Photo & Video · 1 min read
Fake Plastic Trees, rehearsal film
A rehearsal film of the Ottawa band Insomniac Sparrows covering "Fake Plastic Trees", with the lighting, sound, filming and editing all done by me.
- Role
- Lighting, sound, camera and editing
- Timeline
- February to April 2025
- Tools
- Premiere Pro
Insomniac Sparrows was an Ottawa rock band of four Chinese musicians and vocalists, and their guitarist is a close friend of mine. In spring 2025 I designed the band’s website, and from February to April I documented their rehearsals.
The film follows the band rehearsing their version of “Fake Plastic Trees”. I did all of the production myself: lighting, audio recording, filming, editing in Adobe Premiere Pro, and mixing.
I lit the scene with the rehearsal room’s basic lights. I set them to put a soft light on the vocalist’s face and a backlight behind the guitarist, which gave the room more atmosphere.
I only had one camera, so each member played the song through while I filmed them one at a time. I then cut the takes together in the edit so the band plays as one.