Every so often a job lands in your inbox that makes you blink twice and check you’ve read it correctly.
“Fancy filming an advert for G-Shock socks?”

Socks. Not watches. Not indestructible time-keeping wrist tanks. Actual socks.

It all began as an April Fool’s gag from Casio, a daft idea that somehow escaped the cage and became real. People liked the joke so much that Casio UK decided to actually make the things, and Warren, who I’d worked with years ago on the Casio watch adverts, wanted to finish the story properly with a grand finale in the Scottish mountains.

Those old Casio ads are still the most watched projects I’ve ever made. The first arrangement advert is sitting at a happy 1.7 million views, which is still slightly surreal considering it was essentially a watch advert with delusions of Hollywood.

Warren had already shot a pile of comedy bits down in England and London, all very straight-faced, very British, very socks-as-serious-outdoor-kit. What he needed was the rugged ending. So he thought of me, combining my life as a mountain instructor and cameraman, and decided a trip north was in order.

He arrived in Scotland just as the weather decided to say hello to winter. A fresh dump of snow appeared out of nowhere, not in the forecast at all, which meant we suddenly had a plan involving steep white hills and absolutely no spiky metal things for our feet.

Cue a phone call to Ross Caddie, local mountain instructor and Arrochar Mountain Rescue legend, who very kindly lent us ice axes and crampons. Without him we might have had to pick a less spectacular, lower-level venue for the finishing shots, which would have been a bit less dramatic than The Cobbler in full winter mood.

We filmed a few hotel scenes the night before, then set off for The Cobbler the next day. The walk in takes a couple of hours and, to be fair, it was a good day. Fun, adventurous, proper snow and wind, but with the sun out just enough to keep spirits high and make everything look far friendlier on camera than it actually felt.

Up top it was around minus six with the wind rattling along at about thirty miles an hour or more. The windchill (-16 degrees or below ) felt like a complimentary Scottish facial, the sort you’d pay a fortune for in London, but here it arrives free of charge and without asking for your consent.

Drone flying up there felt like trying to draw straight lines on moving paper. The wind kept rewriting the plan, my fingers lost all manners, and the batteries aged about ten years in ten minutes. We did find a sheltered wee landing spot though, and once the drone was up, the shots were magic.

Warren, hero that he is, was wandering about in his miraculous G-Shock socks while also wearing a full suit and tie, just to make the whole thing even more gloriously ridiculous. He clambered over snowy rock like a man fully committed to a joke that had got slightly out of hand, while the drone swung round him and the mountains did their best impression of an action film backdrop.

Between takes we were doing the usual dance of people who can no longer feel their toes, but we got everything we needed. Beautiful sweeping aerials, bits to camera, proper deadpan comedy, and proof that even socks can have a moment of cinematic greatness.

So below is the finished video, now living proudly on YouTube. Directed, written and edited by Warren Halliwell
From April Fool to alpine adventure, it might be the strangest advert I’ve ever helped make, and I absolutely loved it.

Sometimes TV and film is glamorous.
Sometimes it’s standing on a frozen mountain filming a man modelling socks and wearing a suit.

Wouldn’t have it any other way.