X-E4+NIGHTSHIFT BTS
“I have a project for you, but it’s not what you think...”
That’s how our conversation began, on a late November morning. I was still in my pyjamas, still on my first cup of coffee—running a bit late to be honest.
“Well, right now I’m not thinking anything...” was my smart-ass reply.
It’s always a thrill to get a project from Fujifilm, and not just because of the high-profile aspect of the work. The exhilaration comes from a special mix of challenge and creative license—not something you get on many jobs. We always find ways to express ourselves within a given framework, but it’s rare to get this amount of freedom. Especially in the context of a marketing campaign for a new product.
But as it turns out, it truly wasn’t what I thought: this time, someone else would be in the spotlight.
…
Last year’s REVEAL promotional film forced me out of my comfort zone: until then, every project had been a collaboration, with Fujifilm Canada’s Francis Bellefeuille handling filming and editing. On REVEAL, due to the lockdown, I had to fly solo. I had to learn new tricks and remember old tricks all over again. I also had to do this while still being the guy in front of the lens.
When Billy Luong asked me how I’d feel about producing a film with another photographer, I had to stop and think for a moment. Because it’s one thing to look inside yourself, but quite another to dive into someone else’s world. Plus, the logistics of the shoot would be vastly different and more complex as well: no more sudden ideas at 1 AM to fill-in the blanks. Given the tight deadline we’d need a precise shot list, a clear schedule AND sanitary measures in place for any interior work.
More importantly: I didn’t know Mustafa and I’d never seen his photography. As soon as I did, however, I was sold.
Concept
I often use keywords to brainstorm, and looking at his photography, the word nightshift established itself from the very start. I couldn't get it out of my mind. This idea of leaving something behind, of stepping out to capture the night, crossing a dividing line, as if entering a different realm. Imagine my surprise when I read an article Mustafa had written for FujiLove, echoing this very theme.
We had a phone meeting during which we all agreed on the initial direction and I went to work on planning and storyboarding.
That dividing line, in my mind, needed to shape the form of the film, not just its content: so two acts, two visual treatments. Act 1 would be a personal story, while act 2 would introduce the X-E4, along with the magic of a winter night. Two days of shooting: one for interiors and one for exteriors. An additional floating day, just in case.
We knew the film should be driven by Mustafa’s voiceover, so we worked on this a fair bit before filming, figuring out the themes and points we needed in order to get the right message across. I used Craft (1) intensively during this phase, both for my own use and to collaborate and share ideas/revisions, back and forth. It worked extremely well: I could annotate PDFs, post sketches...it made the whole process very fluid and efficient.
By the time we got to shooting I had a pretty solid list of the material needed for the edit. Mustafa had recorded the narration from home and I’d even started playing around with soundtrack ideas.
But we still had one big variable to contend with: the weather.
Oh God, the weather.
rÉchauffement climatique
Once upon a time you could count on a December in Montreal looking pretty wintery, every year. Not so much anymore. The month looks a lot more like November now, with ups and downs and even Christmas often sad and... brown. But snow had played an important part in Mustafa’s story and there was a nice blanket of white on the ground already, so we went ahead and built our narrative around this.
And then a few days later, it rained. Like, lots of rain. Like...goodbye-snow-lots-of-rain.
I started listening to weather reports, watching the calendar, crossing fingers, knocking on any piece of wood I could find. I thought of tweaks we could make to the voiceover if nature refused to cooperate. Plan B or C. But on the eve of our first shoot, like a miracle, it snowed. Just enough. And on the day we were out, it snowed again—wet but dense enough to play its role, dancing against the city lights.
Sometimes you get lucky.
tech
Everything was filmed with the X-T3 and various XF lenses. The 56 mm f/1.2 was just phenomenal on some of the night scenes. I shot using the Eterna film simulation and the footage was then edited and graded in FCPX. I composed and recorded the score in Logic Pro X.
I’m very much liking the FCPX workflow, incidentally. It was a struggle to wrap my head around it last time, but it’s now increasingly comfortable to work with—I keep discovering new capabilities too, which is exciting (2).
...
After a lifetime spent struggling with photographing winter, I’m downright jealous of Mustafa’s ability to see and capture the season as a glistening jewel. There’s a magical quality to his eye, the hallmark of discovery, of exploring a season that feels brand new on every outing.
I hope this passion comes through in the work we did. And I’m proud to have played a small part in his ongoing journey.
Huge thanks to him—as well as Billy, Mark, Francis and everyone at Fujifilm for the opportunity.
………………..
I’ve mentioned the app before. I have zero affiliation with the people behind this but I’m more impressed with every update.
Just this week I used Motion to create my own split-screen templates and a few visual effects. This goes awfully deep.
