Gavin James 'Cigarette Break' (live At Abbey Road) by Raja Virdi

Raja Virdi has directed his biggest live session yet, this time for Gavin James at the famous "Beatles Room" in Abbey Road Studios.

Virdi captured the performance of Cigarette Break in a three camera multicam format – straying from his usual one take style – utilizing Panavision anamorphic zooms for slow push-ins, installing a plethora of tungsten lights, and placing James and his band within a huge circle track.

RAJA VIRDI:

"Creating this video was was a huge effort for all involved, but wouldn’t have been possible without the most hard working crew. I wanted this piece to feel real and raw in the room, slow cutting and letting shots breathe. People ask why I shoot one takers and it’s because I want the audience to see a live piece for what it is in that exact moment, but having said that, there is a time and place and this was certainly not it, but I still wanted the audience to be present in the moment, hence creative choices like the camera ops being seen in shots (and cutting to those subsequent shots in the edit) - it really gives a sense of this being a live piece in a non-glossy and over analysed style.

"As this was the first time we see Gavin perform with a full band (for a live video), I wanted to shoot this in the round to see the interaction between everyone and was therefore confident circle track and dolly was the best way forward. My DoP James Rhodes did an incredible job of lighting and shooting this, surpassing the image that that was initially in my head.

"We used Panavision anamorphic zooms on all three cameras because I had been influenced by old studio footage of Rolling Stones and Beatles (zooms on the lens) but keeping that look tasteful and still cinematic (hence anamorphic). The lighting style I wanted was cohesive with Gavin’s style of fixtures that would live on stage, which I championed early on (big thanks to PD Xander Mitchell for bulb positioning on the day) - Mole Beams, Sky Pans & bare bulbs are what we went for, so we littered the set with them, all controlled on the lighting desk via my cues."