Following an intense weekend of shooting footage for a capella group Out of the Blue’s newest medley, and several weeks of editing and long-distance liaison while the group toured India, their Shakira-inspired video was released in mid-July. The production side of things had centred on the acquisition of Canon 5Dmkiii and 60D cameras on which to shoot HD material and dealing with a full hired lighting setup in the confines of a small studio environment. Managing the two-day shoot also presented difficulties as filming was planned across the city of Oxford, in various public and university locations.

The video was received eagerly on its release, and has since become a tremendous success as part of the group’s work to raise money for charity Helen & Douglas House. Within three days it had earned 50,000 views on YouTube, as well as being featured that day in Gay Times and tweeted by Shakira herself to over 26 million followers. Student newspaper The Tab featured the fundraising efforts later that week and, within a fortnight, the video enjoyed over 3 million hits and articles in national publications The Guardian, Cosmo, The Daily Mail and The Telegraph. Out of the Blue are no strangers to being a social phenomenon, catching national attention when they appeared several years ago on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent, but director Constance Meath Baker agreed with producer Andrew Hall that the combination of popular music, a quirky ensemble, the charity element and the risqué appeal of the group meant this project was bound for success.