TO THE RHYTHM |MUSIC DOCUMENTARY

DOP Ed Andrews and I had been talking for a while about collaborating on a personal film project, in contrast to the advertising shoots we usually work on for clients.
I'd got the spark of an idea about profiling a drummer for a mini music documentary, and when I stumbled across Chrisy Lopez on instagram I knew we'd found our talent.
What I loved about Chrisy's drumming was her innate musicality, she doesn't just want to find a groove to play, she feels the music with every fibre of her body. Her journey from having to have a side gig as a delivery driver, to finally being able to work in music full time, is also really relatable for a lot of creative people.
After a location recce day where Ed and I drove around obscure parts of North London that looked like the perfect Scandi Noir drama locations, we settled on an atmospheric underpass to contrast with a studio setting.
We shot the first part of the film in Chrisy's cocoon like rehearsal space, it's not an exaggeration to say I had goosebumps from the first fill Chrisy played for us. It's that perfect moment you have as a director or photographer when you just know you've got something really good.
We somehow managed to shoot the film in one day with a tiny team, it was no mean feat to lug a full drum kit and film kit down the side of a canal with no car access! We shot on vintage lenses for a beautiful grain that added atmosphere.
Massive thanks to Ed for a beautiful job on the edit and grade and to Potion Soundworks for doing an incredible job on the sound, not an easy job to mic up a full drum kit in two dramatically differing locations in one hectic day!
Huge thanks to Chrisy for being a joy to work with and for being up for all our ideas.

Director Holly Pickering, Talent Chrisy Lopez, DOP/Editor Ed Andrews, Sound design Potion Soundworks, Runner Celso Marrero