Success At CITES

Going against my initial fears and belief that CITES will always be a largely impotent body in the fight to save sharks and other precious marine wildlife, last night saw Appendix II listing for Smooth, Scalloped and Great Hammerhead Sharks, Oceanic Whitetip and Porbeagle Sharks along with Manta Rays!

It's as surprising to me as it is brilliant and enormous waves of gratitude and unending respect must go to those people at the forefront of the campaign to get this as far as they have, it's an incredible achievement, maybe even a watershed moment, for sharks.

But...There's always a but...This could still be overturned when the assembled nations reconvene for the Plenary hearing on Thursday. This gives delegates from China, Japan and Singapore, three full days to continue spreading their bullshit and lies amongst the developing third world countries to encourage them to change their voting to allow them to keep exploiting the people and marine life within these nations. It ain't quite a done deal yet...

This is also regulation, it's not a ban, so people can still harvest these animals, it just means the trade will be regulated using scientific guidelines to assess the sustainability of a fishery in which these animals are regularly caught.

It's a good start but there is still much to be done.

In the meantime, watch this by Shawn Heinrichs who did an amazing job on a challenging project. Mantas really are beautiful animals and huge kudos to Hannah who did a great job in what were by all accounts, very challenging conditions!

A Ray of Light Gets Its TV Broadcast Premiere Tonight!!

Filming the underwater sequences in Mallorca

A quick heads up for all you people lucky enough to live in sunny Spain. Tonight, at 7pm, on Canal 4, Mallorca Today, "A Ray of Light" gets its TV broadcast premiere.

That means that tonight, it will be seen by thousands of people across the whole Spanish mainland and the Balearic Islands, so a project which was initially an idea for a grassroots conservation project Brad discussed with me on Skype a couple of years ago is about to take another huge leap forward and we did this all on our own! Brad, Bea, Gabriel Morey, Stefan Lawrence, Erica Lay, Joves Navegants, myself and some very enthusiastic volunteers are continuing to show that great things can be achieved in the conservation sphere without the help of the big conservation groups. That's not to say we wouldn't welcome the support, of course we would, especially Brad, it's just not been offered.

So what does this mean? First and foremost, Spain is now talking about marine conservation, a nation with a major impact on the declining health of our oceans, is starting to look at the concept of local marine conservation projects. The media are interested in finding out more, the numbers of people volunteering to take part has gone through the roof and some really great things are in the pipeline in regards to new projects and involvement of yet more influential people in Mallorca.

At the risk of repeating myself as well...I shot this film on my own as a one man crew for 750 quid of my own money and so far it has;

• Been seen by roughly 15,000 people, a figure which will increase enormously tonight
• Raised over £35,000 in donations for the project, that's more than 45x what it cost to make
• Been requested for inclusion in two film festivals
• Resulted in a television feature, two radio features and press articles about the project

That's all from social media and word of mouth only.

Just imagine what I could do with some financial backing, especially if, say, I had a rather amazing idea for "A Ray of Light II"...

Anyway, 7pm, Canal4 tonight, the perfect aperitif to the main course of United beating Madrid at the Bernabeau ;)

Of Shark and Man - Thank you!

Another day in paradise

It's been about a week and a half since the trailer was released and the feedback and response has been pretty overwhelming, taking into account Vimeo views, external links and embeds, it's edging towards the 6000 mark...That's six thousand  views of something released with very little fan fair and promoted only on social media and through word of mouth.

It has been featured on Shark Diver, The Best Shark Dive in the World, The Dorsal Fin and Shark Defenders alongside some other pages I'd never even heard of and yesterday alone, somewhere obviously picked it up (no idea where though) and it had no fewer than 918 unique views on Vimeo alone!

This shows there is clearly interest out there and the feedback has been especially satisfying, on the way it's shot, edited, coloured and the feel and people really seem to like the "it's a love story" line at the end. Even before I had fully established the storyline of the piece I had a tag line of "A love story...with teeth!" and it seems to resonate. It's always been important to me that everyone can feel a connection to the story and it seems that, at least with this teaser, most people do.

I've been contacted by quite a few people on a variety of subjects, some simply to offer encouragement, others looking for advice and also people asking how they can get involved in shark conservation. Not only do people like what they've seen, the message is working, pretty incredible considering the word "shark" isn't uttered once, let alone "shark conservation."

Please keep sharing, let's keep the momentum going and let's do what we can to get even more people on board and excited about "Of Shark and Man." I want to offer a huge message of thanks to the Street Team for their help pushing the trailer, it has been invaluable and also, just so you know, Tip Jar has been activated so if you like it and you have a few quid/dollars/baht/shekels/euros burning a hole in your pocket, please feel free to pop them in the electronic jar if you think the quality is deserving. Every little bit helps believe me.

Once again, thank you one and all and if you haven't seen it yet, watch it, comment and share with everyone you know!

Interview with Shark Defenders

Angelo over at Shark Defenders did a little interview with me the other day so if you haven't already seen it, take a look!

I do quite like doing these so if you think it may be of interest to your readers, get in touch and I welcome, no, I actively encourage to the point of insistence, that you not be afraid of throwing some heavy/controversial subjects and questions at me, I don't bite!

Thanks again Angelo, you're a gent.

Hear endeth my shortest blog post ever.

david@officetoocean.com

New Website And First Official Teaser Trailer!

"From the Office to the Ocean" - Official Teaser Trailer from Scarlet View Media on Vimeo.

Remember this?

Two and a bit years ago, having never directed anything before, I took Hamish out around Leeds and we tried to capture my rather primitive storyboard for a trailer to a film I wanted to make about sharks in Fiji so I could kinda show people who might be interested in helping me, an idea of the sort of thing I was attempting.

How far we have come...

"Of Shark and Man" - Teaser Trailer 1 from Scarlet View Media on Vimeo.

The first official teaser trailer for "Of Shark and Man" is out today in conjunction with the updated, brand spanking, better looking, easier to navigate, new and improved website!

As I said, this teaser is "the first" and it is, the first of no less than three teaser trailers, the other two will appear in the coming months and will then be followed by two full trailers when the film is finished and ready to go.

This first teaser starts in the best place from which to tell a story, the beginning. This is a scene and mood setter, very much saying loud and proud that I am approaching this in a totally different way to everyone else, an introduction to one of the main characters (me!) and a visualisation of the quality and style of look I am going for.

Each teaser will focus on a different element of the story and will help to build an image for the viewer as to what they are getting with this film. When the final edit is at least half done, perhaps waiting until it is totally finished, there will be two full trailers released, much like those that would accompany a major release.

The website you will notice is sleeker, easier to navigate, is more focused in its content and just looks so much better. Thank you Kris Allen for all your hard work, you sir are a hero.

If you like the look of the teaser, you are into the concept of the film or you just want to help support independent film, please share this stuff. This is about representing an incredible story and an incredible animal properly and accurately, treating the audience with respect and as people who can look beyond what they're used to and who might just enjoy something a little different.

Music is by the always brilliant Chris Zabriskie and Lifescreen both of whom it's no secret I absolutely love. Chris's music will feature quite heavily in the film itself as well.

New to this and want some more info? Check the new website!

Feedback is of course, always welcome, share and share freely with friends, family and the weird strangers who stalk you on Facebook and get involved. The more people who can help build an audience for this, the more likely it is that we can start getting some more responsible, factual and most important, inspirational shark media out there!

Enjoy!

www.officetoocean.com 

p.s. This blog will take us over the 100,000 unique views milestone too! :)

p.p.s Thank you Mike for the kind words!

Talented Graphic Animators - Fancy Seeing Your Work In A Film?

Some things, you just gotta leave to the experts...

The concept of low budget indie film-making is one of great creative flexibility and control, sacrificing the kind of budgets that help you realise your creative and artistic ideas, contrary to high-budget film-making, in which you often have the budget, but not the creative flexibility or control. 

Such is the life of a Film-Maker.

I much prefer the former but would also like a bigger budget, in fact, I'd like an actual budget! All the editing, colouring, grading, sfx, graphics, marketing, music, sound design, everything in fact, is being done for zero pay, almost exclusively by one person, myself, although I owe a huge debt of thanks as always to Kris, Mark and Liam for their help along the way and continued support on various things.

I have had to teach myself Direction, Production, Cinematography, Editing, Colouring, Grading, Graphic Design, Photoshop, Web Design, pretty much everything involved in the film-making process but there are some things which are just better left to people who are naturally good at them and have the technical skills one can't just pick up using tutorials on Youtube. One of those things is the art of graphic animation.

I have a dilemma. Firstly, one of my biggest bugbears is the fact that an inordinate amount of people in the world expect that if you have a creative talent and the tools to realise that talent, then you should work for free or at least if not free, less than you'd get paid to work in Burger King. I refuse to tiptoe around it, it really, really pisses me off. I committed with the formation of Scarlet View Media that I will charge clients a fair valuation for the work they want doing, purposefully avoiding the lower quality jobs because to be honest, I value the amount of effort and enthusiasm I put into each job higher than to compete solely on trying to be the cheapest. I'd rather clients pay the going rate because I give the best value for money.

And herein lies my dilemma, I feel a bit dirty by admitting that because "Of Shark and Man" has no post-production budget, I have to address the possibility of asking if there is someone talented, professional, creative and enthusiastic out there who might just be interested in having their considerable talent showcased in a high quality film on a global platform without the compensation of guaranteed payment. Let me explain...

The other night, whilst editing and going through the OSAM script, I had a brain wave, something which would be really, really cool, a bit different, creative and would really bring to life a hugely important part of  the story. Immediately, the first thing that came to mind in regards to the style was the Japanese anime, and animated, graphic novel style, used to brilliant effect in the example above from Kill Bill, basically, something very similar but softer, obviously a lot less violent, about a minute long and which illustrates a story to ensure it is easily understood to audiences from a variety of cultures.

The problem is I cannot do this myself and the quality absolutely must be of the highest standard possible and that usually means a pro and pros charge money, money I don't currently have.

That leaves me two options:

A) Find a super talented person to do the animation to my exact spec in return for exposure for their work in the film, association with the project, potential for future properly commissioned work and a caveat that you may actually receive payment for your work retrospectively in the event the film gets distribution (contractually agreed beforehand of course!)

B) Carry out a crowd funding campaign to raise the money to pay the artist up front, something which would ultimately put the project back considerably in respect of when the first rough cut can be completed.

I only very occasionally do work for free these days, in fact it's extremely rare and only in special circumstances, I am actually doing something for free at the moment for a very special lady and a very good reason, the reasons being the same as here, the project has no money but I am an admirer of hers and the work she does and I am sacrificing payment for credit. For that reason I can totally relate to the issue raised for you, the talented animator I am hoping will contribute your talent to this film, essentially for free and I don't feel great about asking to be honest.

I like this ^^^ A  lot!

OK so there it is, is there anyone out there who would be interested to get involved? I want to pay you, I genuinely do and in the event I can pay you retrospectively, that would probably bring me almost as much joy as it would you! On the other side of the issue, if you're a millionaire with a little bit of cash you are desperate to spend, get in touch!!

Contact me at david@officetoocean.com

Let's do something cool together!

"Of Shark and Man" - Get Involved!!

Yes. It has a logo now!

Happy New Year!!

The blogs were less frequent at the back end of 2012 for the simple reason I was just so damn busy, primarily launching Scarlet View Media, trying to earn a living and making preparations for when the first draft edit for "Of Shark and Man" is finished. The first draft running order for the film is now half done and looking good so I need to start looking seriously at the marketing and promotion of the film to get it to as wide an audience as possible and to make it as financially successful as I can, the latter point being key to the development of "From the Office to the Ocean" as a genuine, long lasting series of films.

My trusty right hand man on the graphic and website design side of things, Kris, has been sweating over a hot computer, redesigning the OfficetoOcean website and it's not far off completion. It's simpler, quicker to navigate and it looks better and I am very much looking forward to its launch, especially because it will not only mean a new website, but because it will also see the release of the first, official teaser trailer for "Of Shark and Man."

I like teaser trailers, I think they're pretty cool things, in the old days, trailers used to show practically the entire film, observe this, the trailer for the original JAWS which seems to go on forever, in comparison, nowadays we have things like this, the teaser for the new Superman movie, "Man of Steel," which to be quite frank, looks cool as fudge. It gives you just enough to let you know something cool is on the way, you might have a bit of a wait, but it'll be worth it.

Of course, this first teaser for "Of Shark and Man" will be followed by others as 2013 progresses, showing more detail and more of the film, but this first one will hopefully set the tone and give you an idea of what you're in for. Don't expect what you're used to either, this is not your average shark film...

Help spread the word

When I was in Nerve Engine, one of the most valuable things I spent time doing was putting together a "Street Team." For those who aren't aware what that means, a street team is basically, in the traditional sense anyway, a group of people based in different parts of the country/world who really like a band, and who go out and flyer the streets, promoting upcoming shows by whichever band they're street teaming for. In return, they get free entry into shows, discounted merchandise, credits on sleeve notes, all that kind of groovy stuff.

In the modern age of social media, it seems Street Teams have fallen by the wayside which is a shame as I always thought it a great way to bring bands and their fan base closer together. What has all this got to do with my film you ask...

As a one man team, I simply cannot do everything myself and I am at a massive disadvantage because of that, there just isn't enough time and I don't have the resources to promote "Of Shark and Man" properly on my own, I am also making all this up as I go along as well having never promoted a film before so I thought, "why not put a street team together?!"

So, what would a "From the Office to the Ocean" Street Teamer be asked to do?

It's simple really, promote "Of Shark and Man" regularly on your social media pages, post updates from here, the website and press, share trailers and media and maybe even some outdoorsy stuff as well, like plastering stickers and any other promo materials all over your neighbourhood, upsetting your local council/town hall/police department etc whilst knowing that you're being super awesome in the process.

In return you get a thank you credit in the film itself and also discounts and first dibs on future merchandise and stuff. It's not massively labour intensive but it is enormously helpful and in keeping with the grassroots, "in it together" approach this film has had since day one, it's also a brilliant way to maintain the most important relationship of all, that of the film-maker and audience.

 

Obviously, one would assume that anyone interested in sharks and their proper representation in the media would be keen to climb aboard but it's a competitive world out there so anyone signing up is going to be a big asset to the film's growth in the face of apathy and the competitive elbowing for market share in the 21st century shark related media community, they sure as hell won't help us so we just have to do it ourselves right?

For example, when the new site is launched, you'll be emailed with details and asked to share on your Facebook pages and groups, email subscribers, mailing lists, newsletters, Twitter etc, encouraging people to get involved, become interested in the project and want to be a part of all this with us. You can also feel free to suggest promotional and marketing ideas, organise screenings when the film is finished, get actively involved on the Facebook page, stuff like that. It is essentially the odd couple of hours a week but even that minimal level of help will increase the chances of this film reaching the kind of audience it deserves.

Worth pointing out as well, simply posting a link isn't really enough, we've all seen the same turbo posting people on Facebook who seem to spend all day just plastering links to things that all blur into one to the point you just switch off and block them out of your mind, I don't want people like that. I want people who want to discuss, debate, enthuse and promote, people who actually give a shit about what they're sharing, people who believe in what it is we are doing!

If you want to sign up all you need to do is email me at david@officetoocean.com with the title of the email as "Street Team" and provide basic details, your name, location, Facebook pages etc, that's it, we can then go from there. You may already help with things like this but please, if you do, still email me to be involved in the Street Team so I can keep a record of everyone involved!

I can't wait to get this started with you!

Just to finish this blog off, check out this short film I made about Autumn and the change as Winter approaches. I did it primarily to get out of the house as I was going stir crazy and the odd few hours of solitude in nature here and there really helped!

In Amber - A Very British Autumn from Scarlet View Media on Vimeo.

I will do the final part of the help blog for aspiring film-makers soon as well.

Brad has been on the telly as well, check that out here

2013 is already shaping up positively, not only will Of Shark and Man be completed but Brad and Bea are having a little person (I can say that now he announced it on TV), Hamish is getting married and two of my very closest friends, Mark and Fran, announced their engagement yesterday! Great stuff :)

Behind Blue Glass and Monetizing Video

 Xisco Perez and I on his boat, "Katy"

I was having a chat with a very good friend of mine on Saturday in Manchester, who I had gone to visit as, due to my life being consumed solely by work, I had not seen for two years. He was telling me about how glad he was I was following my dreams and how he has always struggled to find that one thing which he knows he could achieve and which would give him the life fulfilment he and everyone else craves.

Of course, the issue got on to finances and how everything we do is dictated by money, or rather, the lack of it and it reminded me of my own experiences but also something I read a couple of years ago that issued a stark warning that as soon as you set out on the journey to build a career out of something you would do for fun anyway, people automatically expect that you should punish yourself by not being paid properly and living a life overshadowed by constant financial stress, which is, of course, complete and utter nonsense. I work harder than most people I know, I work longer hours then most people I know and now that I have finally launched Scarlet View Media, putting a value on my time, expertise, energy and effort is not just an act of principle, it's also an exercise in analytics and maths. I understand that a part of making a promise to myself to maintain my own standards through everything I do, means not doing things on the cheap, sacrificing quality and therefore, that also means there will be times when I turn down opportunities because a potential client simply isn't willing to pay what the job is worth.

This all took me back to the production of Behind Blue Glass and A Ray of Light which took place either side of "Of Shark and Man" and both of which represent stark differences in how ready I was to run productions with such lofty artistic and creative ideas. Behind Blue Glass was shot with a four man crew, three of whom, myself included, had never made a film before and A Ray of Light was just me with Brad helping on a couple of the organisational things.

Behind Blue Glass cost around €3200 to make or at least that was the budget we had, that had to cover four people, all food, transport, salary, board and diving for almost three weeks, the pre-production phase and also the post-production phase and what I actually earned myself by way of being paid for the enormous amount of time and energy I put in, over a period of four months, is roughly the same as what I would charge now, for a day's work and works out on the BBG time sheet, at less than £1 an hour...

Before you start feeling too sorry for me, I should point put that it was entirely my fault because that's what I asked for, making the biggest and most common mistake first time film-makers are guilty of, assuming people won't pay you properly so pitching at way, way less than you should so you can convince the people funding your film to let you do it.

Despite grossly undervaluing myself, my time, my energy and my expertise, the production of Behind Blue Glass was an invaluable learning process for me, it is far from perfect, mistakes were made but what I really love about it is it has a heart and soul, a group of friends setting out to do something really, really difficult and succeeding, not only that but the content is actually, really, really good, an in-depth look at the story of Great White Sharks in the Mediterranean and the human interest aspect of positive shark/human interactions. In May Brad and I held a screening of the film in Mallorca and the room was packed, there weren't enough seats in fact and the feedback was really, really positive, a few people picked up on things like parts where the sound could have been better (wind...I HATE wind) but given that we had a bare minimum of resources available the end result is still pretty impressive. Behind Blue Glass is a film made by passion, endurance, good will and positive energy and it shows.

A Ray of Light was an infinitely simpler, more streamlined and artistically successful production, aided by the fact I had come off the super intense, non-stop crash course in film-making that was making "Of Shark and Man." I went into it knowing how I wanted it to look, what I wanted the message to be and how I wanted to express myself as an auteur and it also introduced my natural style of film-making. A Ray of Light is different to Behind Blue Glass in that a lot of BBG was scripted, a constructed narrative delivered into camera in a very pure documentary style and that was originally what I had intended for "Of Shark and Man." It was only two days into production in Fiji that it became clear that I was more natural just being me, no script, just genuine emotion, feeling and honesty, captured in a conversational style, as though there is no barrier between you and the viewer.

This stylistic imprint now defines how I make films, they must be honest and they must be aesthetically appealing, to me, film is not just putting an image on screen, each shot counts and each shot should tell the story in itself, its composition, framing, focus points and colours, anyone can point a camera at something, not everyone can engage you in a story. A Ray of Light was shot primarily when the people involved weren't aware they were being filmed, a window into that point in time in which one man's story is told, a story we ultimately found out cut a little too close to the bone for some of the glossier yet more impotent NGOs out there. It is popular though, the feedback has been quite incredible and at the time of writing, it is closing in on 13,000 views and it is that number which encouraged me to write this blog...

A Ray of Light helped raise almost €40,000 for the Mallorca Stingray Survey and cost about £700 to make, not including payment to me as the Director, Producer, Cameraman, DoP and Editor, had that been included, it would have cost around £5000-6000 to produce. The reason I don't include that is because it didn't exist, I didn't get paid because I paid for the production out of my own pocket, that £700 came out of money I had earned for an order of Behind Blue Glass DVDs.

We live in a world where, like music, people all of a sudden feel entitled to films for free, why should you have to pay for music and films when everyone who makes them is a millionaire right! It's also easier to put a film out now than ever, more people are doing it than ever which is great but does that mean there are loads of great films out there now? No, there are still the same amount of great films, there's just more really, really bad ones making it harder for the good ones to get seen.

I was chastised by a scientist a while back for suggesting that the worlds of art and science should work closer together to make use of each others expertise, science is about analysis, statistics, solid facts, years of research, art is about expression, emotion and story telling but this particular individual felt that no, the scientific community should be responsible for its own film-making and media output, presumably on the assumption that, because they know the results of their research on the subject matter, they also know the best way to present that in an engaging and thought provoking way to the lay man which is, of course, complete nonsense. That is why I suggested the two worlds should work closer in the first place.

Making films can be pretty easy, making good ones though, isn't, making good films which appeal to an audience who may otherwise not be interested in the subject matter, is really, really difficult and that is challenge with conservation related media. Conservation isn't about scientists and how they spent years in a lab researching something, it's about how law makers, game changers and the man on the street take the information provided by the scientific community and put it to use to make the world a better place. The scientist in question didn't seem to grasp that dry statistics, white coats and laboratories doesn't really stir the emotional loins of the average person.

The one thing that makes good films happen, good films which can help make the world a better place, is money. Films cost money, the people who work on these films deserve to be paid properly and they need to be marketed properly, its hardly rocket science. That brings me back to the 13,000 number...

Introducing Vimeo Tip Jar and more Creator Services from Vimeo Staff on Vimeo.

If every person who had viewed A Ray of Light had made a voluntary donation of £1 then the film would have raised an extra £13,000 which would go towards recouping my costs, marketing and promoting "Of Shark and Man" and making more films to highlight important environmental issues. It would also show that people accept and appreciate that there is value in work like this and it deserves to be rewarded by helping the film-maker have the luxury of perhaps a few less sleepless nights worrying about the next bill to come through the letterbox, food, stuff like that...

People have complained for years, myself included, at the quality, or rather the complete lack of it, in media representation of sharks and the ocean environment, through expensive, yet completely soulless, cynical and contrived shows and series like "Shark Men," "Whale Wars" and most of the stuff we see on Shark Week and the simple way to get better, is to support the people who make better quality media. Shows like the aforementioned ones are merely pretty wrapping around the commercials, they're not there to save the world, they're there to make you watch the adverts and buy shit you don't need, that's all.

How do you do support the film-makers who want to make the stuff you want to see? Financially, that's how, if the money isn't there to make proper shark related films, then they won't get made, simple, so if you watch the video above, I have decided to add Tip Jar to A Ray of Light, Love Sharks Love Fiji and The Sanctuary so if you like it, you think it's well made, you like the message or the way it's filmed, please make an affordable donation which will help me keep making these types of films and giving a voice to all of us who want a better world for our marine creatures.

To go back to Behind Blue Glass as well, in 2013 Vimeo are launching a Pay to View service meaning that finally, regardless of where you are in the world, for a very fair one off payment, you can stream the film whenever you like for the rest of your life. As soon as Vimeo implement it, I will be adding BBG to it and will of course be announcing it here, the mailing list and on the Facebook Page.

I make these films for the message and I make these films for you, I appreciate your support, it is one of the main things that keeps me going and I hope you also see the value in financially supporting independent film. Nobody is owed a living, but I do believe that effort, hard work, get up and go and artistic creativity do deserve to be rewarded.

I would love to read comments from you all about this, particularly from other film-makers and also all the people who make an effort to watch low budget productions as well.

Over to you...

A Big Blog for the Aspiring Film-Maker Part II!

 

One from the Liber Necris shoot

I'll start by apologising, aside from the thirty-two years prior to "From the Office to the Ocean," this five weeks or so has been the longest I've gone without a blog so sorry for that but I have just been so immensely busy I have literally not had the time to put aside to write one! I've been busy doing photo shoots for bands (nice, gritty and doomy stuff, see above), filming projects for Scarlet View Media, setting up the company in the legal sense, trying to drum up business, building the social media and website, building the new "From the Office..." website with Kris and trying to get through proposals for future projects, all the while soldiering on with "Of Shark and Man."

The long term goal for Scarlet View Media is for it to be the production company for creative, exciting and ethical shark film-making and programming but to do that, it needs to grow, to grow, it needs money so that's what I'm working on at the moment because life as a Film-Maker is tough, make no mistake about that! What I do feel proud about though is that people regularly contact me asking my advice on starting out in the independent film world. I am certainly not the oracle, I'm not even the best person to ask but I do my best and the reason people ask is because I am happy to help, using my own experience.

Henceforth, we pick up from where we left off with part II to the previous blog.

You have your camera, you have your sound recording gear and you have some great ideas and bundles of enthusiasm so get out there and shoot first and foremost. Before spunking all your money on expensive kit you need to get what you have in the field and get to grips with it and it's only when you do this, you appreciate the benefit of what's up next. Stabilisation and movement accessories.

A good, solid and smooth, fluid head video tripod needs to be very high up on your list for two reasons. Firstly, the ability to set up a rock solid shot with zero wobble gives you an edge over the casual amateur because unless it's a dramatic "in the moment" type shot that benefits from camera shake, a stable shot just looks so much better. Secondly, the capability to add camera movement whilst retaining that stability.

The fluid head on a proper video tripod will allow smooth, silky pans and tilts, getting rid of those horrible, jerky, awkward movements you get with non-video tripod heads. As with seemingly everything to do with video though, they're not cheap.

Some models are more expensive than others of course, the most common names you'll encounter will be Manfrotto and Velbon but there is a dizzying array on the market, some of which top the £1000 mark. Being on a budget, I chose to go with the Fancier 717 Pro and although not "cheap," it is still way below a lot of the other tripods in its class.

What's good about it? It's sturdy, lightweight, the handle extends to a really long length and the drag on it is really pretty damn good. The downsides are that the base plate could be a little smoother, the quick release lock switch cannot fully turn on a DSLR (although it is securely fastened) and the tightened drag on the tilt (up and down) isn't quite fully locked, those aside though, it's great value and I would recommend it highly to those on a budget. Extra advice for free...Get a spare quick release plate and a spare base plate adaptor.

 

Shoulder Rig Set Up

I use a tripod for probably 85% of what I shoot, what can I say, I like nice stable shots, but sometimes you want, need or are forced to go hand-held which can be a brilliant creative tool in itself and particularly if you have one of the DSLR model cameras or similar, modern devices like the Black Magic or C300, you'll need a shoulder support, the idea being the more points of contact with your body, the more stability and in my experience, hand holding a DSLR for sustained periods is uncomfortable and usually the footage requires stabilising in post.

If you haven't already looked around, these things are expensive, overly expensive in fact, the DSLR accessory market is one which sets its pricing in the upper scale so if you're willing to pay for a decent shoulder rig set up, shop around and take your time! I finally got my perfect set up a couple of weeks ago, two years after I started looking, more on that in a second though...

A cautionary tale...

If you have looked around for your own rig, you will undoubtedly have come across one of these rigs in the picture, I did, I bought one! £29, bargain! I shot Behind Blue Glass on it and used it for the first few days in Fiji but here in begins a cautionary tale...Yes they're cheap, they're cheap because they're made of plastic and plastic melts in the sun, which almost cost me an expensive camera on the second day of shooting in Fiji which would have been a catastrophe. Do they stabilise the camera? Yes...If you don't breathe when filming...Would I recommend you attach your expensive hard earned camera to one? No, no I wouldn't.

After almost losing my 7D to a six foot fall onto a hard stone floor I decided to give the cheap options a swerve and get a proper rig, that was in July of last year and I have only just got one I am happy with, I say happy, I mean delighted, I love it!

 

Finally sorted!

There is a huge range of 15mm rail based shoulder rigs for DSLRs out there nowadays, from the top end, ridiculously expensive but very good RedRock and Zacuto the cheaper but still not cheap Indisystem, Jag35 and Express35 who make decent, well made rigs for the serious amateur or prosumer and then you have the budget rigs from Habbycam and Opteka, a fair bit cheaper but then don't expect the same as you'd get with a Zacuto!

I've missed one name off that list, Lanparte, sourced via Cinegear Pro in London. I had flirted with Indisystem, Jag35 and Express35, even paying someone to fabricate one for me but Indisystem were out in front, flashing their affordability and seemingly pretty well made rigs at me and winking, I was that close to deciding on them until I stumbled across CinegearPro, a company I had not previously encountered and their Lanparte (ditto) rigs.

 

So I did a bit of research starting, as always, on Vimeo and Youtube for video reviews and found this dude reviewing his Lanparte rig. After a few months research and with the lovely surprise of HM Revenues and Tax giving me a tax rebate out of the blue (woohoo!!) and having been down to see Miguel at Cinegear Pro, I decided to take the plunge and kit myself out properly. I figured now was the right time, I needed a good set up so sod it, I'll take the hit now and go for it. The beauty of these types of set up is the flexibility so here are the components I went for, but before I do, I'm not telling you to buy these, I'm not saying it's the right answer and I did pay for them, this isn't in return for a freebie!

• 4x 12 inch Rods
• Shoulder Support
• Z Shape Offset Raiser
• Handles
• Baseplate
• C Shape Cage
• Follow Focus
• Articulated Monitor Arm
• Single Rod Clamp

I then also blatantly copied this brilliant idea to avoid paying over a hundred quid for a counter weight and voila! A Shoulder Rig but is it any good?

The answer can really only be a resounding yes! Firstly, it wasn't cheap so it was a serious investment for me and there are cheaper options on the market but the quality of every aspect of each component is absolutely top class, super solid, rugged, ergonomic and really, really well made, when you screw any of this stuff in it locks completely and feels 100% secure. It's all as light as possible as well yet reassuringly weighty in the components to which you would attach your camera and it just feels "right."

The handles are amazing, articulating any which way you want and locking tight with zero wobble, the articulated monitor arm is the only thing I have used which solidly supports my Lilliput monitor and the shoulder mount, whilst hardly covered in the softest of cashmere is more than comfortable enough. The follow focus is brilliant, again, really well made and the care to make it so it folds down and out of the way when not in use is the kind of added touch I really like. Be aware though, on some Canon lenses with infinite focus rings (like my workhorse 15-85mm lens) the follow focus isn't effective if the focus limits are exceeded making those perfect focus pulls just too fiddly but on lenses without infinite focus, it works like a dream and the results look just stunning.

The rig packs down into each individual component taking about five minutes to set up and when broken down fits perfectly into the big one of these which incidentally is one of my favourite acquisitions in ages, less than £25 for three solid, light flight cases which have served me brilliantly, the big one for the rig, the medium one for sound equipment and monitor and the small one I am searching for a use for (I have two small ones now). They keep everything together, weatherproof, safe and neat and are very affordable.

Why all the detail on the shoulder rig...Simple really, it took me so long to find the right one and for a big investment I was becoming frustrated that everything seemed good but just not good enough, or perfect but well out of my price range. In this Lanparte gear I've found the best of both worlds, the perfect set up at a price which although isn't cheap, is still value for money. For me, these components and rigs are better than all the RedRock ones I have seen (and cheaper) and at least as good if not better than what I have seen from Zacuto as well, plus, for a little more money, you get a far higher elevation of quality over the mid-range stuff and it's all built to last. Also, I must point out the level of customer service I got from Miguel and Derek at CinegearPro was outstanding. Both are film-makers themselves (check out Derek's excellent film "Homeless, A Mile In Their Shoes") so understood my needs and helped me in assembling exactly the best components for my rig. I would recommend them extremely highly so if you're in the market for a rig or rig parts, get in touch with them.

One of the primary things which adds production value, that is, stuff which makes your video look high budget even if it wasn't, is smooth camera movement. Watch any major motion picture or big budget drama, all of them will have gorgeous sweeping camera movements which set the scene, build tension, introduce a character or establish motivation. A good example is the first shot after the credits in the film "Panic Room."

I really, really like "dolly" or "slider" shots and if you're not aware what that means, it is the movement of the camera towards a point of interest or into a scene, it's an incredibly flexible, stylish and cool way to elevate a scene above the ordinary and unusually for a factual "docu-film" I included a few in "Of Shark and Man" with great effect which you will see when it's finally finished! To give you an idea, here is a nice example of ways to use a cheap slider to get great results.


Konova Slider Montage Film from Dave Dugdale on Vimeo.

There are loads of slider options on the market nowadays, ranging from super cheap mini sliders to the expensive longer ones. Kessler and Cinevate make some fantastic sliders and dollies at the higher end of the financial scale with Indisystem, CinegearPro, Glidetrack and Cobra Crane also making some great sliders for those on a lower budget.

The slider I use is the 80cm Konova Slider which I got for about £320 if I remember right, last year. It's a great budget slider which I would definitely recommend with one caveat...You need to buy either another fluid tripod head or a solid ball head camera mount with a quick release so you can articulate your camera angles easily so budget for that.

Another brilliant option for impressive, cinematic camera moves is the DSLR Devices Mini Jib, I have used one but I don't have one, however I want one. Badly. I want one like I want the new GoPro and that's a lot.

This is a great review which showcases what this ingenious piece of kit can achieve and for £220 it's an absolute bargain, in fact, that £220 will add probably at least £500 to the value of your video each time you use it if you use it creatively and that's pretty good business in anyone's book.

So that's part II and once again, apologies for the delay, I know there is no need for me to apologise since I have been so ridiculously busy but it's just good form isn't it. Next up in part III will be smaller accessories and lighting!

I'll try not to keep it too long until the next blog I promise! If you're going to DEMA, go see Andrew at the Beqa Adventure Divers  stand and tell them I sent you :)

A Big Blog For the Aspiring Film-Maker! Part I

 

Two years ago I didn't even have a camera, now, I'm a professional Film-Maker with a steadily growing mountain of kit I use on shoots both on land and underwater. I have taught myself the film-making process, technical terms (although they're still a little sketchy) and I have even started to teach myself both Photoshop and web design. All of this has to been to achieve my ultimate goal of setting up my own production company through which I release all my films, giving myself a far greater element of control than if I were having to go cap in hand to other companies and thus risk losing control on the creative process which, with the messages I want to get out there, could prove something of an ethical minefield for me.

I have had to learn all this stuff myself, of course I've picked up on bits of advice here and there from people more experienced than I, but predominantly, I have learnt through doing and also using the internet as a source of inspiration and knowledge. Probably the best sources of inspiration for me at least, are Philip Bloom's Vimeo channel and website and also the Oliviatech website and blog. I also recommend signing up to the No Film School mailing list for a weekly roundup of the best web content for independent Film-Makers, thanks to Paul de Kock for recommending that one to me!

I'll get this out of the way, I'm a proper nerd, a genuine film geek, so part of what makes an enjoyable evening for me is watching After Effects tutorials on videocopilot.net or camera reviews. Last night I watched a load of reviews for three point studio lighting rigs and I have even been known to waste a night watching video reviews of tripods! Like I said, I'm a nerd, so to avoid you wasting your lives in the same, equally pathetic way when you could be out drinking gassy lager and trying to get your greasy paws on members of the opposite (or same) sex, I thought I could at least start you off by pointing you in the direction of things which might just help all you aspiring Film-Makers!

Canon C300

The first thing to look at is which camera to use, you can of course rent camera equipment but these days, broadcast standard HD is so readily available at affordable prices, you really want to look at buying.

I am a big advocate of Canon's DSLR cameras and own (and adore) the Canon 7D. There are several Canon DSLRs which are more than capable of producing high end video, the 5D MkII and MkIII, the 550D (Rebel T2i in the States), the 6D, the 60D and the 1Dx, to name the most commonly used and unless you're a multi-squillionaire who can afford a Red, an Alexa or a Phantom, then DSLRs can be the answer to your prayers.

The DSLR is of course, still a "stills" camera with video capability and the bodies, i.e. without lenses, will set you back between £500 - £5000 dependent upon the model. I personally love the fact I can set up a shot and check it with a still, or show a 2nd camera op what shot I want by taking a photo so it works for me perfectly but some people will prefer a dedicated video camera. One down side of the DSLR cameras is that they cannot record video for more than twelve minutes, if they did, they would be classed as video cameras and the relevant tax would be added making them more expensive.

If you want a dedicated video camera then the last 18 months has seen a glut of new models ranging in price from the budget to the mega expensive so bearing in mind the "indie" element of what I do, I'll focus more on those within reach to people like us, maybe also those with a bit more disposable income. To help, I will include video reviews by Philip Bloom because, well, he's "the man."

The Canon C300 (reviewed here by PB) is a great camera, perfect for documentaries and seeing as it is 4K ready, comes with all the add-ons like monitor, handle etc for around the £10K mark, is priced competitively. The benefit it takes CF cards over other more expensive formats is huge, it's relatively small and the output picture looks exceptional. However, the one downside to the C300 is no super slo-mo at 1080p!! Please Canon, fix this with firmware updates if possible! There is also the less expensive C100 and the upcoming, more hi-spec, C500. When the time comes for an upgrade, the C300 will definitely be high on my "wish list."

The Black Magic Cinema Camera

A Canon Pro I may be but I can't ignore other brands on the market and one in particular is causing a massive stir, the Black Magic Cinema Camera (watch the review in full, well worth the time).

The good stuff: It shoots in 4K RAW, the output is phenomenally good, it has a high dynamic range, it's small and it costs £2000, yes, two grand!! That is pretty amazing by anyone's standards. The downsides are that the recordable media is ridiculously expensive, these are not CF cards, nope, they cost around £200 each and for that, you get about half an hour of 4K RAW shooting space, they're huge and will require a computer with serious muscle to even play, let alone process. You can record in ProRes HQ if you want more output to each card (about 3.5 hours) though but the cards are still expensive. Again, no slo-mo high frame rates and also, the BM has an internal battery so no battery changes when the power goes.

Sony NEX FS700

The Sony NEX FS700 is another 4K ready camera, has in-built ND filters, puts out a superb image and is similar in many ways to the cameras above but with one huge bonus on top, super slo-mo high frame rates! What I've seen from this camera has looked very, very good, especially slow motion and it fits in the range between the C300 and Black Magic, coming in around the £7500 mark

Panasonic GH2

The Panasonic GH2 is an option for those on a tighter budget and is a mirror-less DSLR. This side by side comparison with a Red Epic is very interesting, considering the Epic is a 5K, super expensive cinema camera it holds up quite well considering the cost. As a DSLR, it's small, portable, easy to travel with and highly affordable!

These are just a few examples of the newer range of cameras on the market and you will notice I haven't included what could be classed as the traditional camcorder types, i.e. the XF100 or the XL2 and the main reason for that is I haven't shot on those types of cameras before, however, the benefit these more traditional designs can offer, is that they come supplied with many of the extras a DSLR shooter would have to purchase separately so can be a more cost effective solution, however, this is then offset by the size and weight when travelling abroad.

If you were to say, "David, I want a full HD video camera to make my independent films, music videos or wedding videos, what would you suggest?" Honestly? I'd still say the Canon 7D. The new firmware update has addressed many of the issues that ever so slightly hampered the camera previously (in camera audio level control! Hooray!) and the output picture really is exceptional. Cinematic depth of field, clean crisp image, portable, affordable, flexibility and control, awesome, the rolling shutter can be a bit of a problem but that aside, it's absolutely spot on, plus, Canon build quality is stunning, rugged and looked after properly, their cameras will last you forever. There's a reason I was so keen to have Canon involved in "From the Office..."

One day David, one day...

After the camera, you need to consider what lenses you're going to need. In case you're not sure, lenses come in different sizes so you will see lenses described as 8-15mm, 70-200mm, 35mm etc and the simple explanation is that the smaller the number, the "wider" the lens, wide basically means you fit more of what is in front of you on the screen. The higher the number means the further away you can zoom in on something and see it in focus.

I have four lenses I use, my workhorse lens, the Canon 15-85mm which is always on my camera in the bag and which I use for probably 80% of what I shoot, a 10-22mm wide angle lens which I use underwater and is ideal for filming big animals but also inside small rooms or for landscapes, a 50mm prime lens (£60 from Incheon Airport and one of the best things I have ever bought) which is ideal for interviews and pieces to camera and use in low light, and a 70-300mm Macro Sigma lens. I actually used this latter lens quite a lot in A Ray of Light so I could film a lot of the action without anybody realising they were being filmed!

Lenses aren't cheap though so if you can only afford one to begin with, I would suggest the 15-85mm or the more expensive if you can afford it, 24-105mm.

You can record lovely crisp images that are in focus and everything, they may even be well composed and your subject is great on camera but certain things just make a video or film suck, over reliance on stills with tacky animation, bad fonts, spelling mistakes and worst of all bad sound!! We had some issues with sound on two interviews in Behind Blue Glass due to the wind and the lapel mics we had borrowed not working and although I was able to clean a lot of the sound up, it simply doesn't beat recording perfect sound on the shoot, a relatively simple process which a lot of amateur film-makers seem to completely miss out.

Having learnt from my own mistakes I made three essential purchases, a lapel mic, a Zoom H4N and a Zoom H1N to go with my Rode Directional Video Mic. There are other sound recorders on the market but the two Zoom recorders are exceptional value for money and provide outstanding results.

The way I record sound on a shoot is to input the lapel mic into the Zoom H1N, a cheaper option than a wireless radio pack recorder and without the risk of radio interference, with the Rode Video Mic on the camera and plugged into the mic jack input with another mic on a boom going into the H4N. This gives you three ways to record broadcast standard sound and if one or even two fail, you at least have one or two backups. After recording the interview or piece to camera,  then record between thirty seconds and three minutes of ambient sound on the H4N to lay under the "vocal" track, this adds depth and texture to the sound design and gives it that high quality, professional sheen.

Two things to bear in mind:

1. You can never have too much sound recorded

2. Wind is your mortal enemy, avoid it at all costs...

With the latter in mind, high on my shopping list is a Redhead Windscreen, definitely $35 well spent...

Now, I know I've done something similar to this before but with the launch of my production company, Scarlet View Media, (Twitter here) (Website almost ready) and with upcoming productions in the coming weeks, I figured it couldn't hurt to revisit the subject and see if I could maybe answer some of the questions you may have about starting out as a Film-Maker or just an enthusiastic amateur. My main focus will always be the "From the Office..." series and other shark based projects but in order to do those, I have to ensure I can live and eat so I'm approaching this from the perspective of films of all types so hopefully you find some useful information or inspiration here.

I will be featuring accessories, stabilising options, shoulder rigs, bags, editing suites and software. the lot and although this is all only my personal opinion, anything I say is based on my own experiences and I am not paid to say any of this! Part II coming soon...