Music Video Shot on Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra Premieres at Zurich Film Festival
We shot a music video using a Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra and it premiered at the Zurich Film Festival. The SMA Kids by Generali feat. Bligg project is live online and you can now watch the final video below!
This project came to us through our smartphone festival which is also hosted in Zurich. This year, Generali became main partners of the Zurich Film Festival for the first time and they approached us to hold a kids smartphone filmmaking workshop as part of the 2020 festival. Of course, we loved the idea and agreed.
The project then became a music video shoot and kids’ workshop combined. The track was recorded as part of another kids’ workshop involving famous Swiss artist Bligg and 150 kids singing the choruses. Our challenge was to integrate our kids workshop with the music video shoot.
Workshop & Music Video
At first, the music video shoot was to be separate from the kids filmmaking workshop. Then we had the idea to include the subject of filmmaking in the narrative of the music video.
I felt we should get the kids shooting with their phones as quickly as possible. Then I remembered a viral clip of some poor kids pretending to be filmmakers, but using old junk as film kit.
Although I couldn’t find the clip again, I wrote a story about some kids who want to respond to an advert looking for a professional film crew. They would then improvise using whatever and whoever they could find.
Originally, the star of the video was to be mysterious throughout, but would turn up at the end. But as this was a song performed by Bligg, we all agreed he should be in it more than just the last 30 seconds. So I reworked the story with Bligg and the kids narrative sharing equal time.
As Bligg is very well known in Switzerland, at first we weren’t sure if he would even appear in our kids workshop shot video. So to find out he was to feature was very exciting. But also put pressure on us to produce a great video…
Crew
We have known Sandeep Abraham since he submitted films to our festival from the very beginning of MoMo and he then became a member of our festival expert panel, some years ago. Sandeep is a great ambassador for smartphone filmmaking (and Samsung) and has led kids smartphone filmmaking workshops in the past. So we asked him if he wanted to be involved and he agreed.
One problem we had was that I don’t speak Swiss German (or German too well) and the kids spoke Swiss German with a bit of German. So I would not be able to work with the kids directly. However, we decided I could keep an overview from a distance, while Andrea, Sandeep and Benett worked with the kids directly.
The event was set: we would shoot a professional music video with smartphones and at the same time teaching 15 kids. The first shoot was 5 hours with a short break in the middle. We knew keeping 15 kids focused for 5 hours would be a challenge. There would also be another 6 hours shooting the following day.
We met Benett Graezer at a Zurich meetup some months ago. And since then he joined our Facebook group and shared some really great smartphone filmmaking video. So we asked him to be our 4th member, helping with the kids and getting some shots.
Smartphones
While Sandeep would use his new Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra, ZFF sent us 5 Note10+ phones to use with the kids. But we needed some kind of method to shoot this video and teach 15 kids, or it would be chaos.
So Sandeep was designated main cinematographer. While Andrea and Benett would take the Note10+ phones and guide the kids shooting. We also told the kids to bring their own smartphones as well.
The plan was that Sandeep’s shots would provide the core of the footage. But we would also have Andrea, Benett, mine and the kids video as backup.
And then the rain
After we made the schedule and shot list, we worked out we had just over 5 minutes per shot. So ZFF added another hour to the first day, giving us about 9 minutes. But still, this would be a very challenging shoot.
Also, we had decided to shoot most of the video at the skatepark near Sihlcity in Zurich. And when we visited the location for a recce, it was sunny and 29 degrees.
But with a few weeks to go, the forecast was for rain. So we needed a backup plan. And there were options, if the rain really poured down and there was no way we could shoot outside.
Personally, I felt the forecast could change so we should wait until it was closer to the shoot before we decided. Every day, leading up to the shoot, we checked the weather. And each time we checked it said rain.
But with just a couple of days to go, the forecast was for light showers. So I suggested we shoot outside anyway – a little bit of rain should be OK. Plus, when we first looked over the skatepark it was crowded and which would have made it hard to film. The rain would hopefully keep most people away and give us a much easier time.
Blankets
Ute-Kristina Schäfer, who works for Generali and was in charge of the kids workshop – both song and video – made sure we had blankets to keep the kids warm. These blankets were very useful, and not only for the kids. Ute was brilliant throughout, thinking of everything we hadn’t thought of ourselves.
Equipment Used
We used 6 Samsung phones in all. While most of the shots came from Sandeep’s Note20, there were a few shot by the kids using the Note10+ (as well as shots by Andrea and Benett). The Note10+ has the double aperture, which was discontinued for the 20 range of Samsung smartphones. But the Note10+ also does not shoot 8K video and for that we reason we shot everything in 4K.
Sandeep used a Tiffen Black ProMist diffusion filter. While the Note10+ phones were used with no filters.
We also used the DJI OM 4 and Zhiyun Smooth Q2 gimbals and a low budget magic arm for a couple of shots.
For the Kids
This was an ambitious project, involving a number of professional musicians, producers and filmmakers. But ultimately it was about the kids, for the kids. While it certainly was a challenge to shoot a music video and hold a workshop at the same time, I think it paid off.
Our aim (MoMo in partnership with Generali) was to inspire kids to be creative, in music or film, and I believe we achieved that goal. How often do you join a smartphone filmmaking workshop and end up taking part in a shoot with a famous musician?
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