Working as a Lighting Camera Operator on a Corporate Shoot for Advertainment Media

Jordan, the head of production for Advertainment Media, got in touch with me through my website about working as a lighting camera operator and recording sound for a series of corporate interviews they wanted to shoot for FFNews Show, which they produce.

It was great working with a production company with a clear vision of what they wanted to achieve. The process was straightforward: I was provided with a sample video and we discussed the technical requirements of the shoot and the equipment needed.

Taylor, the producer, did a great job of providing call sheets and securing the locations, which allowed my team to fully focus on our job.

We filmed the interviews at some of the leading financial institutions in Cambodia. The scheduling gave us time to arrive in advance to prepare the locations and set up lighting, cameras and sound before the talent arrived.

We went with a 3 camera set up (1x Sony a7siii and 2x Sony a7ivs), to give us a wide and a close up of both Douglas, the presenter. and the interviewee, 2 x Aputure LS 300D II lights and a radio mic each, with a backup in case there were any interviews with 2 people at the same time.

Below are a few behind the scenes photos Taylor kindly took:

Here are the 3 videos Advertainment Media edited from the shoot. They were happy with the final results. It’s always good to see the final product when someone else has done a good job with the edit.

You can see more examples of my work as a lighting camera operator here.

On Location - Taking Commercial Drone Interior and Exterior Photos for Endo Lighting

During pre-production on a corporate video for Endo Lighting to show their lighting installation at AEON 3, the client requested some drone photography to use on their website.

While Simon Toffanello was doing the photography for them, it made sense for me to take the drone photographs as I would be operating a drone for video I was shooting.

Endo Lighting requested a series of exterior and interior drone shots to show the building and their lighting installation.

The exterior drone photographs were taken with a Mavic 2 Pro. They were taken at dusk so the photo gives the impression of it being dark will retaining detail in the background and reducing the noise due to there still being a bit of ambient light.

Due to the height restriction on the Mavic 2 Pro, I hired a Mini 3 Pro, which is a lighter drone that is better designed to fly indoors.

Here are a small selection of the photos.

You can see the corporate corporate video I made for them here and check out other examples of my drone photography here. As predominantly a videographer, I mainly use the drone to shoot video and take photographs as an afterthought. It would be great to make more of an effort to explore the creative potential of drone photography.

On Location - Filming a Corporate Video for Endo Lighting

It was great to team up with Khreativa Cambodia to work on a corporate video for Endo Lighting to showcase their lighting installations at the newly opened AEON 3 Mall in Phnom Penh.

Endo Lighting commissioned Khreativa Cambodia to provide a series of photos and a video and I was fortunate to be given the lead on the video production.  

After a pre-production meeting and looking at the sample videos provided by the client, we decided on the techniques and equipment that we would use to capture the feeling of entering the mall and experiencing the different moods created by the coloured lighting throughout the day.

For the exteriors, I used my DJI Mavic 2 Pro due to its low-light capabilities, as some of the shots were taken at dusk, and stability in wind.

The client also wanted interior drone shots to show the Skywalk and to fly up the central atrium to show the different lighting atmospheres they created on different levels.

As the Mavic 2 has height restrictions when it can’t use enough GPS satellites, we had to hire a Mini 3 Pro to be able to capture the interior drone shots.

For the ground shots, I used a gimbal at eye level and a gimbal mounted on a boom to capture higher shots for a different perspective. A wireless transmitter was mounted to the set up so that we could monitor the feed and an assistant could remotely control tilts to add dynamism.

Endo Lighting were very happy with the video and even entered it into a corporate video competition!

Below is the finished video:

You can see other examples of my corporate videos here and here.

Veasna's Story - Working as an NGO videographer on a case study for VSO

This is the second case study I made on assignment as an NGO videographer for VSO.

The video tells the story of Veasna and the positive impact VSO’s RECOVER project has had on her livelihood.

As part of the project, Veasna received agricultural training and financial support to improve her growing facilities.

Held in the community with other vegetable growers the training shows Veasna best practices about what to grow, how to grow it and pest control.

Veasna has used the financial support she received to construct a net house for growing higher value crops.

VSO have also set up agricultural cooperatives. This gives the vegetable growers additional selling power as the cooperative can sell larger quantites direct to market.

They sign contracts to guarantee fair prices for their vegetables and a constant source of income.

A storage facility has also been built in the community so the vegetable growers can store their vegetables to cut down on wastage and to be able to control the sale of the vegetables they grow to the market.

It was great to see the positive relationship Veasna had with Ravuth, the trainer, and how she is looking to expand her growing activities in the future so she can support her young family.

Below is the final video:

And here’s the shorter version I made for social media:

You can see the other case study I made for VSO here and another video I made for WHO here. Please get in touch if you have any NGO video projects you’d like to chat about.     

On Assignment as an NGO videographer for VSO

I was contracted by the NGO VSO to work as a videographer to produce 2 case studies to highlight their RECOVER project.

The RECOVER project, funded by the EU, is a technical vocational education and training programme (TVET) designed to help people in rural communities recover after the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is important to provide viable livelihoods for the almost 75 percent of people in Cambodia living in rural communities, to alleviate poverty and to prevent people having to migrate for work.

This video tells the story of Thavy. Thavy worked in South Korea, but when COVID-19 hit, she wanted to return home to be with her family.

Thavy enrolled in an agroprocessing course run by VSO where she learnt to make banana chips, which she now sells in her shop to supplement her income. 

The chips are a healthy snack enjoyed be people in her village. The TVET training has taught Thavy valuable entrepreneurial skills. She’s looking at adding new flavours and expanding her product line and it allows her to live at home and look after her elderly mum. 

Here’s the final video:

As part of the project, I also made a shorter version of the video for social media, which hopefully expands the reach of the campaign.

You can see more examples of my NGO videos here. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss any NGO video projects.