Man-a-Live

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Ace Dance and Music from Birmingham asked me to film a promo for their current touring show – Mana. A word used in 24 languages. The show was being performed in the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds which is an amazing venue with a great lighting rig.

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I directed and shot the promo in the morning with assistance of Tom, and we stayed through to the evening performance to capture the 2 x 30 minute performances as well. During the morning I used the FS100 with my 11-16mm and 35mm lenses, which worked well in the sometimes very low light, used for this style of performance.
I shot several sequences in overcrank on the FS100 for a slow-motion effect which the dancers then watched on playback between takes.

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I’ve edited another version of the Promo with plenty of added VFX as a bit of fun:

Deputy PM in Prescot

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Clegg Handshake

I was asked to film another VIP visit at the Glen Dimplex factory in Prescot.
This time I took my new assistant Tom who operated the second camera.

We had time at the end of the tour to film to shoot a short two header interview:

Keep the Faith

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The Faith Through A Lens photography competition has been running since 2010. I was approached by Congregational and General Insurance in 2011 to film the award ceremony in Bradford. The next year the awards moved to London and another video production company was used,  but I was delighted to be asked to film this years event again.

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This time I was able to film the judging panel who met at Microsoft HQ a month before the ceremony. I made a short film on the history of the event as well as interviews with the esteemed panel of judges. This short was shown at the ceremony to give the people attending a feel for the event and explain the thought processes behind the judging.

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I filmed the event with three cameras. A GoPro suspended in the ceiling, my FS100 and an EX1 operated by BobMcGowan. I’d worked with Bob a few times in Liverpool filming at the Essar Oil Refinery and it was great to do so again. Then after the event I produced this finished film:

Cutting-edge Cutting

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‘Going on the Road’ had a whole new meaning this week. Our regular client Northern Gas Networks asked us to make a video to help explain new technology used for detecting and repairing gas leaks. Over three days and three sites I found myself in the middle of busy roads, in mud, rain and sunshine.

We didn’t have much of a brief to start with and everyone was finding their feet. Balfour Beatty has been using video cameras in water leak detention for some time, but gas detection need a different approach to find the leak as well as more stringent safety systems. Together with Scotia Gas’ innovative cutting systems the idea is to trace leaks at a distance down a gas main, then drill a 60cm core down to the main and fix the leak.

Of three cores drilled, all three worked perfectly (luckily) and the crews were able to be off the site in 6 hours or less as opposed to the usual 3 days when digging much larger holes.

Core&Vac_4I shot the interviews and GV’s on my trusty EX1 which offers great control in these testing environments. But the biggest surprise to the client was the pole I waved around while filming with a camera on it… They didn’t know what to expect until they saw a first draft edit and were amazed by the footage I had got with this little camera. It was the GoPro of course, which let me get footage from every imaginable angle and matched the look of the EX1 really well. I rigged the GoPro of vehicles, strapped it to barriers for timelapse and used it a lot on a monopole.

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Another practical aspect of using a GoPro is that it doesn’t get in the operators way and I could put it right down the holes when I wanted. Also I wasn’t concerned about the camera getting damaged or wet as it was in it’s 60m waterproof housing which is really tough and has a scratch proof glass front element.

Ten years of Toolbank

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Today was my last day working on Toolbank’s 2013 Christmas campaign.

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I first worked with them back in 2003 when I was Senior Editor at CBF in Leeds editing their TV commercial. From then on I worked with various agencies to create their campaigns.
In the early days 3000 VHS videos were distributed across their UK dealers together with VHS combi TV’s. I started filming on my VX2000 and authoring DVD on the early Final Cut Studio software.

These days it’s distributed on DVD, SD cards and via Social Media and the Internet. The bulk of the work is an in-store loop video running at over 20 minutes in two versions – Sterling and Euros.

The online campaign will be rolled out a week from now, and the thirty or more individual videos I made will start going live.


Lastly, today we filmed the TV commercials in Leeds with the team from Dark Horse Media. After helping rig the lighting the day before we got an early start and filmed all 10 adverts in a day, plus some additional footage!

It’s a Disaster!

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NGN called us with a last minute job.

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The main road bridge into Skinningrove in North Yorkshire had collapsed during the recent flooding, and the gas main into the village has been damaged.
We arrived on scene and Howard from Red Lobster got his hack hat on, speaking with the various parties involved and outlining a schedule for the day. While I popped off to get B-Roll of the village and the coastline.

 

 

Once again the GoPro proved it’s worth here. I filmed in the river water, leaning out over the bridge and shooting into the broken gas main and filming close to the NGN team down in the roadworks.

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Villagers provided us with phone footage filmed during the flooding, and I added a Google Earth flight to the finished video:

Kirklees Kids

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I’ve just complete a further 11 adoption films for Kirkless Adoption services.
This time the children were all much younger, which has it’s challenges…

Again, I’m finding the work to be really meaningful and humbling.

NGN

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Today Northern Gas Networks launched their RIIO initiative to a management conference.

Myself and Howard from Red Lobster have spent a few days working with NGN to produce the internal launch film which is being shown today at the Leeds United FC conference centre.

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We’ve filmed at locations all across Leeds and the wider area. Offices, Pipelines, and Roadworks, even a Hotel. Quite an unusual job. As well as shooting and editing, I’ve also made an animated 3D logo for the final film.

Finding a Family

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I’ve spent ten days shooting and editing 11 videos for Kirklees Council. The videos feature children in foster care across the region.

The adoption agencies then use the videos to introduce the children to prospective adopters – forever families for the children.

It sound like an extravagance perhaps, but it helps get the children out of care and into stable long term families much sooner. And that saves the council a lot of money and resources.

Of course I can’t mention specific cases or show videos on here, but I will say it’s the most humbling and worthwhile work I’ve done in some time.

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Blue Blooded Belling

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Today I filmed and edited a Royal visit by HRH the Duke of Kent to the Glenn Dimplex factory in Merseyside.

HRH was presenting Glenn Dimplex with the Queens Award for Export. And it was a double celebration as Belling, who are part of the Glenn Dimplex group, are one hundred years old this year!

 

 

I needed a second cameraman to cover the event and called on local talent, James Goodchild from Zippy Angels to help. We quckly formulated a plan on the day to cover the event and it all went very smoothly.