DoP, Award-Winning Talk Show.

We were enjoying a family Sunday evening when my phone rang. It was the Executive Producer of an ITV/SignPost/Multi-Media Stories talk show. I had never worked with her or on her show.

This was during the Covid pandemic and at the very last minute, the DOP booked to light and shoot the next episode had to self-isolate.

My name was suggested.

After the introductions, I was asked if I might be available to light a talk show studio in Gateshead tomorrow and shoot the show the following day.

Yes.

Later, I had a call from the original DOP, who talked me through how he lights the set, which was very helpful. Consistency is extremely important in these situations. Luckily, I have similar lights, so I did not foresee any problem matching his look.

My family evening was over. It was time to prep a lot of my equipment.

Call time was 9 am and the studio was about 90 minutes away, so an early start to load my car and mobilise was required.

On arrival, I was introduced to the team, who were all very welcoming and grateful that I was there. Then I was shown the studio.

Because of Covid, everyone wore masks whenever near anyone else, and we were split into two groups. Most were restricted to the spacious production office. In the studio, we were limited to no more than 4 people at a time. Typically this would be, Director Giles Bowman, Presenter Ahmed Mudawi, Guest, Bea Webster, and myself.

Once I saw the studio, the guidance provided the previous evening, made perfect sense.

The studio already had some lights in situ, and 2 cameras ready to shoot.

The main camera was an Ikegami studio model positioned on the centreline, mounted on a studio ped. The 2nd camera was the same model as mine, a Sony FS7, on a tripod to the right.

My FS7 would go to the left, on my tripod.

Giles and I rigged my additional lights, and I set up my camera to match the look of the others.

By the end of the day, Giles and I were happy we were ready for a productive and beautifully lit day of filming.

I had never worked on a shoot where many of the people involved were deaf, including the Director. Fortunately, Giles reads lips but wearing masks made this a little challenging. However, we managed very well, sometimes with the invaluable help of one of the sign language translators.

The show is for the deaf community, of course, our presenter and guests are deaf, so the onscreen language is British sign language (BSL).

I was advised to crop the single shots a little wider than normal to leave room at the bottom of the frame for some of the signing.

Everything just worked. we filmed the seated conversation, then the intro and outro, standing in different areas of the kitchen.

I filmed the first and last shots using my track and dolly to great effect.

It was an unforgettable shoot, which I greatly enjoyed., largely due to the highly skilled and lovely people.

Since filming this episode, I have filmed several more, seasons 1 and 2, and I am looking forward to working with this very special team, again.

AWARD WINNER

My first episode of This Is Deaf won: Deaffest - Best Television Programme 2022.

HOW COOL IS THAT?