FEATURE: Fanny Lumsden – Traditions (Dir. TJ Power)
There’s something about country music that will never get old. It is an industry of world-class entertainers running out of family outlets and tour schedules that reach further than even the Telstra network. Evergreen as it is, though, country music is consistently re-inventing itself with the times, incorporating new ideas, social issues and production techniques. It is in this context that Fanny Lumsden, an accomplished singer-songwriter of her own right earning CMAAs & ARIAs hand over fist, has made the executive decision to return to releasing independently through her own label. She has now produced a new music video for her single ‘Traditions’ from her upcoming album of the same name. The video features her against the backdrop of a wool farm in Tallimba, New South Wales, close to where she grew up. Fanny opened up about the song, saying:
“The song is at the heart of the album – conceptually speaking. I wanted this clip to visually anchor the record in the Riverina where I grew up. On the farm, but to not be in any way too earnest. I really wanted this song to set the scene for the record.”
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- Behind The Scenes
Fanny’s concept for the video is artfully designed and is also tailored to its minimalist production. For most of the video she is the only person in frame, rocking out by herself in the plains. She is fully embracing the serenity of the grazing fields. This choice allowed the team to work with a skeleton team on a tight turnover. Fanny has created a curated space where she is fully able to be who she is and do it on her own terms. She detailed a bit more about the choice and intentionality:
“I think time is always a big [challenge] and budget, (this is the same for all our shoots). We literally do every part with the tiniest team, so making sure we are getting what we want whilst having to do it all ourselves is always a challenge also because we were shooting outside, consistency of light is always a challenge. We were very intentional with everything we shot and every scene.”
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- Behind The Scenes
Several scenes superimpose three different versions of herself; in a traditional tartan skirt and bonnet, in stylish fur coat and aviators and the practical (and by far the most common farm wear today) jeans and crocs. They sing and dance together, pushing and pulling through life. These aspects of herself interweave through the video, particularly in one scene where she cuts a cake with a chainsaw which Fanny personally included:
“I wanted it to show the tug of war between my farming family traditions, my autonomy and my ambitions by subverting some of the traditional tasks, e.g. cutting a cake with a chainsaw, stirring a bowl of flower in a wool shed. I wanted it to feel silly, lighthearted and dramatic at the same time. It is literally the foundation of the record visually – with the Tartan skirt featuring on the cover of the album, the themes are amplified throughout the record as well.”
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- Behind The Scenes
Like many entertainers today, Fanny utilises social media to maintain rapport with fans all over the continent. For them, this video is an opportunity to identify with the performer over many of the little visual tidbits that display her dyed-in-the-wool country credentials and other little easter eggs. The internals of a childhood bedroom filled with awards from gymkhanas show a family of horseriders. One post shows clips with the hook asking if they know what tool she’s using as an air guitar (Google tells me that it’s called a “wool-sweep”). Co-producer and Editor Dan Freeman tells us:
“We love planting easter eggs in our clips and it’s very easy when you work with long time collaborators like Meg Hardie. We’ve worked on countless clips together, many on her property Currawong (including Traditions) and Meg has played many many roles including Production Assistant, Location Scout, Extras Casting, Catering, and props and wardrobe, the last two providing us with some pure gold for our clips and some of these have featured as easter eggs in the Traditions clip. I just had a quick watch and counted about 15 easter eggs from clips spanning all the way back to Soapbox. I’m not going to spoil anything except the obvious which is my sip. In almost every clip we have made since Soapbox (2015) we have snuck in a clip of me having a sip – usually a coffee/tea, sometimes a beer.”
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- Behind The Scenes
Fanny has a natural personality as an entertainer, which firmly shines through in the visual as well as the song. If you wait all year for music festival seasons you would miss the fact that country performers are some of the busiest, hardest working entertainers in the nation. You would still get to see Fanny though, as she’s played some of the world’s biggest festivals such as Glastonbury in recent years. These are the new titans of country, ones who ooze self-awareness, relish in Priscilla references and bring authentically good old-fashioned fun. Dan added:
“Fanny’s incredible performance in the silo – it was a one-take wonder with zero prep. Brumby got his light set up, grabbed the gimbal and the two of them just went for it, Fanny just pulled out this incredible choreography on the spot. […] Fanny’s amazing performances under TJ’s direction and Brumby’s DOP work – it was a week of sleepless nights and then a lot of challenges getting it over the line. Trying to match and maintain the tonal colour of Fanny’s tartan skirt across all the different scenes and lighting conditions to at least have it in the same tonal ballpark was very challenging however I tried to match everything to the Silo scene as the lighting and colour of that scene was just magic – I also pushed my laptop to the limit working with 8K r3d files. The day the clip was due for premiere just happened to be a big media day for Fanny and I so I found myself finishing the cut on buses, and trains as we skirted around the city and exporting it whilst waiting at the Qantas link gate waiting for a flight.”
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- Behind The Scenes
The different lighting conditions Freeman mentions can partially be attributed to the changes in weather on the day, which we can see in the clouds of the final external shots. In some shots, such as those of Fanny on the dirt heap, the sky is completely overcast and sunlight is diffused. Others are shot in clear skies and at golden hour, which provides some brilliantly vibrant colour. Artificial light is only used very sparingly, and much of it comes from practical fixtures and ambient sources (the silo). The knack lies in deciding what the focal point is. From there photography decisions can be made, and they are incorporated into the whole with an artful film grain. Cinematographer Sam Brumby tells us this 8K footage was shot on a selection of RED cameras with the popular Nisi Prime lens kits for a run-and-gun shooting style:
“A Cam was a RED Helium, which we used for all the static shots. B Cam was a RED Komodo X on a Movi Pro, which we used for all the moving performance shots and the shot from the back of the ute. We ran Nisi Athena glass on both cameras: lightweight lenses that always deliver optically on multi-scene shoots like this. We also used a DJI Mavic 4 Pro quite a lot. I got to use it in a way I hadn’t before. Using the longer focal length lens on the orbiting performance shot on the dam wall gave it an almost crane-like look, something I think we’ll use again in the future.”
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- Behind The Scenes
Although this shoot was a rather quick one, familiarity with the region and its locals allowed Fanny’s team to gather the help they needed. Farm owners Meg Hardie and Rod Hardie who worked as animal co-ordinators on this shoot are an example of this. Their livestock feature in several key scenes inside the shearing shed where Fanny is shown gathering wool and mixing a bowl of flour. A shearer hangs in the back, dutifully shearing in his harness. Fanny and her team are working from the strength of their own knowledge of farm life, which made them easy to work with. Meg and Rod shared a bit more about their knowledge, saying how:
“Our experience with animal coordination on the shoot with Fanny Lumsden and crew was very stress free. They are all very experienced professionals and take all advice onboard. The little dog, Hitch, loves attention and was only too happy to go on an adventure to meet the drone and sit with Fanny in the paddock. […] All of the livestock from this clip belong to us here on the farm. It is always a pleasure to work with Fanny and her team as their understanding of everyday farmlife is comprehensive and therefore their requests are easily accommodated.”
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- Behind The Scenes
A common feeling among all crew for the shoot is that they shared a strong level of synergy and this allowed them to work efficiently on their schedule. Brumby notes that having a comprehensive shot list from Director TJ Power made it so the shoot finished in under two days. Power summarised this, saying how:
“We had zero frills and that made for the loveliest of shoots. I’m accustomed to high-stress shoots where lots of people want their say in the process, but having the talent be the producers, the locations, catering, wranglers, props, decorators, editors etc etc etc, that made for a wonderful simplicity where all involved had a clear and unified target.”
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- Behind The Scenes
The confluence of all these elements streamline video production into what is already a busy schedule for Fanny and her team. As their own label, they have a hand in every part of this music, from distribution to marketing. You can imagine that it requires a level of grit and self-determination, and this is something that Fanny demonstrates in spades. Having a Poppy myself who was a guitar man in Regional Tasmania, I know there’s a whole lot of people who admire this hustle. We asked Fanny if she had any advice for artists looking to self-release:
“Yeah just literally do it.You don’t need a budget or permission. Just literally trust your vision, get a couple of good people around you that believe in your ideas but are not afraid to disagree with you and go for it.”
Fanny Lumsden has what it takes to make traditions work for her, and with TJ Power at the helm the whole piece has come together marvellously.
