LUMIX GH1

Filmed at his UK studio with the award winning LUMIX GH1 and at a special performance with the Morriston Orpheus Choir in London (who appear on the track) the song was written and recorded over the past two years. ‘Ordinary Heroes’ features a string quartet on every track and focuses on Jones as a songwriter.

The album celebrates the heroism of people in everyday life. Initially we had plans for a bigger production with many of the musicians of the recording being filmed to playback, but in the end Howard wanted the message of the video to be about the lyrics and the simplicity of the song. It leant itself to him playing it alone in his studio with a couple of cutaways to the choir performing, when they start (during the second half of the song).

The filmic-type look of narrow depth of field was something we both liked, acentuating the movement of the hands on the keys and the facial expression of the performance. I needed a small camera to get some moving shots during a couple of the run-throughs, and wanting to try the DMC-GH1, it seemed like a good opportunity.

Because of the space and type of jib-arm I had at my disposal, the camera needed to be light and small. Also I was working on a 25fps timeline for the other cameras, so the GH1 was perfect for the job. Very easy to set up with focus and exposure locked, it was just a case of flying the camera up and down passing pretty close to the edge of the piano whilst Howard mimed to playback of the song.

The stock lens with the GH1 giving a really nice wide angle. We tried plenty of directions and speeds, and managed to get great looking footage on every take. It is just a shame we couldn't use it more often. Recorded as AVCHD it dropped very nicely with the other footage also shot in that format.

Written by James Cumpsty, Photography Journalist.

To see more from Howard Jones, please visit www.howardjones.com.