On Location as a Lighting Camera Operator and Sound Recordist for the European Union

With very short notice, I was called upon to work for the EU as a lighting camera operator and sound recordist on The Third Global Conference on Assistance to the Victims of Anti-Personnel Mines and Other Explosive Ordnance in a Disability Rights Context.

This was second job of part of a very productive relationship working as the lead videographer with Landel Mills to provide a range of video content for the EU delegation in Cambodia.

I lit the interviews with 2 x Aputure Storm 300D mkii LEDs and ran a Sony a7iv and a7siii to give us 2 angles. I was also using 3 x Sennheiser radio mics with a combination of the Sony XLR-K3M Dual-Channel Digital XLR Audio Adapter Kit and a Zoom h4n Pro sound recorder to give me 3 channels when interviewing 2 people.

Below are some of the behind-the-scenes images, kindly provided by Nick Sells who was covering the event as a photographer. Nick Ray was also interviewing people. It was great to work with Nick again, who as ever, came fully-prepared with engaging questions.

The event was presided over by H.E. Ly Thuch, First Vice President of the Cambodia Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, H.E igor Driesmans, the EU Ambassador to Cambodia and H.R.H Prince Mired Raad Zeid Al Hussein of Jordan.

Funded by the EU and hosted by the Cambodia Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) the conference promoted the end of suffering and new casualties caused by anti-personnel mines.

The video was well received and the EU commissioned a shorter version to be distributed on their social media channels.

In Novermber 2024, Cambodia will host the world host the Convention's Fifth Review Conference in Siem Reap, Cambodia from 25 to 29 November 2024.

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

Portrait photography of Him Sophy at his Conservatory of Music in Phnom Penh

It’s not every day you get an email from a libretto asking you for your services as a documentary filmmaker, but this is one of the upsides of making documentaries in Cambodia.

Catherine Filloux, a playwright and librettist, had seen my work on Last of the Elephant Men and she got in touch to discuss the potential of collaborating on a documentary.

She’d written the words to Where Elephants Weep, a rock opera set in Cambodia and along with Him Sophy, who wrote the music, they were looking to reprise the opera after it was banned in Cambodia only a couple of performances its run in Phnom Penh.

It was great speaking to Catherine, an award-winning playwright, librettist and human rights activist who has written plays in conflict zones across the world and believes in the power of theatre as a tool for peace.

It was also a privilege to meet Him Sophy, an internationally acclaimed Cambodian classical musician and composer, at the music school he has established in Phnom Penh to train the next generation of Cambodian musicians. Sothy wrote Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia. The process of writing the music involved reviving traditional Khmer instruments depicted on the wall carvings at Angkor Wat.

Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts and uncertainty about the production the documentary never got off the ground, but it was fascinating researching Khmer theatrical and musical traditions. It’s definitely an area I would like to explore more in future documentaries.

You can see more examples of my photography work here and here.

On location in Phnom Penh as a lighting camera operator for ITN Productions and Everland

ITN contacted me to work as a lighting camera operator in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on a shoot they had for Everland. They also asked me to recommend a journalist to write and present the piece and conduct the interviews.

Everland help to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo and Cambodia counties the REDD+ initiative. Hopefully, giving Cambodia carbon credits to not cut down their trees will preserve the natural forests and their ecosystems, allow people living traditional lifestyles in the forests to continue do so.

The scheme will hopefully have a positive impact on the environment as a whole. Unfortunately, the reality of the situtation is that there’s too much money in the timber in the forest, so the only viable option is to provide a financial impetus to conserve the forests.

Everland partner with a local production company here, so they kindly provided me with a sound recordist for the day while we shot all the Phnom Penh footage and I worked as a lighting camera operator for the interviews and pieces to camera for the intros and outros.

The studio intro was shot at the ITN studios in London, where I had the privilege of working for a few months when I was based in the UK.

On a personal level, it was an interesting project as I’ve spent extended periods working with indigenous Bunong in Mondulkiri while working on Last of the Elephant Men and have since worked with the mahouts at Elephant Valley Projects for Wild Animal Protection and on a self-funded pilot for a travel show.

Lighting camera operator on corporate shoot with CEO of Forte Insurance

Ooshot contacted me to work as a lighting camera operator on a corporate video shoot with the CEO of Forte Insurance Cambodia as the main interview on some branded content for Scor, a global reinsurance company. I also filmed b-roll of the CEO in their offices in Vattanac Tower and interiors and exteriors of the office space.

The brief was clear and Ooshot provided me with a good samples of what they wanted.

It was a 2 camera, 4k set up with 3-point lighting using Aputure 300c MKii lights. One of the cameras was locked off on a Miller DS10 tripod and the other was on a Zhiyun Crane 3 gimbal to add movement and dynamism to the interview.

We worked as a 3 person team with me acting as the producer, director and lighting camera op. The other team members were a lighting/ camera asssitant and sound recordist.

For the sound recording the we used a shotgun mic on a boom stand and a radio mic as a belt and braces approach to make sure we captured optimal sound.

For the lighting, we used the hyper reflector and the 2x fresnel mount through scrims to maximize the brightness of the lamps to balance the light with the bright outdoor conditions.

You can see more of my work on corporate videos as a lighting camera op here and more of my work as a camera operator here.

Videographer on a case study for the World Health Organisation in Cambodia

I was asked by the World Health Organisation (WHO)'s Western Pacific office to work as a videographer in Cambodia on a regional series of videos they were making to highlight the work that they do throughout the region.

The assignment was to produce a 2-3-min video on a case study about a garment factory worker who had received primary healthcare to document WHO’s primary health care activities in Cambodia. The video is part of a broader campaign by the regional office that included stories from 21 countries.

Although it was a challenging subject matter the participant was understanding and patient. She gave a great interview to explain how she may have died if she hadn’t received the primary health care she did free of charge as part the work that the WHO does in Cambodia.

It was greatly appreciated for her to invite us into her house and let us film her at her work place, at the local healthcare clinic and in her community with her friends.

The regional office were a pleasure to work with. They were clear in their process and provided a good model for what they wanted. I look forward to hopefully collaborating with them on future projects.

You can see more examples of my work as an NGO videographer for case studies here and here.