A lot of work I do outside of school is based in the music industry, and a lot of that based on concert work and fast-paced, in-the-moment predicaments I may only get once. So how I handle these situations in order to avoid the meaningless distractions from things such as colors from stage lighting is to set my in-camera settings to black and white, shoot in RAW and worry about colors in post processing. This allows me to focus on the bare-essentials such as lighting and composition, rather than the thought of getting caught up in the colors that blend and overwhelm in a concert setting.

[[[[CONCERT PICS]]]]]

Lights, Columbus. by Brad Heaton

Austin Carlile, Of Mice & Men, Columbus by Brad Heaton

August Burns Red, Newport. by Brad Heaton

Hundredth, Cleveland. by Brad Heaton

Our Last Night, Peabodys by Brad Heaton

I've adapted this thought process into other forms of photography such as portraits in order to keep the process the same. I'll shoot in black and white because in the back of my mind I understand that I should be focusing moreso on lighting, composition and focus rather than white balance and other instances like it.

I began thinking of a way to incorporate this into video. I looked into films that incorporated forms of black and white footage to properly convey a message or ideal to work with to focus more on the editing, cinematography and lighting aspect of filmmaking rather than getting caught up in the color of it all (though color does certainly convey plenty of purpose when intended).

The film that came to mind instantly that did a perfect rendition of this was the film "Memento" directed by Christopher Nolan. The film follows 2 timelines of the main character, one in color and one in black and white.

FINAL DELIVERABLES:

What I intend to deliver in the coming weeks is a completed, side by side mimic of the above scene completed with dialog and a recreation of the lighting situation of that in the scene. I feel like recreating the scene from "Memento" will allow me to think in a microscopic attention to detail sense that I typically avoid considering in concerts i'll shoot bands based on content and their presence based on the stage lighting provided, not necessarily via my own set up. I'll be shooting the entire project with my camera set to monochrome so there's no distraction from the final intent of this project. The final intent being attention to detail with lighting, composition of shot, nit-picking with direction and script. My goals to get out of the entire project is to look at my own projects more carefully rather than having a "run and gun" approach which i've developed over the years. Emulating this style will be a good way for me to incorporate it into my own work and further my work conceptually as well as visually.