My low profile rig

For the camera geeks out there I thought I would show the rig that I used when shooting the majority of the documentary footage in China.
I needed to keep a low profile, have stability and accurate focusing and to be able to set up and pack up fast. I found this set up to be very nimble and effective and it all fitted easily into my Fastpack 350 leaving room for 3 extra lenses and my sound gear. You know that your equipment is working well when you forget that you are using it and become completely immersed in what you are shooting.

I have already posted about the Edelkrone Pocket Rig here but that was before I had used it in the field. I found it to be the ideal base for the sort of work I was doing in China. It was discreet, versatile and reassuringly well constructed.

The components are as follows:

• Edelkrone Pocket Rig
• Fast Strap
• Basic handle V2
• Edelkrone Focus One
• Rail block mounting plate
• Zacuto Z-Finder 3.0
• Bluestar eyepiece
  

Everything went pretty smoothly apart from when my wide angle lens fell out of my pocket and out of the van we were travelling in (fortunately Canon L lenses seem to be pretty tough) and when my Z-Finder got dropped into a fish farm!

CREES Foundation film

It is over a year now since I returned from Peru. It was certainly an experience that will leave a lasting impression on me. I particularly remember the grandeur of the landscapes and the sense of timeless isolation. In many ways is was the exact opposite of my recent experience in Shanghai where everything was a hazy blur of frantic progress.

The short documentary ‘Reynaldo’ that I created with Nick Werber from Fountain Media for the CREES Foundation will be released online soon and I am really looking forward to sharing it. Hopefully it will fulfil our aims of highlighting some of the troubles facing Manu and showing the positive effects of the CREES social and agroforestry programmes in the region. In the meantime please ‘like’ the Dan Childs Film Facebook page here to get updates.

To whet your appetite here is the video we created to promote the CREES eco-tourism experience. It features some of those breath-taking views and some of the fascinating wildlife that we captured along the way.

Dan Childs interviewed for The New Current

I was recently interviewed for online magazine The New Current. Read the full interview by following the link below.

https://thenewcurrent.jux.com/770303

The London Short Film Festival

I am so excited that Le grand festin has been selected for the 2013 London Short Film Festival. I am really looking forward to seeing it screened at the Curzon cinema in Soho along with such an interesting looking bunch of films. Come along on 6th January at 12 noon if you can. Would be great to see you!

http://shortfilms.org.uk/events/2013-01-06-new-shorts-8-surreal-worlds

Tales from the glorious east

image courtesy of goway.com
This November I am excited to be traveling to the far east for the first time. I will be staying in Shanghai for five weeks to help create an advertising campaign for Chinese production company DX Media and have an appointment booked to apply for a business visa. Now to try to learn some more Chinese...

New look website and blog!

After fussing over it for quite some time, I am proud to announce my new website. With a clean look and a lot more content it is the number one online resource for all things me. I have a bit more work to do on the look of the blog but I couldn’t wait any longer. Let me know what you think!

BEAST

Created for the Brighton Filmmakers Coalition July 2012 film challenge. The challenge was to create a short film in one continuous shot with no cuts. The Idea came to me that a film in reverse that finally reveals what had set events in motion but also keeps things quite ambiguous would be a good way of maintaining interest throughout the shot. The shoot was challenging (as a film challenge should be) for a number of reasons. Firstly maintaining focus for the duration of the shot using a 35mm lens at f2.0 aperture took some practice. Then there were 20 people in fancy dress costumes and a flight of stairs to navigate without tripping and breaking my neck. All that had to be done whilst directing everybody. It was the first time I had used Vimeo's new music archive and I was very happy with the variety of creative commons pieces available. A huge amount of credit goes to Pimmon and Peter Quistgard as their music really hits the spot.

BFC One Shot Film Challenge

I took part in this summer’s film challenge. Warning, it contains some strobing.

The Karavan Ensemble - Anima

I recently photographed the Karavan Ensemble’s intoxicating show Anima at Jackson Lane Theatre in Highgate. The fast paced action and extreme low light conditions were quite a challenge for the 5Dmk2’s rather sluggish auto-focus (I will definitely be using my 7D if I have to shoot anything similar in future) but I managed to capture some of the mood of the piece by tweaking the settings and using manual focus a bit.

		Anima VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL