New Film in the Highlands
12.12.2023
Fishing the River Spey
Wildlife and commercial films
I generally don't promote this side of my work here, but I have been making films both commercially and occasionally for TV for many years.
This film was made as a promotion for The Grant Arms Wildlife hotel in the summer of 2023. Filmed and edited by me, with invaluable help from Richard Elliott Aerial Filming and Mick Jenner with the Kingfisher and Otter clips from his library. I could never forget the pianist Shoshana Michel whose exquisite piece 'Ethereal' gives the perfect finish to the film.
Full length, 3 minute, version of the film for the Grant Arms Wildlife hotel
The Highlands are a sum of their parts and the mountains, the rivers and the wildlife are key drivers of the tourism that powers the economy.
Filming in the Cairngorms was prohibitively fraught with permit issues, so we settled for the River Spey, with kind permission of the Spey Fisheries board. The unique perspective the drone gave to the fishing shots was a huge contributor to the feeling of the film. Stuart was endlessly patient as we filmed from different anagles and then I repeated the visit with sound-recording equipment to get accurate sound that is so important to give atmosphere.
TV presenter Nick and his delightful wife Ceri were so relaxed and a pleasure to work with, even when I made Nick re-peddle the mountain bike scene endlessly!
We were helped enormously by the Strathspey steam railway and also the efforts of so many people in the hotel, all of whome went the extra mile to make the film a real success.
Technical
On the techical side, the film was shot on my OM System OM-1 cameras at 2160p50 in 10 bit log. Some may question the use of a small mirrorless camera, but quality is excellent and with the use of quality variable ND filters, I was able to control the dept of field and look to perfection. Thier size and versatility, both in hand and on a Movi made life so much easier than using a full-sized movie camera.
Sound was recorded on a Sound Devices MixPre with a range of mics and a few clips were added from my Olympus LS-100 hand-held recorder.
Aerial view of Grantown on Spey
The drone footage by Richard Elliott was from a mix of DJI drones. Primarily the Mavic 3 Cine with clips from 'built-up areas' taken on the Mini 3 Pro. Both graded well, but colour was better from the Cine drone.
The film was edited in Final Cut Pro and Shoshana's music cut slightly and levels mastered in Logic Pro to suit the needs of the film. I also edited all the 'atmos' in Logic to ge the authentic sounds of the casting and water.
Fred Hart the exec chef prepared food to perfection in the hotel kitchens
Common Sandpiper at Lochindorb. As the hotel is a mecca for birders, the wildlife content was important
If film-making interests you...
I love to make short films and sharing that knowledge is always a pleasure, so drop me a line. I have previously run film-making workshops for Canon UK, the BBC and others.
