Nikon’s ‘The Creator’s Project’ Reveals How a Music Video Was Shot
In partnership with video production agency Mahogany, Nikon has released a behind-the-scenes documentary, The Creator’s Project, that showcases the creative journey to develop and release rhythm and blues artist James Vickery’s latest music video for his song, “Only You.”
The Creator’s Project showcases various parts of the creative process and highlights how Nikon’s latest mirrorless cameras and lenses helped bring director Kemi Anna Adeeko’s vision to life. Online creator Sarah E captured the behind-the-scenes video. The Nikon creators pushed their creativity and equipment to the limits.
“The visual journey Kemi, Sarah, and their team embarked on to create this incredible video was amazing to see,” says Heidi Jales, Manager of Marketing Communications at Nikon Europe. “From the original conception to telling the final story, the process enabled them to harness their creativity and showcase the unlimited potential filmmakers have when creating a music video. The end result is credit to their hard work and dedication — it’s an honor to work with them.”
The documentary is designed to inspire other content creators on their creative journeys. Going behind the scenes allows others to witness the entire process, including the early steps of finding inspiration and developing a plan, to the nitty-gritty details of sourcing venues and nailing down technical logistics. It also highlights the importance of creating strong, long-lasting relationships with other creators.
“When I heard the track ‘Only You’ by James Vickery I knew I wanted that to translate visually. We wanted to communicate what the feeling of infatuation and being completely in awe of someone’s beauty is like,” Director Kemi Anna Adeeko says.
“I’m so happy with the outcome and am beyond grateful for the incredible crew and ensemble for bringing the vision to life. It’s been amazing working with Nikon and Mahogany who have been invested and trusting of my creative process.”
“For the behind-the-scenes film, I wanted to start at the very beginning of Kemi’s creative process, capturing her initial thoughts and inspirations for James’s visuals,” Sarah E, who used a Nikon Z30 camera, while the music video was filmed using a Nikon Z9, says.
“Using my Nikon equipment, I then followed this journey as these ideas evolved from notes on a page through to a beautiful and final video.”
The Nikon Z30 is a natural fit for this type of behind-the-scenes project. When Nikon announced the Z30 last June, it was immediately evident that the APS-C mirrorless camera is designed for video content creation. With its small, lightweight design and 4K UHD video, the Z30 is “ideal for creators looking to shoot content in the streets without getting in anyone’s way or causing too much of a scene.”
Kemi Anna Adeeko’s director of photography, Scarlett Gardner, primarily used the Nikon Z 35mm f/1.8 S lens on the rigged Nikon Z9 to maintain the ability to move the camera very close to the subject.
“Working with dancers, we wanted to create dynamism,” Gardner says. “When speaking with Kemi, the director, we knew we wanted a softer, dreamier feeling, so we felt being as wide open as f/1.8 would help achieve this.”
The Nikon Z9 is Nikon’s best video camera to date. Following numerous firmware updates, the flagship mirrorless camera sports sophisticated artificial intelligence autofocus technology, 8K video, and much more. Many more details are available in PetaPixel’s Nikon Z9 Review.
Image credit: Nikon Europe