Jack Savoretti’s ‘Secret Life’ lensed by cinematographer Max Witting
Singer-songwriter Jack Savoretti returns with his seventh album Europiana, inspired by the music of his childhood summers in Italy and time spent in a locked-down world.
The single Secret Life is out now along with the music video directed by Calum Macdiarmid from Great Guns and lensed by cinematographer Max Witting.
Secret Life is a fast-paced track with some nostalgic notes reflected in the terrific look of the music video. Thanks to the creative work of the crew, we can see Jack Savoretti casually sitting in a shopping trolley gliding around supermarket aisles, London’s streets and the fields of England’s countryside.
Cinematographer Max Witting turned to Pixipixel for the camera package that included his favourite kit – Arri Alexa Mini LF and Canon TLS FD SSC lenses.
The real challenge for this shoot was to make the “magic” shopping trolley move without being obvious about the mechanics of it. The crew came up with some ingenious solutions to make this possible depending on the location and terrain. Well-tested old-school techniques such as using fishing wires or remote-controlled wheels were complemented by innovative ideas such as fixing the Agito dolly system underneath the trolley. For example, in the video below you will see the trolley smoothly gliding through grass fields. That’s essentially achieved thanks to the Agito dolly moving on a very thin and streamlined track (not to damage the field crops). This method was also used in other parts of this video production enabling DOP Witting to capture the wide shots.
Jack Savoretti’s ‘Secret Life’ music video
Another quite interesting approach for the DOP involved filming handheld on a low-loader. Max Witting says: “The director wanted a very specific look for scenes we shot on the road. To achieve it I was on the low-loader working handheld with the zoom lens. The Angenieux Type EZ-1 45-135mm was a great choice. This lens is really lightweight and definitely helped me out quite a bit when shooing handheld for 2-3 hours.”
Behind the scenes of the music video Secret Life
Initially shooting anamorphic was discussed but considering all details of the brief Witting decided on the camera package: “With a big square object such as a shopping trolley going down long aisles with high shelves, it made sense to use Canon TLS FD SSC and shoot in 4:3 aspect ratio, full-frame, open gate on the Arri Alexa Mini LF. It really worked well, creating a hell of a cool look.”
Jack Savoretti’s ‘Secret Life’ music video
Finally, Witting comments: “Mike from Pixipixel really helped us out, as always. We were running on a very tight production schedule with not much time for prep. The shoot was only three days and we had to move incredibly quickly. I have been working with Pixipixel for years and know I can always rely on the Camera team.”
Follow and connect with cinematographer Max Witting on Instagram @maxwitting, or visit maxwitting.com.
Watch Jack Savoretti’s Secret Life video:
