FEBRUARY 2021 - BBC Country file, directing filming and aerial filming in the Cairngorms

So in the past I have sold aerial footage to Country file but as yet I hadn’t filmed for them. So was great to get a call to film two segments for them. We got the first one done but the Reindeer still await the snow to return as we just missed the best snow.

So this days filming was with Alice Goodridge who runs a wild swimming company and runs the Scottish winter swimming championships and other things. She also swims everyday of the year. And this day it was -4 and blowing 20mph and the Loch was frozen over.

Usually for TV things there is often a director and sometimes a sound person, and maybe others but with this pandemic the country file team can’t get out of Bristol so are trying to use local folk, where they can, and also small teams. Which they would do camera wise anyway but usually have a director sent. So I did all the parts and had a fun day with Alice and Alistair her husband on Loch Insh. Alice swimming and getting straight in as spin drift blows over her just in a swim suit is pretty impressive. I was even persuaded to get in after a 7hr shoot day with already numb fingers and toes lol. It was very refreshing and I did indeed (as Alice says) feel much more alive after. (Although maybe not so much while in the water, more trying to stay live I think.

Fun when you can film with normal cameras, underwater and from the air. The producer Helen when she got the footage from me and was in the edit suite sent me a text. It started “you are a wonderful man. There are so many wonderful shots”. So good to hear when shooting for a new TV program and even though I have been making films for a while I still get weirdly nervous until things are in the edit suite:)

A few pics below.

MAY 2019: CASIO F30: The making of film

Here is a little look back at the second Casio watch advert I have made over the past 12 months. This goes into the details of what goes on behind the scenes and how Scottish weather can make things change quite a lot!

Just noticed this was a while back and I definitely look that 3 and 1/2 stone heavier than I am now, kept me solid on the windy days though hahaha;)

Had a great team with Warren the script writer and presenter and initial ideas man from Casio. Then we added into the mix this time: Joe Kirk (kayaker and biker), Jess Creber (biker), Iain Rudkin (photographer) and Will Copestake (photographer).

Have a look below and the actual advert is below that again:)

Here is a wee film I popped together to show the making of our Casio online advert. We had many challenges with the weather but remarkably managed to work around them to create another great film in the end which now has 106K views on youtube:) Have a watch here (pardon the pun): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHw40kEXX4Y This 5 day shoot brought us around Scotland and plans changed and adapted every day to get the best out of Scotland for the Casio watch. Warren was doing his chatting to camera/presenting and narration and I brought in Joe Kirk and Jess Creber to get some more folk on the outdoor scene. Iain Rudkin and Will Copestake did an awesome job on the photography too:)

Join us as we take on the Scottish wilderness with the new WSD-F30! With a newly improved battery life of up to 3 days as well as an LCD mode with Compass, Altimeter & Barometer the F30 lets you explore and navigate longer for over a month on a single charge.