WELCOME TO MUSIC CLIP SCHOOL!
Fox Studios Australia Monday November 7 - Thursday November 10, 2005.

A group of up-and-coming directors and DOPs and got to shoot, second unit direct and light segments for a major label music clip in the latest course run by the BelowGround Music Video Fest and Kodak.

The MAKING MUSIC CLIPS ON MOTION PICTURE FILM course took place over three days, followed by a further day of special processing and telecine workshops at Atlab and the LaB.

Sixteen filmmakers from NSW, Victoria, Queensland, WA plus a kiwi who’d just finished work on King Kong took part in the shooting of the clip at Fox Studios Australia.

Star of the clip was Melbourne-based hip hop act Phrase and the production was directed by award-winning music clip maker Anthony Rose of Fish ‘n’ Clips Sydney.

Also playing a key role was NY-based Kodak cinematographer Chris Hart, who came out here specially for the course and acted as DOP for the clip, giving participants a thorough grounding in both the theoretical and practical aspects of motion picture film.

The course/shoot took place from Nov 7-10 and it’s the second year that BelowGround and Kodak have run it. This year it attracted substantial music industry support, with Universal Music Australia getting the Catch Phrase clip made and providing a hefty budget for the production.

With Kodak supplying 35mm film, Chris Hart and further cash support, Panavision providing camera and grip equipment and Fox Studios opening the immense doors of two stages to the group, the filmmakers – plus Phrase -- were able to kick some serious butt.

Most of the shooting took place in two sets, one made up as a record shop, the other an underground record plant/auto workshop. Working with an experienced crew, Anthony Rose took the group through his rapid-fire approach to clip making, which involves no storyboard and no repeat shots. Instead of the usual ‘insurance’ shots Rose prefers to create a new shot from a different angle or with a different lens.

After quickly getting the backbone of the clip in the can, Rose then let his protégées shoot and direct segments for the remainder of the production in close consultation with Chris Hart, who gave advice on exposures, lighting positions, filters, lenses and a host of other areas.

Adding even more value to the exercise were special briefings from XYZ Networks executive producer Angela Beal and Flying Fish Corporation MD Paul Friedmann designed to help participants lift their work to a more commercial plateau.

Feedback from the participants was very, very positive. “I’ve learned more in the past four days that I did in five years at university,” said 25-year-old director Marc Furmie, who went on to second unit direct the latest Australian Idol clip under Anthony Rose immediately after the workshop.

The most experienced member of the group, veteran camera assistant and sometime operator Ben Jasper, 33, said: “Anthony Rose and Chris Hart were both great teachers and this has given me the confidence to move into doing more shooting.”

The Phrase clip was edited and presented to a happy Universal Music Australia just a few days after the course finished – and within another few days it was getting its first airing.

Here’s what another course participant, Queensland director Steph Bates, had to say after seeing it on TV: “I saw Phrase’s clip on Video Hits yesterday morning and was blown away! It looks great. How amazing to see lighting that I designed and the shots that I camera operated on TV!”

It's the second year running that Belowground and Kodak have run the course. Pictures from last year left below the menu.

*The Catch Phrase single and album Talk with Force are out now.