4 WEST MEDIA, LE JOG 2006

HERO - The Historic Endurance Rally Organisation, organise what is arguably one of the hardest classic car rallys in the world from Lands End to John O'Groats. I was 2nd Camera for the Rally for Motors TV using Sony Z1. Produced by 4West Media's Mark James, the BBC’s World Rally Championship reporter for eight years. Employed as a freelance camera op rather than a cyfle placement I really enjoyed this event, not only for the filming but because of all the wonderful classic cars that prove they can still endure the demands of the rally and for the sheer endurance of the crews.


Le Jog, described by one German magazine as “the hardest rally in the world”, is like no other motorsport event in the UK. The combination of nearly 1,500 miles of driving, the unpredictable December weather and a demanding series of tests and regularity sections means the crews can’t afford to relax over the event’s three days and two nights, yet Le Jog has never been filmed in its entirety – until now.
The 2006 Le Jog – the 12th running of the event – is now available as a DVD, which tells the stories behind those 1,500 exhausting miles. How, one by one, all but a handful of crews lost their grip on a coveted Le Jog gold medal, why one crew chose to drive over 400 miles to rejoin the rally after retiring and the many struggles to remain in the event when mechanical problems threatened to force a premature end.

To see a video clip go to:
http://www.4westmedia.co.uk/lejog_vid.html

SPORTS MEDIA SERVICES

Filming for Rygbi'r Byd a weekly programme on World Rugby. Since being at SMS I have had the opportunity to film training sessions with the Welsh Rugby team using DV CAM DSR 570 20-1 Canon J20A Lens and a Fuji 14-1 A14. It has been a good to learn sport camerawork to develop camera skills - by trying to focus continually on moving subjects and follow a fast moving ball, anticipating where it will go next (Filming the Welsh Team wasn't bad either!).

I have also been using Final Cut Pro to digitize and help cut items as well as filming some wildlife footage and cutting my own work.

While Cameraman Dai Williams was on holiday I got to fill in on his job for the week - filming the Welsh Training sessions at the Millenium Stadium, The Vale Hotel and at Sophia Gardens and also shot the press conferences and interviews with the players. I then had to work with the producer to edit a 3minute item using (Final Cut Pro) for the Rygbi'r Byd programme for S4C.

MERLIN MARKETING & PR

I mainly spent my time at merlin making corporate videos editing (on Final Cut Pro) around 30 short items for the Excellence Wales project for the county councils. While on camera using a DV CAM DSR 450 I filmed conference with live feed to the on stage screen. I also spent some time assisting cameraman Trevor Burgess on a project for the Carbon Trust which was great as I had some experience effectively lighting for interviews and creating interesting effects projecting images and light onto the back walls with projector, light and filters.

ENFYS TELEVISION

I spent a week with Enfys working on the world championship of 'Party Poker'. This was a multi camera studio shoot in a closed set, 4 Sony BDP 570 cameras on Ped and one on a Jib as well as the other remote cameras, under the table Z1's and wide from above views. I got to have a go using the remote camera from the VT room, used the peds and the jib. Studio based work required a fairly large team of engineers (such as the vision mixers) working long hours but the shots were fairly simple and formatted.