Stukely on Shooting De Flore's Latest Music Video with Lomography Lenses

Stukely is a video production company based in Montreal, Quebec whose initiatives speak to who we are here at Lomography. Started by three friends, they grew into a team of self-employed workers with a strong sense of community. For a recent production, the team at Stukely worked on a music video for bedroom pop duo De Flore using an array of Lomography lenses: the 55 mm Petzval lens, 80.5 mm Petzval lens, and the 32 mm Lomogon lens all mounted on a RED Digital Cinema KOMODO camera.

Producer Eric Robillard, Director Miquela Houle, and Director of Photography Christophe Sauvé have taken the time to sit down with us and tell us all about the production of their latest video project.

Welcome to Lomography Magazine! Can you start off by telling us a bit about Stukely?

Eric: Stukely is three friends who decided ten years ago to start a video production company. We try to do things differently by cultivating a family spirit in a group of self-employed workers. At this point it’s just a big group of friends working together, supporting each other’s work.

Can you tell us about your recent video project?

Eric: This project is the second music video that Miquela Houle directed for De flore. It was a tight budget with a small crew, a good recipe for a trip to the cabin and a long day at work. It ended up being a really fun project where that family spirit ended up being really useful.

What was the initial concept for the project? Did it change at all?

Miquela: The concept was to follow and enter in a nostalgic world where time stops and passes quickly at the same time. We dive into the life of a woman, through her emotions and her introspection, we follow her in a banal but eclectic daily life.

Which Lomography lenses did you use for this project?

Christophe: We used the 32 mm Lomogon, the 55 mm and 80.5 mm Petzval.

Why were those lenses perfect for your vision?

Christophe: The project was mainly built around the Petzval series and for the sake of the project we needed a lens wider than the 55 mm, so to complete the kit the choice fell on the 32 mm Lomogon which brought a vintage look (and supported the aesthetic of the project well) with the flairs, the softness and the construction of the iris which once again helped the personality of the clip.

Do you have a favorite out of the Lomography lenses used?

Christophe: Without a doubt, my favorite lenses from Lomography are the Petzval series, especially the 55 mm. The 55 mm really gives a very good result in terms of portraits— in fact as soon as the shot could be done with 55 mm, this is the one we used. The 80.5 mm also gave a very good result, we often used it to match a close-up action shot with the 55 mm. The personality that the series offers in terms of bokeh (especially with the dedicated ring), out of focus and flair makes the series really interesting for the aesthetics.

What was the planning like for the video?

Miquela: The planning was fluid in general. The team was responsive to all the normal situations that occur during a music video production. Even when we had to change the model the day before the shoot. But overall, everything ended well!

Can you tell us about your overall process during and after shooting the video?

Miquela: It was a shoot with a lot of curve balls that we had to deal with both in pre- and post-production. But overall the concept stayed the same, and the final version is what we were looking for.

What's your favorite part about what you do?

Christophe: One of the things that I love about my work is finding a way to add the necessary personality to the aesthetics of a project to support it as much as possible. So, finding lenses that offer a lot of personality is very exciting and Lomography lenses are just that kind of example.

Anything else that you'd like to share?

Christophe: I know it would be very complicated, but if Lomography managed to build wider focal lengths for the Petzval series like 18 mm, 24 mm, 32 mm or even a 100 mm, I would be your first customer. And thank you for the opportunity to test the lenses.

To keep up with Stukely's productions, make sure to check out their Instagram and Vimeo

written by eloffreno on 2023-04-13 #gear #people #videos #video-production #art-lenses #mirrorless #cinema-camera #6k