Those shoes were made for Phantom VEO 4K

Copywritten for VMI

Dropping things into paint and throwing objects at shoes is the kind of attention grabbing visual you only do in a commercial and the kind of concept that demands to be seen in pin sharp super slow motion.

That’s what Clarks asked commercial agency Viewpoint Photography and Film to execute in a new promo for its MZT footwear range.

https://vmi.tv/case-studies/article/140

“We did a job for Clarks last year mixing photography and animation and this time they wanted to introduce more video footage using slow motion,” explains Viewpoint’s Sam Poore. “The visual concept was to deliver a very colourful, vibrant and fun experience.”

Selecting the camera was key given the demands of shooting slow mo at 4K.

“We thought about shooting with the RED Epic-W which is a terrific camera for many projects - but we found that when you dial down from its 8K sensor to shoot slo-mo you are only using the 2K part, which results in a bit too much noise,” he says. “Carrying out some tests, we found that 300 fps was probably not going to be enough speed for this project. We needed to capture at 1000 fps.”

The obvious choice was the Phantom Flex, but its reputation for being a technically complex beast to handle - typically requiring a dedicated operator – made Poore reluctant.

As luck would have it, at the time he was enquiring of options, VMI took delivery of the latest Phantom camera. The Phantom VEO 4K features its bigger brother’s legendary 4K images at 1000 fps but in a smaller form factor and at a price that won’t bust the budget.

“I really wanted to shoot this project myself rather than hire another camera operator,” says Poore. “That alone brings your costs down but the VEO is a less expensive model to hire anyway. VMI had demonstrated to me how easy the VEO was to use and when I got hold of it this turned out to be exactly the case.

“The menu system is extremely straightforward, you can’t really go wrong. It’s built a lot smaller than the Flex (fully stripped-down, the body weight is just 2.5kg) which makes it comfortable to handle.

“Just as important, the camera’s picture quality is amazing. It’s extremely crisp even at 1000 fps – perfect for this job.” 

The Phantom VEO 4K was used locked off with Zeiss EF mount CP2 lenses. For lighting he used a set of 1.2K HMIs.

"I love working with HMIs, and as we were after a shallow depth of field for this production, the 1.2's were just right.”

Around 15-seconds of super slo-motion will feature in the final 30-second promo which is shot and edited at Viewpoint's Bath studio, and intercut with Viewpoint’s still images and CGI.

“Capturing at 4K means we can crop the video to suit all deliverable formats such as portrait and square which Clarks require,” he says

Destined for display on retail signage at Clarks stores, the video will also be versioned for websites and social media timed for when the range launches next year.