Budget: Low!
Camera: Canon EOS 7D
Lenses: Sigma 50mm, Sigma 70-200mm, Tokina 11-16mm
Monopod: Manfrotto 562B
Tripod: Manfrotto 055XPROB
Head: Manfrotto 701 HDV Fluid Head
Filters:Vari-ND Filter
Accessories: Intervalometer (for timelapse)

The main challenge with this film was shooting everything in slow motion but having the artist lip sync in real time. The film was shot at 50fps then slowed down to 25fps in post. The audio playback therefore needed to be speeded up to exactly twice as fast so that when the film was slowed down to 25fps (normal time) the artist appeared to be singing in real time, whilst everything around him remained in slow motion.

The audio was pitch corrected at double speed so that the playback didn't sound so ridiculous (pinky & perky style) and also making it much easier for the artist to lip sync to. The track 'Come Down' also suited playback at double speed (just about) as the lyrics didn't run too quickly for the artist to mime to.

The video was edited in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5. The master audio track (playing at normal speed) was inserted into the timeline. We inserted a sync pip exactly 4 seconds before the start of the double speed playback track and once aligned (using the sync pip as a reference) the video was converted to 25fps (Right Click on the video in the timeline / Speed/Duration: 50%) and both picture and master audio aligned perfectly. This process was extremely quick and easy and once done, the camera's audio track in the timeline could be deleted.

Rendered timelapse was inserted into the project. The video was graded and exported in several formats (Vimeo, iPad/Android Tablet and Full HD) using Adobe Media Encoder's excellent parallel encoding feature to export the three formats simultaneously. A terrific time saving feature.

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We were keen to add some timelapse sequences to the video,the main one being the day to night transition of the river and Canary Wharf. This sequence was shot the day before the main video shoot and worked out pretty well. Confident that we had this sequence we shot a second timelapse the morning of the shoot, as dawn broke over the city. We just about got enough of this as the rain closed in obscuring most of the view and soaking the camera. This is where the terrific weather proofing on the Canon 7D held its own as it continued shooting without issue until it was rescued around 8.30am. The camera was dried out and readied for the main shoot and performed reliably all day. Having got all we needed for the video we took advantage of the location and shot additional timelapse, including the fireworks at the opening ceremony for the Paralympics that evening (not in the video) plus some more river sequences.

In fact, we shot enough additional timelapse that we've assembled a short film including some of the footage that also didn't make it into the final film. Timelapse - London.

All timelapse was conformed using Adobe After Effects CS5.5. Canary Wharf day/night and dawn breaking over the city was shot using Av mode in .jpg format, mainly to get as much as possible on the 16gb memory cards and allowing the camera to adjust the aperture automatically during the changing light. The barge on the river was shot in RAW format and manual mode.

Tilt-shift effect was applied in After Effects.