When you think of action cameras, you mostly think of cameras mounted to bike helmets or videos of skydivers jumping out of planes. While these are perfectly legitimate uses for such devices, Sony is aiming to look beyond just the thrill seekers, and is showcasing the more artist uses for their Sony Action Cam. Recently, Portland based director, Jourdain May got his hands on a Sony Action Cam, and the resulting video is nothing short of breathtaking. The short film, Move, using the SAC’s 120fps capabilities, is set in Weylin B. Seymour’s wonderfully restored Williamsburg Savings Bank. For the short, Jourdain cast the insanely talented dancer/choreographer Mela Sierra, (aka Mela Murder) to dance in contrast to Damien Escobar’s hauntingly beautiful violin piece, “Freedom.”
Mela’s hip hop stylings, when set against Escobar’s track make for quite the exquisite corpse.
“We started to play with the idea that if we blend Mela’s style, that she is so well known for,with all these really kinda elegant, beautiful aesthetics like the location, and the wardrobe and especially the music, that it would be this interesting contrast.” Jourdain told us over the phone.”Especially for [Mela’s] fans, because she is so well know in this sort of certain environment.”
Jourdain was also quick to not undersell Damien Escobar's role in the ballet. May went on the praise the two time Emmy winning violinist's hand in the creative process.
“As the piece evolved creatively,”Jourdain added, “Damien became a really, really important aspect of it as well, because it was really them playing off each other.”
Jourdian was able to capture this incredible of chimera of art, with amazing stability and clarity, from angles that normal camera’s could not. Throughout the short, the POV shots never feel shaky. Just the opposite, they almost turn stop motion.
“That was one of the big things, to make it feel elegant and seamless,” Jourdain revealed to us, adding. ”We couldn’t have it feel like it was shot in a guerrilla way. It needed to be smooth and the stabilization features on that [Sony Action Cam] really helped. One of my favorite parts of the piece are the things we able to achieve with Damien. Because the violin. is, especially the way Damien plays it, is a really dynamic instrument, in the way you and perform it. I am not certain if it has been done before, but I certainly haven’t seen it the angles we able to achieve with the violin. They were really dynamic and really interesting.”
Having the, lightweight, Sony Action Cam attached to the neck of the violin didn’t affect the way that Damien played, as the director told us.
”It didn’t at all. Which he was really excited about as a performer,” Jourdain stated. “He was really excited that it didn’t really affect his movement at all. That it really didn’t bother him, because it was so light. That was one of the things that I found really cool about that aspect of the shoot, was how free he was able to move. Because you would think that would be pretty invasive, and with any other camera it would be.”
The easy to use Sony Action Cam is proven to be an amazing tool for artist as well as athletes.
“It is really enabling artist in general,” Jourdain added, regarding the camera’s many possible uses.”It’s great, it is amazing, for action towards athletes. That is the most dynamic movement you can have, but what is really cool is how light it is and the quality of it, it is really encouraging all kinds of artist to use it, like filmmakers, musicians, my personal favorite, and dancers. The way it is built and put together, its capabilities are going to draw in all types of people… Every other camera like this one before is so concentrated on the action sports realm and it is neat to see how they [Sony] are encouraging other people to use film in interesting ways.”
What did you think of Move? What could you see yourself using a Sony Action Cam for? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
