Welcome to the shortfilm company blog, this page is aimed to share with you some of the events I'm currently covering, If you have any comments or thoughts please email them using the link below. It's always nice to know who's reading!
Email me! Mark@shortfilmcompany.com
August 2008
No Business like Show Business!
July 2008
July has been a busy month for me, the wedding season in full flow and evenings working back stage on Big Brother 9 at Elstree have kept me busy. Working as a camera operator is always exciting experience but this is my first experience on reality TV, just like a wedding you don’t know what’s going to happen next and often have to follow your intuition following stories as they happen.
.jpg)
June 2008
Filming a wedding on the beech in Whitstable is a great way to begin the Summer, the guests gathered on the beech to let butterflies into the sea air following a traditional service in Canterbury. The Marine Hotel played host to a perfect reception where the partying went on into the evening- all captured on film!
Other work this month took me to East Sussex where I helped Eastbourne Technical College make a video about changing school and in St Leonard’s–on-Sea we made a pop video as part of a family learning programme, great fun!
In London I am currently part of the camera team filming this years Big Brother, a fascinating experience.
May 2008
Grand Designs Live!
Before the wedding season takes hold we were lucky enough to be involved with Grand Designs Live at London’s Excel centre. The show was transmitted by Channel Four weekday evenings form 9-10pm, it was a great opportunity to work on live TV before I start work as a camera man on this years Big brother at Elstree.
April 2008
Lights, Camera, Action!
Throughout the year we attend many performances from large concerts to smaller school productions. This month our attention was focused on the fantastic performance by students at St Lawrence College in Ramsgate who performed ‘Hoodwinked the Music’. From the sales of the DVD the show has obviously been a triumph, well done!
During the same month we ran a two day Video & Drama Workshop at Robertsbridge Community College in East Sussex where families came together to help make an exciting pop video. Tim Steadman ran a fun and interactive drama workshop while Sarah Flack took charge in the Art Room with props and costumes. The finished video will be screened at the College next month as part of a Gala Evening; we can’t wait to show you the finished piece!
March 2008
Shortfilm Shakespeare Goes Globetrotting!
As you may know the shortfilm company offer a range of comprehensive Video & Drama workshops for children, adults and Family Learning Groups. With shortfilm Shakespeare becoming increasingly popular we decided to visit the Globe Theatre to watch Much Ado About Nothing Backed by artists such as Derek Jacobi, Jospeh Fiennes and Jemma Redgrave. The performance was fantastic and has given me lots of ideas for forthcoming projects next term.
Weddings, Mini Clubmans, & all that Jazz!
So does charity really begin at home or can it take place on a brightly lit stage in central London? For me I was involed in the Kids Out charity Auction for the secound year running and volunteered to be auctioned off as a taxi driver for the night. My chance to be in front of the lens on stage for a change, taking great delight in driving my clients home in a brand new mini clubman provided by Bmw Mini
.jpg)
Shortfilm and Sport Relief
When florist LK Liley asked me to lend a hand, I jumped to the challenge and spent an exciting day setting the scene for Sport Relief filmed at the Renaissance Hotel & Resorts in London for Sky. Stars attending the dinner included Barbara Windsor, Ronan Keeting, Gareth Gates, Jade Goodie and Shayne Ward. The show will be on TV later this produced by Brian Capron’s production company, alias Richard Hillman from Corrie (don’t worry I didn’t get in the car with him!)
February 2008
Most people see the winter months as ‘quiet time’ and think no one gets married in the winter, assuming I spent the time tidying the office, planning my holiday or scrubbing the Sasco planner in preparation for the summer. How wrong they are, February has been an exciting busy month for the shortfilm company.
My first engagement was the wedding of Shands Prevost and Vladlena Orlova, Kensington, London. A small family wedding in St Mary Abbots Church followed by a private afternoon reception at home. This was a simple yet elegant wedding on one of the sunniest days this year.
My work is often exciting and varied, I’m lucky to work in some fantastic locations, Cain Manor, Pembroke Lodge, and Eastwell Manor are amongst my favourites but its always nice to travel to somewhere new. I’m also luck to meet exciting and interesting people, earlier in the month I interviewed rugby player James Haskell and learned the importance of Sports psychology. The material was used in a presentation by a by a leading physiologist.
.
More recently I filmed conference at the Devere Grand Hotel in Brighton for the former Emap Group, (now Bauer) in connection with their popular publication Fleet News. My brief was to create a short video capturing the ambiance of this busy event to be streamed on the net and as a marketing tool for the company.
A Quick look back at 2007
After a busy but enjoyable year I wanted to spend some time looking back at 2007. In total we filmed over 30 weddings and I was privileged to film in St Paul’s Cathedral London for the 1st time. During the summer I worked with children in East Sussex to produce a comedy that we screened in a local cinema, it was a hit and a very valued experience. More recently I worked with Wahl UK, learning lots about hair clippers – while filming in their factory in Whitstable. Did you know you could even get hair clippers for horses?!…
My Little Red Mini
For anyone that’s listened to my interview on the show reel, I came across a picture of my little red mini taken last year. Although the car is now semi retired we did use it when we were building the message room and the picture shows the back seat filled with rolls of foam. Anyone that’s owned a mini will know why I cant let go of this car, but equally why I don’t use it for getting to weddings on time too!
Sky's The Limit!
