June 2021 saw the launch of a new music video for Jack Savoretti’s latest single, ‘Secret Life’. The music video was produced by international film production and music company Great Guns, and directed by Great Guns’ Calum Macdiarmid. The relaxed video takes viewers on a leisurely journey from the aisles of a London supermarket to a field in the English countryside, whilst Jack maintains an impressively indifferent attitude to the fact that the shopping trolley he sits in moves of its own accord.
Creativity against the clock is something that producer Tim Francis and director Calum Macdiarmid are very familiar with, having worked together on several renowned music videos such as James Blunt’s ‘Cold’.
The music video begins in a supermarket, as Jack appears sitting in a shopping trolley that is spinning in circles. It is immediately revealed, however, that the trolley is not being controlled by anyone – and instead moves on its own, an element of the music video that presented a unique challenge to the production team.
Tim Francis described the lightbulb moment: “The key question all along was, ‘How do we make this trolley move?’. I was on Instagram trying to find some inspiration, and I remembered I’d seen the AGITO modular dolly system on a demo video, outside of a hangar tracking next to a car. I went to Motion Impossible’s Instagram page, and I saw that they’d worked with a photography friend of mine, and then that just sort of clicked… and I thought that if you put a camera on it, then maybe you could put a shopping trolley on it.”
The next challenge that the production team encountered was how to shoot each of the different locations in two days whilst still creating a variety of beautiful and engaging shots. Once again, the AGITO proved to be an essential tool.
Describing some of his initial reactions to the AGITO, director Calum Macdiarmid noted, “The speed of the AGITO was something that was really vital, because we wanted to glide shots where it actually looked like Jack was properly moving. AGITO’s swift and seamless moves made it the best solution for creating that movement effect. And on top of that, because it was so small, we could have it in all the scenes as it was very easy to paint out.”
Max Whitting, director of photography, said, “What I noticed was just how quickly you could get a series of dynamic shots with it from close-ups, and just the way it moves is unique. It saved a lot of time compared to using a tracking vehicle or similar – it was really quick to set up and break down, so we managed to get a lot of shots in a short time frame.”
The music video’s budget limited the amount of equipment that could be used on the shoot, but the AGITO helped to solve this by fulfilling multiple roles on set, and capturing shots in a time efficient manner.
Tim concurred: “Music video budgets are incredibly challenging, and affordability plays a huge part. The AGITO isn’t as expensive as a tracking vehicle, you save money with it as a tool and also save time.”
AGITO also brought significant flexibility and customisation options to the production, with a tower that allowed for both low and high shots as well as removable tracks, enabling the team to secure an exciting variety of shots with ease.
Calum concluded, “We were already convinced about bringing the AGITO on set as it was literally the only tool that allowed us to capture the shots we wanted. But even after bringing it on set, we discovered more about what it was capable of. It particularly impressed us on the racecourses and the road, not only because of its speed but also its incredible stability.”
