The last project I filmed was about 3 years ago now. It was a short film created with some people I met while working on Vikings: Valhalla, and after rounding up a bunch of friends from college, we got to work.
It was a fun shoot; it took 2 days, but there were a couple of mishaps which stopped a good film from being great.
Since then, I worked for other people, editing, writing, as well as working solo on Music Videos. But I got an itch recently to get myself back out there and do something bigger.
Gathering a crew together can be tough, and larger projects take a lot more organising, but in the end, it is always worth it.
The Wicklow Music Collective
There were two ideas floating around my head for documentaries, one of which was to follow the collective, interviewing people, while also sharing a bit of insight into what we are doing.
Because we have some big things coming up, that idea took precedence over the other idea I had.
So I suggested the documentary to everyone, got the green light, and started organising some stuff behind the scenes to get it started.
The Festival
We were asked to play at a local festival, The Taste of Wicklow, where we have been given 1 of 2 stages for all of the bands in the collective to perform.
To be taken from the smaller venues we regularly perform in and to be put on a larger stage is a major boost for us.
The Collective has picked up a lot of steam, and this festival is such a large event that it just adds to the momentum.
It's a great chance for all of the bands and musicians to perform to a much larger crowd, and it's a badge of approval, in a way, for what we have been doing for the last year.
The Idea For The Documentary
Introduce key members of the collective, document the ins and outs of operating something like this.
Showcase the bands and musicians.
Document the nights, and show what each gig entails.
Document the Coffee Shop Sessions.
End with setting up and performing at the festival.
There are a good few ideas to add in, if the runtime allows for it. Regardless of that, though, a great natural endpoint for this documentary is the festival itself.
The First Day of Shooting
We decided to hold a production meeting/ collective update meeting yesterday.
Since the crew were going to be there anyway, I figured it would be a good idea to get some B-roll of the meeting.
The crew and I met earlier in the day, and filmed some B-roll of the town, an intro to the documentary, and we also shot a short interview with one of the founding members of the collective right before the meeting took place.
It's nice to have the ball rolling and to have some footage.
We are going to shoot 1 day each week for about 7 or 8 weeks, and after each day, I will review and place the footage on the timeline. That way, I can get an idea of what shots we need more of in the following week.