DoP - TV Commercials, Factuals & Films

I trained as an Advertising Photographer and in the 80s I practiced my craft in London shooting adverts for British Airways, Daimler Jaguar, Ford, and Peugeot. So after I moved back home, to North East England, where there was no equivalent work, I focused on Commercial Photography and opened the only advertising photography studio in the area. Several of my bigger and better clients asked if I could make videos for them too. So, I invested twice the value of my new home in second-hand broadcast-quality video gear, studied and practiced, to learn my craft. I quickly found myself filming oil and gas platforms in the North Sea and flying around the world shooting a variety of videos for global businesses.

Eventually, I started working as a Lighting Cameraman and DoP on a wide variety of factual TV shows. My main work in those early days was with BBC Watchdog, GMTV, and Sky Sports News, which combined gave me an excellent training for my favorite factual genre, documentaries. Whenever I get to shoot docos I love every minute. The people I work with, the places I visit, and the stories we tell. Fantatsic!

Commercials

Then I had a lucky break. I was approached by Dark Horse Graphics, later Dark Horse Media. They asked me to DoP a commercial for them. And so it was that I was again with my first love, shooting ads, albeit, now on standard definition video, Digital Betacam, rather than a large format film camera. Dark Horse quickly became my best client.

Cars

One of the most challenging commercials I shot for Dark Horse was for Hyundai, which played to my strengths, my experience of shooting advertising photographs for major car manufacturers. Of course, when shooting new products from the likes of Ford, we would spend days making each photograph. However, the Hyundai commercial was a local area TV commercial so the budget was more modest. I had one day to shoot four different models in Studio 3 at YTV, Leeds. The idea was to shoot from a dolly on a fixed track so the camera swapped direction as the cars were swapped. The 4 cars would be morphed from one to the next. Of course, due to the timescale and budget/resources, the cars were not quite as well photographed as the stills I used to shoot but they were extremely close, and the client was thrilled.

Short Films

I was the DoP on several Dark Horse commercials that Bob Griffin directed. So when he was ready to shoot his first short film, Choosing Juliet, he asked me to be his DoP/Cinematographer. I had never shot a short before but the script looked great and I loved the idea,

This was an almost zero-budget passion piece, written by Bob and his old mate, William Shakespeare.

I insisted funds were found for a cinema style camera and a set of prime lenses. YTV's Provision gave me a deal on a 6K Red camera and a set of beautiful Zeiss Super Speeds. Lucky me! I also enrolled my eldest daughter to play a part in the film. She reluctantly agreed on the understanding that she would be only a background actress, specifically with no lines. But on the day, she excelled herself. She had a few lines that she delivered perfectly and one in particular, she delivered with impeccable comic timing and a beautiful deadpan facial expression, "He doesn't do rules."

Needless to say, I loved working on this production even though no-budget films always cause tremendous headaches. There are rarely enough people or resources, so everything takes much longer, people get stressed, days get extended, everyone gets tired, and some go home before the wrap. Sometimes, inevitably perhaps, corners are cut, which is always a shame, as those who work so hard do so to make something special and showcase their abilities. In this case, our Sound Recordist was offered a broadcast series, which started a couple of days before we were to shoot Juliet. So we had to manage without a sound Recordist, adding to the workload of the already overworked, tired, and stressed mini-crew. Nevertheless, after 2 brutal but rewarding days, we had shot our first short film. I hope William Shakespeare would be proud of it.

My First Award Winning Films

About this time, First 11 and Something Moving. asked me to DoP commercials for them, too.

In 2004, Fear, one of the commercials I shot as DoP for First 11, directed by Andy Lovat, won the Royal Television Society Award - Best Broadcast Promotional 2004. This was Andy's and my first industry prize. The following year, another commercial I shot for First 11, again with Andy, Take a Stand, won the Royal Television Society Award - Best Broadcast Promotional 2005, Channel 4 - Best Short Film, and the Saville Audio Visual - Trophy.

Take a Stand was made for cinema release and it even had a Royal Premiere. Princess Anne was the guest of Honour at the then new Empire Cinema in Sunderland for its first screening.

Success - Who You Know & What You Know

So, what does it take to be a successful Commercials DoP or Advertising Photographer?

They both require a depth of experience, heightened perception and creativity (as one of my art college lecturers used to say), the highest quality photographic skill, organisational focus, and absolute commitment to delivering superb production values. A perfect metier for a perfectionist artisan like me.