Thinking of Distant Shores

After many years of silence, I released a new track under my DJ, selector and producer alias Kämmer. “Thinking of Distant Shores” took a long way from the very first draft to the final mix. Major inspiration came during travels to the island of Fuerteventura where the music video was shot as well. The rough and barren landscape, the tranquility the island radiates throughout, the melancholy felt when looking at the sea imagining the distant coast line of Morocco – all of that was reason enough for me to start producing again.

The music video was filmed during two trips to Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain, in February and June 2021. The camera used is on old Eumig C3 clockwork camera built between 1954 and 1959 by Austrian manufacturer Eumig. It was the first time for me trying it out and shooting on FOMAPAN R 100, a B/W reversal double 8 mm film stock by traditional Czech manufacturer FOMA BOHEMIA.

A film by LARS KEMNITZ | http://www.larskemnitz.com

Shot on FOMAPAN R 100 double 8 mm film stock
Processing and telecine by MUTASCAN, Helsinki, Finland

Music written and produced by LARS KEMNITZ | echolot.bandcamp.com
Mastered by SAM JOHN at PRECISE, UK

Last year in autumn my former photography lecturer gifted me an old Eumig C3 clockwork camera because he had no use for it. These camera have been built between 1954 and 1959 in Austria and they’re real tanks, super massive built quality and heavy. They use double 8 mm film which is quite rare today. And it’s quite special using it because actually you’re shooting on 16 mm film strip and only half of it gets exposed in the first step, and then half way through shooting you have to switch the reels inside the camera to expose the other half of the film strip in the second step. During processing the 16 mm film strip is sliced in the middle and put together as one long 8 mm film strip. That sounds crazy today, but it was the standard before Super 8 entered the market back then.

I took the camera with me on two trips to Fuerteventura in February and June this year. And I wanted to shoot something because I was working on new music and thought it would be nice to make a music video out of the footage. And so, I shot a lot through the car window while we were roaming the island. And additionally I shot a lot of static images that were like postcards.

All the footage turned out surprisingly well and editing it was great fun. Especially as I decided to mirror the structure of the music track with my editing. So, there’s a good balance between fast-paced and quiet moments. I think both music and images complement one another in the best way. Friends told me watching the video feels like going on holiday – for me that’s a big compliment and I hope everyone else is feeling the same.