David Beckham Video – FIFA21

DB FIFA scaled
Editing

I was very pleased with how I edited this exciting FIFA21 video for David Beckham‘s Studio99 & Formidable Media.

Filmed at the Inter Miami CF Stadium is a soccer stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The 19,000-seat stadium has a huge screen on which David Beckham watched the videos of his famous goals recreated in the video game FIFA 21 by pro gamers. It has had a great response and reaction from the target audience that have viewed it.

I edited different versions of the video to be shared by David Beckham, FIFA and the gaming esports organisation Guild. for Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

The video shared by David Beckham’s Facebook page received over 94,000 likes and over 1,000 positive comments and on his Instagram was shared to over 65Million followers with over 275,000 likes.

I have always enjoyed making videos that involve gaming content edited with real-life reactions and I think this particular video demonstrates an epic way to make such compelling content. The modern, exciting music really helps with establishing the tone and excitement and holds the viewers’ attention throughout. The colours of the setting sun make for a beautiful backdrop.

If you are interested in my other videography and editing work check out my main website page.

Pets & Friends

Pets and friends scaled
Editing

It was a great experience to edit videos for such a fun campaign for the launch of Pets & Friends with Formidable media. They are a new online shop for pet products in the UK.

This fun video features many different animals filmed against a green screen that required compositing in Adobe After Effects to add the various colourful backgrounds. Various text graphics and the animated bouncing ball we’re needed to be made in Adobe After Effects as well as multiple different videos were made for different purposes. For example, short 15sec vertical videos for Instagram stories, as well as square videos for Facebook. This main full-length video gives a sense of the campaign as a whole.

Perhaps if you are thinking of video content to help launch your campaign, think about different lengths of videos and aspect ratios for different platforms and the messages you want to convey. I am always available for any free advice on the matter. Having a variety of different types of content for various social media platforms will help maximise your company’s visibility and potential customer engagement.

Please check out more examples of my work on my main page here.

David Beckham Video – Chelsea Pensioners

DB Chelsea scaled
Editing

It was a pleasure to edit this video for David Beckham & Formidable Media.

The video posted in David Beckham’s Instagram account with over 65 Million Followers was for remembrance Sunday in the UK and to raise awareness for the Poppy Appeal.

Filmed with the Chelsea Pensioners at The Royal Hospital Chelsea, David Beckham said it “was such an honour for me. I loved listening to their stories and finding out about how they stay positive and active. And it was fun to get involved in a few games with them too!”

The video received a great response online from followers. For those that don’t know The Poppy Appeal check out The British Legion Website.

Remembrance Sunday is held in the United Kingdom as a day to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. It is held at 11am on the second Sunday in November (the Sunday nearest to 11 November, Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War in 1918).

Poppies are worn as a show of support for the Armed Forces community. The poppy is a well-known and well-established symbol, one that carries a wealth of history and meaning with it. Wearing a poppy is still a very personal choice, reflecting individual experiences and personal memories. It is never compulsory but is greatly appreciated by those who it is intended to support.

During WW1, much of the fighting took place in Western Europe. The countryside was blasted, bombed and fought over repeatedly. Previously beautiful landscapes turned to mud; bleak and barren scenes where little or nothing could grow. There was a notable and striking exception to the bleakness – the bright red Flanders poppies. These resilient flowers flourished in the middle of so much chaos and destruction, growing in the thousands upon thousands.

Today, over five million Scottish poppies (which have four petals and no leaf unlike poppies in the rest of the UK) are still made by hand by disabled ex-Servicemen at Lady Haig’s Poppy Factory each year and distributed by their sister charity Poppyscotland.

Remembrance in the UK today is very different than it was 100 years ago. People take part whatever their political or religious beliefs. The poppy remains a humble, poignant symbol of Remembrance and hope. You can learn more here.

360-Degree Video @ London Zoo

zoo  scaled
Post Production

I’m sharing a 360-degree video I did the post-production on to celebrate the recent launch of the all-new documentary series London Zoo: An Extraordinary Year.

Filmed inside the ZSL London Zoo animal enclosures, the viewer can use their mouse to look around in every direction. You can also use a VR Headset with your smartphone or similar for a fully immersive experience. If you are looking at the video on your mobile phone, click on the video title and then allow the video to open in the Youtube app.

It is nice to work on something interesting such as a 360-degree video, and I hope with this experience to offer more to people. I certainly have a very good understanding of how to position graphics within a 3D environment for these immersive videos. Perhaps a 360 video for your business would be a great way to connect with potential customers? If so get in touch via the contact page.

Also as a video editor and producer, it is always nice to work on something you are interested in. Zoology has always fascinated me since my father has spent most of his life exploring the world seeing many different animals and birds. It reminds me of the father-son trip we took together to Svalbard in the Arctic circle where we made a documentary. The film includes close encounters with Polar bears, Walrus, Beluga Whales as well as some beautiful scenery. If you would like to watch that documentary it is only 1 hour long, you can view it here:

As always, thank you for reading and following this blog. If you want to subscribe that would be greatly appreciated by me.

Dublin Murders – Trailer

Dublin Murders scaled
Editing

Check out this trailer I edited for ‘Dublin Murders’, a great detective series. Check it out on iPlayer if you haven’t seen it yet:

Dublin Murders is a television series based on the Dublin Murder Squad book series by Tana French, commissioned by British public service broadcaster BBC for BBC One, and Starz, with Irish public service broadcaster RTÉ later joining the project.

The series consists of eight episodes, and adapts the first two books in French’s series, In the Woods and The Likeness. Dublin Murders debuted on BBC One on 14 October 2019.

Killian Scott and Sarah Greene are detectives Rob Reilly and Cassie Maddox, a psychological crime thriller. Check it out.

BFI London Film Festival 2019

BFI   scaled
Production

It was a real pleasure to make videos for the BFI London Film Festival 2019. I had a surreal Sunday when I filmed interviews with Robert De Niro, Al Pacino & Harvey Keitel for the closing night Gala for Martin Scorsese’s new film “The Irishman”.

Working for the excellent Formidable media. Please watch the videos below of which I am really proud of:

The Irishman

The Plot:

Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran is a man with a lot on his mind. The former labor union high official and hitman, learned to kill serving in Italy during the Second World War. He now looks back on his life and the hits that defined his mob career, maintaining connections with the Bufalino crime family. In particular, the part he claims to have played in the disappearance of his life-long friend, Jimmy Hoffa, the former president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, who mysteriously vanished in late July 1975 at the age of 62.

Knives Out

Here is another example of my work on the Red Carpet during the film festival. Another interesting film you might not have heard baout yet. Check out the video I made:

The Plot:

When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan’s dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan’s untimely death.

The Personal History of David Copperfield

This was the opening night Gala video for the BFI London Film Festival 2019. A great way to open the festival and an interesting film with some great British talent. Check out the video I made here:

The Personal History of David Copperfield is a 2019 British-American comedy-drama film written and directed by Armando Iannucci, based on the Victorian era novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. It stars Dev Patel as the title character, alongside Peter Capaldi, Hugh Laurie, Tilda Swinton, and Ben Whishaw.

My latest Showreel for 2019

Showreel  blogpost scaled
Videography

I’m pleased to share my latest Showreel of work. I hope it shows the diversity of videos I have had the pleasure of making.

Advice for Editing a Showreel

Editing your own Showreel is no easy task as many freelancers will tell you. First of all finding the actual time to work on it when you’re really busy and then when you finally sit down to edit, you have to scrutinise your own work.

My advice to anyone wanting to make their own showreel is to just get out a pen and paper and scribble lots of notes first. Begin by writing down just from memory which jobs you’re most proud of and even jot down specific shots that come to mind. Once you have done that, you can then trawl through your hard drives to see what other work you might have forgotten and add that to the list.

If you’ve done a showreel before in the past but it needs updating, your old reel is a good starting off point. I would suggest itemising everything that is in your current reel no matter how old it is; perhaps even put this list into a spreadsheet if you are keen on Excel? Then go through it systematically and mark up what you want to keep and what you want to lose. I find having these notes makes it a lot easier to come back at a later date as you will be stopping and starting work on this a lot.

In terms of the editing process, I would get as much footage on a timeline as possible and watch through everything, just looking for common themes within the footage. In Adobe Premiere I used markers on the timeline to help show the length of each section when editing. If you want to learn exactly how to do that there is a useful article here.

Once you have a basic assembly of the edit, start looking for some music before you begin heavily cutting bits out. I would personally avoid music with vocals but there are no rules, if it works for you and your style, go for it.

After you have your first edit I would ask friends and colleagues to view your work and ask for some constructive criticism. Even ask for some outside opinions from strangers on online forums if you think you can handle it. Try not to be too precious over things which is hard to say about your own work; just really listen to what other people are saying and make amendments accordingly. If something just really isn’t working don’t be afriad to let it go.

I also don’t think there is an ideal length. Perhaps at 2mins 30sec mine is slightly on the longer side but there really aren’t any hard fast rules. A drama director or actor will need a longer reel than perhaps an animator or colourist, just go with what feels right for your type of work.

Finally, a Showreel is never finished. It is an evolving phenomenon, so there is nothing stopping you from making additions and cutting things out again at anytime.

Providing you make the time 🙂

What could 5G Technology mean for Video?

g
Tech

In a fеw уеаrѕ, уоu mау be аblе to dоwnlоаd a full-lеngth HD mоviе to your phone in a matter of seconds rather thаn minutеѕ. And video сhаtѕ will bе ѕо immеrѕivе that it will fееl like уоu саn reach оut аnd touch the оthеr реrѕоn right thrоugh the screen. At least, thаt’ѕ whаt the wireless соmраniеѕ envision for the futurе оf mobile. Whilе mаnу раrtѕ оf thе wоrld are still аwаiting thе rоllоut оf 4G nеtwоrkѕ, thе tеlесоm induѕtrу is аlrеаdу looking ahead tо thе next gеnеrаtiоn оf сеllulаr tесhnоlоgу, called 5G.

What iѕ 5G?

5G iѕ thе nаmе being given tо thе next gеnеrаtiоn оf wirеlеѕѕ networks (thiѕ iѕ thе fifth generation, hеnсе 5G), but bеуоnd thаt, it’ѕ hard tо dеfinе.

5G рrоmiѕеѕ muсh fаѕtеr dаtа download and uрlоаd ѕрееdѕ, wider coverage аnd more ѕtаblе соnnесtiоnѕ. It’ѕ all аbоut making better uѕе оf the rаdiо ѕресtrum аnd enabling fаr mоrе dеviсеѕ tо access thе mobile internet at the same timе.

Hоw dоеѕ 5G work?

5G will be аblе to dеlivеr аll these promises by uѕing:

New rаdiо frеԛuеnсiеѕ:

Uѕing whаt iѕ саllеd super high frеԛuеnсу аllоwѕ fоr grеаtеr bаndwidth, lоwеr lаtеnсу, аnd mоrе dеviсеѕ tо bе соnnесtеd to nеtwоrks. Fоr example, 4G uѕеѕ frеԛuеnсiеѕ below 6 GHz, while 5G will bе using frequencies in thе 30 GHz tо 300 GHz range.

Much ѕmаllеr сеllѕ:

5G technology will require more, dеnѕеlу installed rаdiо cells. However, thеу will bе even ѕmаllеr in size thаn now, еаѕilу fitting оn a side оf a building.

Bеаm fоrming:

Bеаm forming tесhnоlоgу сrеаtеѕ communication dirесtlу between сеll and dеviсе, allowing the connection tо hарреn faster and with mоrе precision. In соmраriѕоn, without bеаm forming, a signal flоwѕ in аll directions, еvеntuаllу rеасhing thе dеѕtinаtiоn, but wasting a lоt of energy in the process.

Multi-uѕеr MIMO and Cаrriеr Aggregation:

Multiрlе Inрut Multiple Outрut (MIMO) increases thе оvеrаll bitrаtе bу trаnѕmitting two оr mоrе data ѕtrеаmѕ on multiрlе аntеnnаѕ. Cаrriеr аggrеgаtiоn оn the other hаnd allows уоu tо dоwnlоаd dаtа from multiрlе ѕоurсеѕ аt thе ѕаmе timе. Your dеviсе will combine multiрlе signals (including thоѕе оn diffеrеnt frequencies) to givе уоu the bеѕt experience. Thiѕ similar to a term known as nеtwоrk bоnding (but аll in your phone!).

Whаt could 5G Tесhnоlоgу mеаn for Vidео?

5G hаѕ bееn tоutеd аѕ thе harbinger оf nеw mobile applications, such as Intеrnеt-оf-Thingѕ (IоT), аutоnоmоuѕ vеhiсlеѕ, and machine-to-machine (M2M) соmmuniсаtiоn. But whаt does it mеаn fоr vidео, аnd specifically, for brоаdсаѕtеrѕ аnd mеdiа owners

5G iѕ рrоjесtеd to bring thrее mаin benefits:

1. Sрееd:

Dаtа trаnѕfеr speeds are expected to bе about 10 timеѕ higher with 5G than is роѕѕiblе with 4G. That means significantly fаѕtеr trаnѕmiѕѕiоn of images аnd vidеоѕ. With 4G/LTE, dоwnlоаding a high-dеfinitiоn movie might tаkе аbоut 10 minutes. With 5G, it ѕhоuld take lеѕѕ than a ѕесоnd!

2. Shorter delays:

Though it’ѕ not аlwауѕ nоtiсеаblе, thеrе iѕ оftеn a briеf lаg in time frоm whеn data is ѕеnt to whеn it’ѕ rесеivеd. 5G ѕhоuld rеduсе thiѕ so-called lаtеnсу, mаking it possible, for example, to wаtсh high-ѕрееd virtuаl rеаlitу vidео with nо delays оr glitсhеѕ.

3. Increased connectivity:

Cеll towers equipped with 5G technology would hаvе grеаtlу inсrеаѕеd сарасitу оvеr 4G/LTE. Thаt mеаnѕ mоrе people — аnd more dеviсеѕ — ѕhоuld bе аblе to соmmuniсаtе at the ѕаmе timе with better performance.

So when can we get 5G?

Well, although the firѕt сitiеѕ in countries mау be soon getting thеir firѕt taste оf 5G mobile internet, it’ѕ wоrth noting that it tаkеѕ time tо build оut an entire nеtwоrk. Exресt tо wаit a few more уеаrѕ if уоu’rе nоt in a mаjоr сitу before you’re likеlу to have access.

Whilе some соuntriеѕ, like thе UK, ѕау thеir 5G networks might bе rеаdу by lаtе 2019, it’s most likely that 2020 will be thе big year fоr 5G ассеѕѕ. Thаt’ѕ when mаnу соuntriеѕ, inсluding Jараn аnd China, whiсh iѕ роuring rеѕоurсеѕ intо building thоuѕаndѕ оf 5G ѕtаtiоnѕ, say thеir соmmеrсiаl 5G networks will bе ready.

Unfоrtunаtеlу, уоur current рhоnе wоn’t bе аblе tо hаndlе 5G; уоu’ll nееd to buy a nеw phone thаt can соnnесt tо 5G antennas. The company OnePlus juѕt announced a 5G соmраtiblе phone, аnd with 18 dеviсе mаkеrѕ соmmitting tо thе 5G phone mаrkеt, many mоrе dеviсеѕ are on the way. Since you will need to buy a new device, perhaps those disappearing long queues that were once outside Apple stores will be making a come back with full force once 5G is rolled out.

Either way for Filmmakers and audiences 5G is an exciting new technological development that will making sharing high quality video even easier and faster than we could have ever possibly imagined.

Did you find this interesting? Then please subscribe below.

Thank you