When you’re a student hailing from a background of wealth, potentially travelling thousands to miles to study in Cardiff, you want to live somewhere that reflects your social status while making you feel secure within a community of other students. Welcome to The Fitzalan.
The chaps at the Fitz were looking for a film that gave students a sense of the luxury lifestyle on offer when they choose to live at their student accommodation. The were also pretty keen to show off the size of the rooms on offer, as well as the included entertainment facilities. After all, what student accommodation shouldn’t come with its own cinema and karaoke room?
Upon recceing the halls of residence we realised that whilst they had indeed created a beautifully designed and decorated residence, the bedrooms were modestly-sized. You know when you visit an estate agent website and they try to make a cupboard look like a courtyard by pointing a fisheye lens at it? It’s pretty bloody obvious that they’re trying to trick you, right? That’s because of the “barrelling” that occurs at the edge of the image. If we were to make these modest rooms look convincingly spacious, we needed to overcome this problem.
Lewis opted to shoot the majority of the ‘room showcase shots’ using the widest full-frame rectilinear lens on earth: the Canon 11-24mm. To get the most out of it, we stuck it on the front of our Sony a7S and mounted it to a handheld gimbal for some smooth
Boy, oh boy, is that lens a gem. In the finished film the rooms look very naturally spacious. The Fitzalan owners were thrilled.
Can’t say they were so thrilled about Josh’s attempt at karaoke, though.
