How P!nk - All I Know So Far captured the family side of Pink

P!nk - All I Know So Far is released on Amazon Prime Video today, 21 May, bringing viewers a look behind the scenes at the life of rock star and mum, Pink.

Director of photography, David Spearing, spoke to Broadcast Tech about how he and director Michael Gracey aimed to get the two sides of Pink across in the 90-minute documentary.

From the beginning, Gracey had a clear idea of what he was trying to get across: “From the start Michael was always quite clear on the question for the film, which was “How does Pink juggle being a mum and a rockstar?”. So we knew we’d see the rockstar side of it all from the huge Wembley concert that was being shot, and therefore it was my job to help Michael capture the family side of things,” Spearing revealed.

“We knew the film would be a split of almost 50/50 concert and documentary, and that it would be a roughly 90 minute film. So delivery wise, we had to produce a good solid 45 minutes of documentary and story.”

However, this was easier said than done, with the long days capturing the family one of the biggest challenges for all involved: “It was quite intense in terms of the amount of hours of footage we rolled on, and how long the days were.

“We just wanted to cover as much as possible, so our days would often involve catching up with the family in the morning, following them to a venue, staying with them all day leading up to the show, then travelling with them back to the hotel post show. Luckily I’ve spent most of my career shooting and touring with bands, so I’m used to that kind of lifestyle, which definitely helped.”

Spearing used, “a mixture of the URSA Mini Pro G1 and G2 for A-Cam (I think the G2 came out halfway through production). And then a mixture of the Pocket 4K and 6K for B-Cam. I had been using the URSA Mini Pro quite a lot leading up to the shoot too, and was really impressed with the image quality.” to shoot the doc, with, “everything on the URSA Mini Pro at 4.6K resolution. All in BRAW 3:1 codec. I shot with frame guides for 2:39 as we knew we would probably end up delivering the film in that ratio.”

The rig for the URSA Mini Pro, “originally had the Blackmagic top handle, shoulder plate and extended arm grip, along with the EVF. But after a while I switched to just the side handle, rather than the EVF and extended arm. I then rigged a microphone shock mount on the cold shoe with a Rode NTG-4 microphone that I constantly monitored through headphones.

“Lens choice, I actually went for the Sigma Art 18-35mm lens. Not even the Cine version. I did some tests before the shoot, comparing the Photo vs Cine version of the lens and couldn’t see any noticeable differences, so I went for the photo lens for the weight advantage. It’s a great lens and I think it was the perfect balance of what I needed for the shoot.”

Meanwhile the Pocket 4K, “was almost always rigged on a longer lens. So in the frantic family moments it was just a great way for us to cut the action together with two angles and get that extra coverage.”

When it came t filming and lighting, Spearing was always eager to keep it as natural as possible, even with Pink being as open and welcoming as possible to the crew: “I feel the more compact you are and the less intimidating the camera is, the more invisible you can be. And by that I mean that I can get really close to the action without it feeling imposing for anybody. That lets you get more of the access you need, whether that be walking up to and filming creative conversations during rehearsals, or sitting with Pink and her kids as she’s trying to get them ready for bed.”

He added: “I actually didn’t use a single light for this. I’m quite a purist when it comes to fly on the wall type filmmaking. I don’t like to interfere too much.

“If it was a bit later in a hotel room, I would just try to position the filming in front of some practical lights already there. And I was never really afraid to bump the ISO up to around 1250 for some of the darker scenes. Any time I had to shoot somewhere really dark, like under the stage, I would swap my Sigma lens onto the Pocket camera and shoot that as the main camera for a few scenes, making use of the dual ISO and shooting at 3200.”

In the end, Spearing will be keeping the experience in his memory for a long time: “It was just a time I’ll always remember. Being in LA working on a film is quite a big milestone for a kid who grew up in the UK dreaming of making movies. So I was just really excited to be there doing that. I stayed in a hotel across the street from Michael and we would have lots of late night edit sessions and big brainstorms with Jory (one of the writers) and Patrick (Gracey’s assistant).

“Pink also graciously invited me and Michael to come and stay with her at the family home and do some filming. It was just a really fulfilling few weeks for me and a really nice way to finish off the last bits of production. Pink is a really inspirational person to be around, and I think we all fell in love with her and her family.”

 P!nk - All I Know So Far is now available on Amazon Prime Video.