Working with producer Frank Gallagher, Type40 produced a video of Phil Coulter signing his famous ode to Derry, The Town I Love So Well.
Part celebration of St. Patrick’s Day and the life of John Hume, the video mixed Phil’s performance with archive footage and shots of the city of Derry to creating a moving tribute to both.
Filming during covid was extremely difficult, but Type40 was tasked with filming Phil Coulter performing his iconic song The Town I Love So Well. With just a piano and the stunning setting of the main room in the Guildhall it was decided that Phil’s performance would be the main focus.
Now the music’s gone but they carry on…
Working with renowned cinematographer Mark McCauley and U2 audio engineer Aliaster McMillian, Type40 brought the editing and post production knowledge to the shooting environment. Being a small crew it was essential everyone pitched in to make sure we got the footage on the day that was required. Shooting on two Sony FX7s in log, the plan was to capture as much dynamic range as possible.
Several takes were done, with two cameras capturing different angles, while the sound was recorded to be mixed and later matched to the picture.
For what’s done, it’s done
Once the shoot was completed the footage was taken away and an edit began. Working with a local archive we obtained some footage of both Derry and John Hume, which we would later include in the video. Additional footage of the walls of Derry was shot by Type40, while aerial footage was provided by Cinematic Sky.
Type40 worked with Frank on several cuts of the video, tweaking the edit to make sure the additional archive footage enhanced the narrative of the song. Derry and Strabane Council offered up some of their own recently shot footage too to help end the video on a high, with the Derry to today showcasing how far the city has come.
I can only pray for a bright brand-new day
Working with Visit Ireland it was important the video ended on a high, a celebration of both the city of Derry and John Hume, who did so much for both Northern Ireland and the city itself. To focus on the bright band-new day of 2021, also was to remind people that a brighter day was coming with the end of the pandemic. The video itself we were told reduced people to tears and was called by Phil himself as the “definitive” version for the song.