Dream like Lewis
Directing
From directing music videos, short films, and branded content, Lewis creates unique concepts and delivers every element of the filmmaking process from paper to screen. Lewis’s filmmaking is driven by a curiosity for emulating stories, characters, and film aesthetics based on real-life happenings and dreams. He immerses himself in every intricate component of the filmmaking process from concept art, location, production design, costumes, lighting, camera operation, sound, VFX composition, and editing. Directing small-scale projects, Lewis offers a comprehensive start-to-finish approach.
His experience with major Hollywood productions such as “Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One” and “James Bond No Time To Die” has given him access to top-tier industry professionals. Lewis has spent years working on full-scale feature films and TV shows, witnessing first-hand the inner workings of filmmaking techniques. This experience has given him the edge.
Editing
Editing is the magic stage. One of the most enjoyable phases of the film making process, editing allows me to finally see the big picture with large format footage full of colour and context. With each project comes tone and pace which is aided by sound and music. After I put together all footage in a timeline, I input sound early into the process to set the rhythmic pace and timing. Style of music, sound effects, and tempo sets a foundation for the visual capture of each daily and it reflects the feeling of each storyline – abstract, frenzied, stable, emotive.
In order to freely edit, I make sure the project admin is well structured from the beginning by making a rough assembly of everything in the timeline, organising rushes by location or by scene, and making sure the pipeline of work is not getting in the way of the creativity.
At the start of the editing process, I experiment by being very loose with how I cut the footage then slowly refine it for fit-for-purpose. This experimental phase is when I am figuring out what works with no particular order of process. Immediately putting an early colour grade on as soon as possible helps me to find the project’s style, and aids editing. A lot of great edits happen by accident, whether I am dragging in clips unintentionally or intentionally to scenes and they may just fit by luck; creating an amazing unplanned edit.
CREDITS
on big
stuff:
Blade Runner 2099
Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning: P1
James Bond “No Time To Die”
Fast & Furious 9
Gran Turismo
3 Body Problem
Damsel
Walking With Dinosaurs
Citadel
Avenue 5, Season 2
A Quiet Place: Day One
Cinderella
Secret Invasion – Marvel
Scoop
The Man Who Fell To Earth (2022)
Jolt
Case Studies:
1
Filmmaking is a Trip
Lewis creates concepts from scratch and works with clients to direct bespoke film projects, encapsulating story narratives and detailed visuals.
DRINK was a project where every single aspect of the producing and directing process was procured by Lewis. From sourcing all props, picture cars, animals, cast, to embellishing and embroidering costumes, everything was idealised and delivered by Wonderfilm Pictures. Lewis began by creating the concept art and treatment, scouted bleak locations, and itemised the production schedule on call sheets. Wonderfilm Pictures took this film from idea to post production delivery.
When Weezy (management for Manchester artist Jake Molloy), approached Lewis to direct and produce a music video, Lewis was presented with four tracks to choose from. The song DRINK really stood out to Lewis and he set out to create a video which felt like a dream where each scene morphs into the next. Lewis wanted the idea to be based on a restless drunken nightmare with no beginning, middle or end.
Lewis had recently been watching Blade Runner (1982) and Netflix’s Stranger Things; he loved the 80’s nostalgia and colour spectrums. The neon bright colours popped, and he wanted to bring attention to an upcoming artist. To recreate this, Lewis used RGB LED Tubes and directional lights with atmos to make the film’s lighting and colour grading more dynamic.
Lewis’s DRINK video idea occurred in bed, as he was feeling restless with so many thoughts. He often takes on dark narratives, as you can see in his Morbid Tales short films shot in his hometown of Hertford. Darker themes such as the back rooms, liminal spaces, and abandoned areas intrigue him. Mixing and producing his own sounds into film projects really bring Lewis’s visual ideas to life.
DRINK was about Jake’s real-life struggle with alcohol abuse and flitted relationships. Lewis thought a dark psychedelic style video with bold colours would be interesting and different from the videos typically produced for the UK rap scene.
Lewis used RED EPIC DRAGON camera with a hand-held style to show Jake’s POV in his dream. He also shot some scenes on a DJI Ronin gimbal from a segway. As the camera operator, Lewis wanted to integrate beautiful visuals to contrast with the song’s dark undertones. He found a vintage e-type Jaguar and planned an aerial drone sequence from a lit-up Albert Bridge in Chelsea London. Jake was filmed in a welding mask carrying a burning guitar walking through a glowing red forest.
Jake’s literal battle with himself was portrayed within a Street Fighter-style fight within the video, using a green screen. The whole concept was to encapsulate Jake trapped and battling against his own mind within a dream.
Every aspect of the film was a fun experience for Lewis to produce. For production design, he hired a rat for a trippy bed scene which was filmed in a makeshift bedroom he created in an outside cupboard. Lewis embroidered patches on different pieces of clothing he hand-picked – from an ambulance driver outfit to a cool Thriller-inspired red leather jacket. Lewis distressed the jacket and embellished it with a Manchester bee patch. Jake Molloy wore 3D glasses, reminiscent of David Tennant as Dr. Who.
Lewis incorporated his own supernatural sound design in post production, which added an eerie atmosphere to the edit. The post production process involved compositing flawed and disjointed VFX shots, producing tailored sound design, and editing film. Lewis incorporated AI-generated video that morphed the main on-screen visuals into disfigured animals and insects. Lewis supplied graphic design elements such as album art, social media artwork, and promotional material for the video release on GRM Daily.
Working with clients on these bespoke film projects gives Lewis a creative space to explore and tune his artistic methods whilst making a client’s concept a visual success. Lewis loves to bring out the best of an artist in his music videos.
Wonderfilm Pictures offers a range of professional filmmaking equipment such as RED Digital Cinema cameras, cine lenses, VFX ball, a VFX array for these projects.
Film Director Lewis Andrews
Lewis Andrews is an experienced director and concept creator for Music Videos, Short Films, Commercials, and Branded Content.
Lewis has over a decade of experience in directing, producing, camera operation, editing, and managing entire shoots from start to finish. From creating a unique concept, building a storyboard, designing concept art, organising a previs and production schedule, hiring film production crew and talent, managing call sheets, sourcing props and costumes, building bespoke props and sets, producing sound design and effects, video editing, incorporating cool VFX, to making social media assets to enhance the promotion of the film’s final product, Lewis has worked on every aspect of the filmmaking process.
Visit the Film Production page to see the services our production company offers such as directing, producing, DOP – Director of Photography, camera operator, concept art creation, creative briefs, film production planning, film crew hire, and film location scouting.
Visit the Post Production page to see the services our production company offers such as production design, editing, colour grading, VFX, sound design, graphic design & art, and social media assets.