I had two jobs filming for Reuters yesterday, the first of which was to take me to Hyde Park in Central London to film a 41 gun salute that took place to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Crowds gathered in the snow covered Royal Park to see 6 Royal Artillery horse drawn guns thundered into their firing positions to complete their salute which celebrates 60 years rule of Queen Elizabeth II.
This footage shows the queen in Kings Lynn first, this was not shot by me, but the pictures of the gun salute were which is why I have shown it here.
Having become a member of Vimeo a few months ago I have decided that its a great source of inspiration for me and although I rarely get the time to sit and browse for hours trying to find interesting pieces to watch, I get on there occasionally and find the odd gem… This following effort directed by Andy Parker I saw a few months ago after I employed him to do an edit for a wedding video that I shot for a client. It’s a simple film called Connect 4 and I liked it for the way the film looks, the simplicity and the quirky surprise at the end.
Credit where credit is due its a lovely film and I wish I had more time to get stuck into an idea like this and make it work as well as Andy has. His Vimeo page can be found by following this link: http://vimeo.com/andyparker
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended the UK Premier of Steven Speilberg’s latest Hollywood blockbuster War Horse. Exclusively shot in Great Britain the motion picture follows that World War 1 story of a farm hand who enlists in the British Army after his work horse is sold to the Cavilary.
The London Premier of the film was attended by the Director himself, a huge number of the all star cast including Emily Watson and over 300 serving UK Military personnel. Reuters Showbiz producer Cindy Martin and I attended the event, we shot footage at along the red carpet of the Royal’s and the stars arriving and we managed to get interview with a majority of the big Names including the Director himself. It was a busy but fulfilling night shooting and even the short spell of rain did nothing to dampen the spirits of either the crews or the waiting fans.
Monday the 19th December was a very cold and very wet day… Not one to be filming outside that’s for sure but some stories go ahead no matter what the weather, and Monday was no exception. Father Christmas is coming in less than a week and in true xmas story style Reuters couldn’t resist the potential for a good life story involving a 6 year old, a santa, and a specially designed chimney in the Cotswolds.
The little boy in the above feature (called Leo) realised after writing his Christmas wish list to st Nick, that the family’s holiday home being built in a Luxury Cotswold Development didn’t include a chimney in the plans, therefore making it impossible for the big man in red to deliver his presents next year. The little lad penned a letter to his architect to ask if one could be built and the story was born.
Filming this one because of the rain wasn’t pleasant but the story itself made up for it and Leo was a little star… It’s really good to do a feel good story so close to Christmas, but by far the most challenging part was keeping the secret alive for a 6 year old who still believes.
Last week was a super busy one with an 8 day trip to the Middle East to cover the Dubai Air Show for the Financial Times. It all sounds very exotic but the truth was that we were so busy we only saw the Airport or the Holiday Inn Express the whole week apart from a few hours on the last night. In all (including the pre-airshow package) we completed a total of 8 video peices with one final package covering the event as the finale.
The following videos are some of the stand-alone interviews and the final package as they play on the the Special Reports aerospace section of the FT.com website. The first here is the final package which was filmed over the 8 day trip, it contains clips from two press conferences where two of the big Arab airlines placed huge aircraft orders, and soundbites from the various interviews conducted.
The second video was one that I edited myself using Final Cut Pro and is a stand-alone interview with one of the Chief Executives of Emirates. The interview was filmed using only one camera (a Sony EX1) so we had to film noddy’s and reverses after the interviewee had left the scene… Filming interview’s like this can prove problematic when it comes to fitting the edit together, especially when you only have a very limited time scale both on location and with the talent.
The last one that I am going to share with you is a news piece that we threw together after the surprise announcement, during a press conference, that Emirates were placing an order for up to 70 Boeing aircraft with a total price tag which could eventually reach 26 billion US Dollars… This was by far the biggest aircraft order at the show, which also amounted to Boeing’s biggest single order in their entire 95 year history.
This was of course rolling news at it’s most urgent for the show, and it was good to have a break from the schedule to report on such an event… The video was edited and up on the FT website within about an hour after the announcement was made.
Like I said a busy week indeed with no sightseeing, long hours and hotel cabin fever until the last night but all worth it when I look back at what we managed to achieve with the time we had at the show. We shot many more video’s that are posted on the FT’s Aerospace Special Reports page, and if you follow the following link you will be able to view them all.
My wife Sara and I spent our Anniversary weekend in Rome, and for the first time in a few holidays I took my D3 along for the ride and took a few pictures for a day. We visited the Colosseum and the Vatican City and here are a selection of the best ones. (I have been having a play around with some filters in Lightroom here so for those of you that may complain that they have been photoshopped…. Well they have, and I make no apologies for this as they are my holiday snaps after all!)
Men dressed as Roman Soldiers litter the outside of the Colosseum posing for photographs with tourists for money. Some of their costumes are pretty good and wouldn't look bad on a film set
St Peters Bascilica is the highlight of the Vatican City tour for most and you cant help but be both surprised and impressed by the sheer scale of the opulence inside the church
Every square inch of the Church roof is stunning, This shot was taken handheld with my 24-70mm 2.8 lens, unfortunately I didn't take anything wider with me so you cant see the whole roof in its complete glory
The Vatican City has miles of museums to walk around and admire. According to the narration from our tour guide it all belongs to the Pope!
Candid moments near the entrance to St Peters where tourists wander amongst more serious church goers
The Vatican museum's corridors and rooms are lavishly decorated with painting's and sculptures
I have no doubt that even non-Catholics can appreciate this place, if only for the sheer scale of its impressive architecture
The Trevi Fountain
The Trevi Fountain draws so many people each year, as you walk through the tight streets in that part of Rome, it appears at you suddenly between two buildings... The wall above the fountain is covered with imposing statues who look down at the passing crowds
There you go, one day’s photography in Rome… Well, the best ones anyway.
I just thought I’d post this picture of myself with Rock Legend Alice Cooper, taken at the BFI on the South Bank last week… I have been checking the Reuters website for footage from our interview with him that night, but to no avail.
I guess they didn’t make a stand-alone piece out of the event but I really enjoyed the shoot with him. He was taking part in a question and answer session about his favourite horror films, to coincide with this years halloween celebrations. The session was very entertaining and Alice has a brilliant sense of humour, I could have happily stayed listening to the whole thing but we had to leave and get the footage away for our edit deadline.
I have just been trawling the Reuters website looking for an interview that I filmed with Rock Legend Alice Cooper at the BFI on Friday night last week, and I came across this footage of the London Riots back in August this year… The following clips were all filmed by me on the night that the riots kicked off big time in Hackney, Northern London.
Being in the thick of the action is by far one of the best bits about this job… Although care and caution are needed and the office issued stab vests to all of the crews on that night. The police fought pitch battles with the rioters, employing attack dogs and riot horses to dispel the crowd.
What touched me though, more than anything was the fact that local residents were the only ones to really suffer through these troubling times. Many of them spectators from their front gardens or the relative safety of an upstairs bedroom window while around them mindless anarchy was destroying their neighbourhood.
A producer and myself the next day travelled to Croydon in South London to film the aftermath of the disturbances there, and an indian family stood staring at the shell of a Large Furniture store which had been burnt down the previous night. With them the pulled two small suitcases and the mother was in tears.
They had been burnt out of their rented flat whilst watching their TV, and had lost absolutely everything as a result of that furniture store fire. What they carried with them in these two suitcases was all they had left, with no clue as to where they would be sleeping that night.
