Films and Snacks over Christmas holidays!

It’s time we took a break! We have produced 47 episodes of ATP Uncovered for Sky Sports this year as well countless corporate videos for our treasured video production clients. Before they take a few dates to rest up before jetting off to film the Qatar ExonMobil Open. Snacks and films definitely play a part in the Christmas period-our crew share their faves with us. (Obviously drinks aren’t snacks but try telling that to our crew!)

Rob McKenzie

A Nightmare Before Christmas and Spiced rum

Martin Lane

Polar Express and cheese puffs

Evan Platt

Die Hard and Maltesers

Matt Oliver

No particular film (“whaaaaaat?!”) and Twiglets

Nick Kemp

Scrooge with Bill Murray and red wine and cheese.

Becky Brown

Elf and A Muppets Christmas Carol with a giant tub of Twiglets!

Sam Curtis

The Mask of Zorro (1998) and unlimited hot chocolate.

Liam Rafferty

Home Alone and Bailey’s.

Nadia Mardy

Home Alone and chocolate cake, ice cream – anything bad!

Rob O’Farrell

Predator and ice cream

So no video production tips in today’s blog! Have a wonderful wonderful Christmas to all our clients

Producing a Live Sport Event

Rob O’Farrell and Martin Lane, the Co Founders and Managing Directors at Clean Cut Media have lead a crew at the ATP Tour Finals for over ten consecutive years. An extraordinary level of planning is required-beginning 6 months before this live sport event.

Clean Cut's Senior Editor explains what goes into relocating an edit facility: https://cleancutmedia.co.uk/edit-facility-relocation/
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Senior Editor Liam’s work is an integral part of the planning process! The relocation of kit and 17 crew members, as Rob points out is the fundamental difference between this shoot and others.

Another particularity of this live sport event is the size of the venue. The roving crew communicate via WhatsApp. There are various groups for different areas of operations such as filming, editing and social output.

Team work, team work and more teamwork is the secret to the success of our crew, but teamwork extends beyond our usual colleagues. We work long hours and so the O2 security staff become pivotal in enabling us to carry out our work. Other helpful individuals include the skilled men and women who lead some tennis players, a Clean Cut Media camera operator land producer over the top other O2! Read more here.

Hundreds and hundreds of hours are recorded by the Clean Cut Media video crew. This footage is delivered straight to the media manager and editors at their base at London’s O2 Arena. This footage is skilfully turned into high quality videos for the big screens, for YouTube videos for the ATP Tour and the weekly sports magazine show ATP Tour Uncovered. Prior to his win, Greek tennis player Tstisipas was invited to go ono a secret mission and Clean Cut Media was there to film it!

Of course, a post event review is always undertaken by Rob and Martin. Two key points that they always come back to are:

1. Ensure that all crew have an in depth knowledge of the venue.
2. Filming at this sizeable live sport event is a marathon and not a sprint.

Do follow us across our social media channels: video production Instagram and video production Twitter feed.

Relocating An Edit Facility

For the 3rd consecutive year, Senior Editor Liam Rafferty is responsible for the relocation of the Clean Cut Media edit facility to the O2 Arena for the Nitto ATP Tour Finals. We grabbed Liam before he headed off to the tennis tournament to get the headlines about this challenging logistical operation.

Liam’s team comprises editor Rob McKenzie, junior editor Matt Oliver-Reid, freelance editor Chris Staff and junior media manager Evan Platt. Not only with this team be working between 14-16 hours together each day, they will also be staying in the nearby Holiday Express in Greenwich!

Over the course of the tournament, the editing team works with the big screen producer, the eng producer (this is the producer who walk around site with the show presenter and camera operator, the edit producer and social media producer Becky.

This is a team that really delivers results. The extensive list of deliverables includes videos for big screens in the arena, web videos, social clips, sponsor videos and content for the weekly magazine show ATP Tour Unovered.

The primary  challenge for the editing team is the initial set up at a new location. They have to ensure that the edit suites are in tune with each other. We wrote a blog about the introduction of an Avid Nexis at Clean Cut Media ‘s offices, but owing to the volume of rushes produced that need to be downloaded, backed up, edited and delivered-it all needs to be done on site. Liam has overseen the integration of this second portable Avid Nexis.

Whilst the image of editors is for them to be firmly sat in a the bricks and mortar post production suite, it is quite usual for editors to be on site using live sport events because they are working so closely with the producers, and the  memory cards need to be released back to the camera crew fairly swiftly.

We hope you enjoy the tournament if you are coming. Highlights videos are appearing on the exciting Nitto ATP Finals 2019 YouTube channel.

And keep up with our video production Instagram and video production Twitter feeds for all the behind the scenes action.

The October 2019 Review from Clean Cut Media

In the October 2019 Review we give you the lowdown about everything we have been up to in the depths of the British Autumn!

• Clean Cut Media Producers and Camera Operators took to the skies to film the world’s best tennis players at ATP Tour tournaments: Antwerp in Belgium, Shanghai in China, Vienna in Austria, Stockholm in Sweden, Majorca in Spain and at time of writing-the Rolex Masters in Paris, France. Listen to the crew delve deeper into their own travel experiences in our Travel Tips Blog Series.
• We filmed and edited two important videos for Global reinsurers Aon:

1. A Multicultural Network video for October 2019’s Black History month
2. A mental health video called ‘Are you ok?’ which highlights the importance of checking on the wellbeing of one’s colleagues.

• West London’s Maverick Hair Group commissioned us to film a product video in their studios. We are now in the editing phase where the clients have no need to make the journey into our studios, instead they can make all comments quickly and easily via Aframe-‘the cloud platform for video collaboration’.
• It is always a treat to be back at the iconic Abbey Road Studios. We filmed an intimate performance involving exquisite vocals and incredible instrumentalists….but we have signed a non-disclosure and can’t say who it was!
• Planning for the Nitto ATP Tour Finals in London and the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan continues. The next two blogs will cover the preparation that is involved with a particular focus on the role of our editors and editing equipment.

We are hiring a Temporary Production Coordinator

We have now filled this position, but thank you to everyone for their interest. Please continue to follow our blog for the latest news from Clean Cut Media.

Short term Production Coordinator role from 21st October to 17th November 2019. Initially office based and then onsite. Assisting in the organisation of multiple ENG crews, edits and onsite logistics

For full details on salary, responsibilities and required skills please send covering email and CV to production@cleancutmedia.co.uk

So What is a Call Sheet?

In essence, it gives all the information required for a shoot. A bad call shoot can ruin a job.

These are just some of the things that will nearly always be included in your call shoot: Shoot address, arrival times, flight times, hotel details, taxi times and numbers, kit lists, crew lists with roles and contact details, any clothing guidelines, a full breakdown of the day, lunchtime details, nearest emergency services, the weather, parking and useful language tips.

And anything and everything that will help to make a job run smoothly.

A call sheet can be one page long or the size of the book depending on the complexity of the job
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Who creates it

The Production Manager writes it, circulates it and updates it. A great Production Manager saves you money by doing mega amounts of pre planning and part of this is creating a ninja call sheet.

Who is it for

Client and crew

Without a call sheet

If it is a simple shoot, perhaps one of a series with the same client then the crew and client can forgo this document. But we don’t advise it. Even a one day bicycle training shoot for Bikeability and Promote PR, we didn’t go without!

A word to the wise

Work hard to ensure there aren’t any mistakes. This can have serious consequences on a shoot. A missed digit in a mobile phone number can cause havoc.

When to circulate

At the latest a couple of days before the shoot, sometimes weeks in advance if it’s a big complicated job and then sometimes revised ones get sent out. It is digital document up until the day of the shoot when hard copies are circulated.

Here is some more information about the role of a Production Manager, and if you would like to talk to us about your planned filming projects, please get in touch.

Top Travel Tips from Our Camera Crew

Summer might only just be coming to a close but many of us are already planning our future trips. In today’s blog, our camera crew draws on their extensive experience to share with you some of their top tips from bars to always carrying a Euro (when you are in Europe of course!).

To travel is to live - Hans Christian Andersen
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• Buy duplicate chargers for your phone and other must-have gadgets. There’s nothing more frustrating than leaving yours at home. Consider a pre packed case just for chargers.
• Fragments Cafe in a quiet square in Barcelona is a very special tapas bar.
• Don’t feel compelled to stick to local or regional food alone. In Madrid for example, la Cabana Argentina is an excellent steakhouse.
• Always carry a Euro in your pocket, you never know when you might need one. (This tip comes from Clean Cut camera operator Jack Ross who travels with a considerable amount of specialist camera kit).
• The Huus Hotel in Gstaad Switzerland is one place you will never forget. The service, the style, the location (nestled among the peaks of the Bernese Alps) will be imprinted upon your memory forever.
• Has anyone ever visited an ‘Old Town’ they didn’t like? Sarajevo and Metz in France are two of our most recent favourites.
• Check in at the earliest opportunity for flights. This will ensure you get the sort of seat that you prefer.  After all – who likes the middle seat?!
• Co Founder Martin Lane has two tips to end on: “This year I have filmed in Dubai and Monte-Carlo. In Dubai I recommend going to the top of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. In the evening there is a spectacular fountain light show. In Monte-Carlo, go for a drink in the Fairmont Hotel, positioned on a famous hairpin bend (the Fairmont Hairpin, Turn 6). This is a very popular place for motorsport fans because of its heritage and the fact that every night you can watch super-cars driving around. That’s Monte-Carlo!”

We hope that you have enjoyed our tips-do let us know if you found any of them useful!

You might like to visit our other camera crew travel blogs.

The July Review from Clean Cut Media

In today’s July Review you can get a flavour of what it really means to be on the team of one of the UK’s biggest video production companies.

In a word – busy!

• Clean Cut Media Producers and Camera Operators took to the skies to film the world’s best tennis players at ATP Tour tournaments: Umag in Croatia, Gstaad in Switzerland and Kitzbuhel in Austria. We delve deeper into the travel experiences of our crew in our Travel Tips Blog Series.
• Even for those of you who aren’t avid fans of tennis, you can’t have missed the Wimbledon Championships this year. Once again we filmed the run up to this iconic sporting event – in case you weren’t aware, it’s the oldest tennis tournament in the world.
• The glorious British city of Cambridge provide stunning backdrop for a promotional video for Bikeability. We hope it inspires you! https://bikeability.org.uk
• Social video content is fast becoming a mainstay of our video output-and boy do we enjoy it! Highlights have included a Stranger Things social video, and a parody of the 90’s American hit series Friends.
• We promise that we understand that it’s bad form to repeat blog content – but 6 weeks in and we are utterly smitten with our new 78TB Avid Nexis installed by Altered images at our London Edit Facility. This development enhances the video content security that we provide to all of our video clients.
• The preparation has begun for the Nitto ATP Tour Finals in London and the Next Gen Finals in Milan. It is a privilege and an honour for us to film behind the scenes at these momentous sporting events.

The June Review from Clean Cut Media

Half way through 2019 already! Here is a look back at the first month of the summer:

• The start of the grass court swing on the ATP Tour. Our crew filmed in Stuttgart, S’Hertogenbosch, Queens and Halle where Roger Federer won a record 10th title and Eastbourne.
• We had great fun driving all the way to the beautiful city of Sterling in Scotland where we stayed to film the stars of the Champions Tour at the Gleneagles Hotel playing and working hard. Clay pigeon shooting and croquet featured as well as tennis!
• Always a joy to return to film in the City of London at the impressive Cheesegrater or 122 Leadenhall Street.
• A peaceful day was spent in and around Cambridge filming an important promotional video for Bikeability and sport and fitness PR company Promote PR. Refreshments and loo breaks were provided by the parents of our producer who live in this beautiful city!
• Altered images installed our new 78TB Avid Nexis at our London Edit Facility. Further enhancing the video content security that we provide to all of our video clients.

From Wimbledon Ball Kid to Producer                                                                                                                                                                                 

Look out for upcoming social video content from Becky.