34 Music maker SPONSORED CONTENT The multifaceted James Tonkin details his career in capturing live music, working with legendary acts and up-and-coming artists alike
S omething of a star in the live music realm, James Tonkin – director, DOP, editor and colourist – has worked with the likes of the Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Coldplay and the Cure, as well as newer acts 5 Seconds of Summer (5SOS) company Hangman, Tonkin records concerts, creates tour documentaries and livestreams performances to remote audiences. With 24 industry years under and Tom Grennan. Through his production and post-production
No matter the scope, Tonkin’s always finding ways to be resourceful and experimental, adopting new equipment while pushing creative boundaries. He generally goes for a multicam approach to production, sometimes incorporating up to 30 cameras at a time. “It’s just leveraging the right tools for the right job,” he states. Occasionally, an extensive set-up isn’t possible, such as during a sold-out show. “That’s the thing people tend to forget – if it’s an arena and they’ve sold all their tickets. I filmed something for 5SOS at the end of last year and we were going to do a bigger multicam shoot for them, but they’d sold out already, so they had no seat kills for cameras.” He continues: “Where are we going to put the 14, 16 cameras? How can we get the big tracking shots if we can’t put a dolly track in?” In live music, location matters. 5SOS headlined Royal Albert Hall, and Grennan performed at a musical festival held in Hounslow’s Gunnersbury Park. With each situation, there are “certain limitations and benefits,” explains Tonkin, as well as technical and creative considerations. The most important decision is arguably where to focus and how to best tell the story at hand. A more limited shoot might include, for instance, “hero artist shots, hero wides and some sort of sense of location,” Tonkin details, plus “a nice front-of- house shot as well.” Grennan’s shoot was especially short on budget, with the initial idea of using 20 or so cameras replaced with the goal
his belt, he reviews his career in full, noting the unique obstacles and equipment endemic to his line of work. Consider this When prepping a music shoot, “it all starts with the budget,” says Tonkin. “How much does the client have to spend? Can we hire a truck, get all my favourite operators in, call Panavision and lens it up that way? Or, is it the sort of project where they have no cash and then we question what to do?”
Fujifilm came to the rescue, offering a selection of its brilliant Duvo lenses
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