I love my work, and friends working in 'normal' jobs are often jealous to hear about the different (sometimes famous!) people I meet and the locations I work in. I get to see some sights that they could never dream of and some they would never want to dream of!
These are dozens of different or unusual places I have worked in or rigged cameras in: Minefields on the Lebanon / Israel border,
The Atlas Mountains in Morocco,
In the deserts of Bahrain,
Iceberg infested waters in the North atlantic,
Oilrigs in Terra Nova Oil Exploration Field, Canada
On lifeboats in the Irish Sea,
Helicopters for aerial shots - all over Europe,
Pitchside at major football matches, UEFA etc.
Inside giant vats at breweries,
Backstage at rock concerts,
In the middle of a dam,
Inside railway tunnels,
Sewage pumping works 200ft underground,
Haunted houses,
In the kitchen of a cruise liner out on the Atlantic Ocean,
On fire engines and ambulances,
On board a huge cargo ship out on the North Sea,
On a viking longboat out on the Irish Sea,
On a rollercoaster at a seaside resort,
Roman battle reconstructions on Snowdonia,
'Airside' on board planes at major airports, etc,etc...
For now, the stories behind the following locations follow: At sea on cargo and cruise ships 500ft down a coal mine
A luxery yacht on the Irish Sea surrounded by dolphins
Tracking round mobile phone cells on office block roofs
-30 degrees in a huge freezer
During May 1998, I worked on two training films for ships crews. I spent a total of three weeks at sea, on two cargo ships and a cruise ship. We visited Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Vlissenden and Malaga. The ships were huge, and one of the cargo ships was a third of a mile long! They were capable of carrying 7,500 cars and 500 containers. The cruise was very enjoyable (and beer was just 16p a pint in the crew's bars!) and lasted 5 days - we left the ship at Spain and flew back to London.
In the Summer of 1997, I worked on a TV commercial for the only coal mine museum in Europe where visitors have the opportunity to experience a miners life first hand by going underground in the decommissioned mine. 500 feet under the surface, you feel kind of detached from 'normal' life above you and it was very easy to get lost in the miles of tunnels that there were.
My major challenge was to work out how to get smoke FX in the mine, as a conventional smoke machine would have cooled down (there was no power in the mine) by the time we got it to the filming location. Naked flames were obviously banned downed the mine, as were aerosol cans of smoke due to the chemicals they contained. After a days prep, I came up with the idea of lighting smoke pellets on the surface and filling large polythene bags with the smoke they produced. Technicians at the mine said that this was safe enough, and sure enough, the effect worked well!
In 1996, I spent a very enjoyable week filming in the Isle Of Man. The weather was amazing, high 80's and we travelled all over the island. During the shoot, I spent an unforgettable day sailing out on the Irish Sea on a luxery yacht (our support vessel) surrounded by dolphins.
In March 1998 I spent a week on location in Hull working on a corporate for a telecommunications company. As well as filming many offices full of computer screens (all running at different frequencies of course!) we filmed a sunset behind satellite dishes and a mobile phone cell on the roof of an office block. Amazingly, the microwave and satellite dishes didn't affect any of our frequencies and both the video transmitter and Genio radio follow focus worked excellent without any problems whatsoever!
I was filming at a chip factory early in 1998. The weather was hot and we were picking up general shots around the factory and offices. Most of the crew were just wearing t-shirts when it was suddenly decided we should get a few shots inside the warehouse. No problem we thought, until we walked in! It was a deep freeze warehouse with a constant temperature of -30 degrees. I have never experienced anything like it. We had to keep moving all the time. It really is a strange feeling when you breath in a lungful of air and the moisture in your nose freezes!!! Luckily we only spent about 10 minutes in the place. The camera and stock stood up really well to the conditions but the cables had to be defrosted after as they froze solid and brittle!
During May 1998, I worked on two training films for ships crews. I spent a total of three weeks at sea, on two cargo ships and a cruise ship. We visited Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Vlissenden and Malaga. The ships were huge, and one of the cargo ships was a third of a mile long! They were capable of carrying 7,500 cars and 500 containers. The cruise was very enjoyable (and beer was just 16p a pint in the crew's bars!) and lasted 5 days - we left the ship at Spain and flew back to London.