. 
A nice step up from the Handycam.

The XM2 was the 'little brother' to the hugely popular Canon XL2. I was familiar with the XL2 as i used it throughout my Film degree at Vic and would later shoot my Honours degree short film 'Vanished' on it. The camera still shot to DV tapes but it did so using a (comparatively) larger quality sensor than simple 'Handycams' while also recording a progressive image file and in a wide screen 'anamorphic' mode. This camera was another great tool to learn with and while it didn't shoot a huge amount of work with the camera, it had a second life....

 
Urban Blackout 2, a short film/trailer project was shot using the XM2, we also got 
arrested at gun point whilst filming this particular scene. But that's another story...



Times were-a-changing, and the indie filmmakers search for the elusive 'Film like image' on a low budget led to the creation and adoption of the 35mm Film Adaptor. A device that basically took an image from a 35mm still camera lens, projected it onto a piece of ground glass, in which a video camera was then used top record that image. Voila! 35mm depth of field characteristics in a video camera. A hunt on TradeMe led me to a Letus 35mm adapter kit selling cheaply, i picked it up and gave my XM2 its second life.


The Canon XM2 with a Letus 35mm Film adaptor on the front. My camera rig 
had just doubled in size and weight. 


Another tool, another concept: 35mm depth of field. From a music video 
'Babe i'm just Scared' by Tommy and the Fallen Horses that i was DP on

 
Mission Impossible with V cans? yes please.

Once again though, the camera game was changing. With the Video shooting DSLR's taking the market by force, my Canon XM2 and Letus 35mm were on the market within a few months. It was time to embrace the Canon 5D mk II/Canon 7D...

 
 The Canon 7D mini rig, Full 1080p HD images with shallow depth of field 
and up to 2x slow motion in 720p. Another step up in technology and filmmaking tools.


After a brief fling with the Canon 5D mkII i settled on the Canon 7D as my camera (due to to its higher frame rates and slow motion capabilities). I owned my Canon 7D for nearly 2 1/2 years and shot some of my favourite projects on it, everything from music videos, showreels and 48 Hour Film festival entries. It's compact size, HD image, shallow depth of field and superb capabilities in low light made it my ideal camera for a long time.


Music video 'Cushions' by Tommy and the Fallen Horses that i was Director and DP on.


 
   My showreel video 'At the End of it All', shot at Castlepoint in mid-2011

 48 Hour Film fest entry 'It's Always Night in Space', shot mid-2012.

    
and the obligatory 'car shot'. Things have definitely changed since the Handycam days.


So after nearly 3 years with my faithful DSLR, the Canon 7D. what changed? Well, the camera manufacturers finally caught up with the idea that people wanted the incredible filmmaking aesthetic which they could get with a DSLR but in a video camera body. One that came with built in ND filters, like a Video Camera. One that was able to record quality sound, like a Video Camera. One that had things like a histogram, sound metering levels, quality video recording codec, like a Video Camera.

 Sony NEX FS700

So when the announcement of the Sony NEX FS700 came earlier this year, a camera that had all of the features above, while also being able to record at an unprecedented 240fps+ level of slow motion, and all at an 'affordable' price tag. I knew it was time to invest again.

Of course, at this stage i probably come off as quite the camera whore, but the decision to upgrade was not taken lightly by myself. Every time i have upgraded cameras, i have tried to justify it by the amount of work i have done with the camera i have owned beforehand, and whether it matches the skills and techniques i've learned in the process. Now of course justifying purchases this was is not a precise art, but i'd like to think i dont make completely blind purchases. If you don't believe me then, well.... i just blame the accelerating pace in the improvement of technology haha.


So over the past few months what began as a methodical penny pinching campaign ended with the addition of a cannibalistic 'sell-off' of a good chunk of my camera gear. Spare lenses, rig parts, glidecams, they all had to go! 


Three words of happiness. 


 Super35 Sensor goodness.

With the last of my sold camera gear shipped off to various TradeMe buyers last wek, i got the call shortly afterwards that my camera had arrived into the country. Fantastic timing! So, a new era in my filmmaking life begins, my first project saw me set up a makeshift studio in my garage and do a number of slow motion shots with all the fun things in life like water, fire, aerosol cans and M&M's...


Shooting at 200/400/800fps required a ton of light! 2x 650 watt Fresnels,
 1x800w and 1x 300w


M&M's and macro lens action.


A good looking city indeed.



With that said, here is my first short film piece shot on my new camera. hope you enjoy :)


'Threshold' - A Sony FS700 Short Film from Luke Frater on Vimeo.



So when will the next camera come out and 'invalidate' this one? Hopefully not anytime in the next few years, i dont think my savings can take it! In the meantime, i'm just going to do my best by learning new skills, new techniques, creating interesting projects, having fun and somehow justifying my mad purchases haha :D

- Luke






Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Oh Stasis: the video.... finally!

Nearly a year ago now i had the chance to work on a music video with a friend of mine, Horst Sarubin, the video was for Grayson Gilmour's song 'Oh Stasis'. Horst initiated the project as part of his Masters Degree in Film at Victoria University, and through his contacts in the film industry was able to assemble an impressively talented crew to work on the 'no-budget' project.

Here is my original blog post on the shoot: http://lukefrater.blogspot.com/2010/08/grayson-gilmour-video-shoot

...so, what was meant to be a few months of post production ballooned out to nearly a year, as various problems with the CGI effects, editing ..and a fire which decimated the miniatures studio in Kilbirnie (where we shot the video) all contributed to a long delay to the release of the final video.

Last week though, the final touches were put on it, it was colour graded, and the video was given a final release. It was great to see the video come together and see all of the different elements assembled at last. My role as Camera Operator meant that i was responsible for configuring our camera rigs, for shooting a lot of the live action pieces (with our actor Paul), and also photographing the star timelaspes that provide the background in a number of the city shots. It was a great deal of fun to work on and i'm very proud to be a small member of the team responsible for the final product

Enjoy.

Drowning Man from Horst Sarubin on Vimeo.



thanks,

Luke

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Showreel: 'At The End of it All'

I currently find myself on a 3 week break from work, the majority of my time thus far has been spent (in no particular order) sleeping, watching movies, drinking in excess, socialising, and watching countless Louis Theroux documentaries on youtube. During this period though, i told myself that i would make use of such a rare amount of free time and finally work hard to go out and shoot and edit a proper showreel piece. Whilst i have done a number of smaller landscape type tests with both live video and timelapse work in the past, i wanted to create something that could stand alone by itself, and hopefully tell a story at the same time, or at the very least convey some connection of a theme or feeling. This was an idea that i knew would challenge me and i knew that going into this project with some set ideas for shots and style was key.

This showreel idea also went with an ongoing dream/goal of mine which is to travel overseas at some point in the future and take my camera gear with me to some of the worlds most stunning locations, and film landscape pieces of them. Among some of the areas that i would love to travel to and film include the Salt Lakes in Utah, Monument Valley, USA, and the Canadian Rockies (among many, many others). So in essence, i decided a short road trip around the lower North Island of New Zealand would suit me well as a trial of sorts. A chance to travel and film whilst understanding the logistics of doing such a shoot. So at midday on Tuesday last week, i loaded up the station wagon, mattress in the back, camera gear in the front, snacks in the glove box, and hit the road. My first destination was that of Castlepoint on the lower east coast of the North Island.


Castlepoint.

I had actually visited Castlepoint only a month or so earlier on a weekend getaway with a bunch of friends, and was immediately taken with the barren landscape and its 'otherworldy' feel. Huge waves pound the giant rock faces and eastern facing cliffs, which are exposed to all the elements of the South Pacific Ocean. While i did have my camera with me on the previous trip i had only taken a handful of photos, and carrying an additional 20kgs of camera gear to do a really solid shoot wasn't too appealing given the social nature of the situation. I knew i had to return at some point, and soon.


Facing the South Pacific (on my previous trip with friends)

I arrived at Castlepoint at 2pm, after a two and a half hour drive. The weather was well and truly overcast, but thankfully there was little to no wind. With a location such as Castlepoint being so exposed to the sea, any offshore winds caused chaos, and lugging camera gear up the cliffs and filming precariously over ledges would've been a tricky... if not suicidal venture. So with only a light breeze, i loaded up a camera bag with my Canon 7D, a bunch of lenses, a small tripod, and a camera silder dolly i had managed to borrow for the shoot.


Canon 5D mkII, with a Zacuto HDMI EVF, on the Cinevate Camera Slider

For the next 3 hours before sunset i worked my way around the cliffs gathering various shots where i could. The camera slider (basically a small dolly on tracks) was invaluable during this time, and i manged to get some great dolly moves with it which came in very handy during the edit. They really add another level of production values to the film, maybe because i always associate dolly moves on films with bigger crews, but this slider works great on one man shoots.



Just as the sun was setting i set up a timelapse of the clouds rolling by over the lighthouse on the top of the cliff, right up until it was dark.


Timelapsing on the beach

As night fell i was disappointed to see that the night sky was still completely clouded over. As it is so far away from the lights of the city, Castlepoint has the most amazing night sky i have ever seen, the number of stars visible to the naked eye is at least 2-4 times more than what you would normally see. But with it being completely clouded over, i had nothing. So with little to film in the dark (even with trying a low light photography timelapse) i drove up the coast a bit and pulled the car over to the side of the road to set up for the night. Bored, I went to bed in the back of the car at the alarmingly early time of 7:30pm. After an uncomfortable 3 hours worth of sleep i awoke at 10:30pm to find that the cloud cover had almost completely cleared. Disorientated and half asleep i clambered out of the car and set up the camera to do some timelapses of the night sky. The sky out there really is remarkable, even the timelapses that i did capture (and found their way into my video) don't quite do it justice. Perhaps one indicator of how clearly you can see the night sky was that while i was awake till about 1am, i witnessed three separate shooting stars in my brief time looking upwards. Very cool. Three hours of timelapsing, and two glasses of Scotch later i hit bed for the night.


Night sky over Castlepoint

After six hours of broken sleep, i awoke at 7am to capture some quick shots of the sunrise on the horizon, i then ventured back to the lighthouse at Castlepoint to do some pickup shots of a few things i had wanted to get on the previous day. The most important being a steadycam shot running low over the ground towards the shoreline, this being an idea of mine to quickly intercut this shot with other steadycam shots running low over other landscapes. To ultimately achieve this shot and get the camera as low to the ground as i wanted, i had to fly my Glidecam 2000 steadycam (and the camera) upside down, this wasn't ideal (for reviewing footage or filming), and it was an absolute nightmare to stabilise, but it gave me the smoothest shot i could get under the circumstances.


Flying the Glidecam upside down (image flipped in post)

With my filming complete at Castlepoint i hit the road again. I had originally intended to travel North from here to the Manawatu and film there, starting at the giant windfarm there. But somewhere between my less than comfortable sleep in the back of the Corolla and my delight at the amount of footage i had already captured, i decided instead to travel back South to Martinborough and then head home that evening. So as i wound my way through the back roads of the region, on a side mission to find Stonehenge Aotearoa (to see if it was as tacky as it sounded), i stopped at a number of sights grabbing quick shots, anything that i thought might cut well with the footage i had already. It was at the point when i arrived at Stonehenge only to find it closed (oh... such a shame haha) that i turned around to see a picturesque field with a worn down and abandoned farm house at the the top of the hill. The sight just screamed cinematic gold to me. I had found the second loctation (and second half) of my video.


The field.

I immediately parked the car and set off towards the house. Moderately concerned about trespassing, i made my way up the hill in a stealthy fashion... well, about as stealthy as you can be whilst carrying three giant camera bags and slowly negotiating a minefield of cow patties on the way. Upon entering the house, i found it to be a deathly quiet mess, sections of the walls were missing everywhere, mud was traipsed all through the floors, no one had lived here for a long time.


Abandoned farmhouse

The unsettling peace of the house was disturbed as soon as i took my first step into the main room though as i had the living daylights scared out of me by about 15 pigeons that all awoke at once to fly out of the rafters making a horrendous noise. Relieved that my underwear did not need changing, my only regret was that i hadn't set the camera up outside to film the moment haha.



From here i spent the next hour filming various shots throughout the house, i really wanted to play with the idea of silhouettes which was very easy considering the high contrast between the light outside and inside of the house. Not wanting to overuse the camera slider in my film i decided to leave that in car, my shots here would instead be either tripod still shots.



As the afternoon wore on, i was happy with the footage i had collected and i loaded up the car and worked my way home to Wellington, stopping numerous times along the way to collect more of my Steadycam shots for the edit and other complimentary shots too. Exhausted, i reached home in the early evening and hit bed, before starting the daunting task of collating footage, transcoding and editing it.

For the longest time i have had the song 'Intro' by The XX stuck in my head, the pacing and the beat of it really appeals to my style of shooting and editing and i have always wanted to use it in one of my videos. So going into this project i had a good idea that i might use it and had planned a few shots accordingly (the quick intercutting of the Steadycam shots being one of them). While i had collected a lot of footage from other areas apart from Castlepoint and the Farm House, it was obvious to me that these would provide the focus for my video. It was clear that isolation and rawness would be the key themes of my video, it was also quite fitting as my experience on the road, out and about shooting by myself, was also one of isolation and maybe that comes across in the images too. So, after a good 3 days of editing and colour grading i finally rendered it out last night, and i couldn't be happier with the finished video. I feel that while i only really utilised the two locations for it, it still conveys the the isolation and beauty of these two areas, and that my transition between the two locations (via the Steadycam shots) also worked well. So with my road trip and subsequent showreel a success, my time off from work feels a little more complete.

With that, i present "At the End of it All", thanks for reading.



At the End of it All from Luke Frater on Vimeo.





Now, back to Drinking and watching movies.....


Luke