Work

Directing a Multicam is easy, after being a cameraman at many conferences. it’s a matter of knowing which shots you would like to have had with just one camera but couldn’t get. It’s easy, switching from one source to another and making sure the pacing is right and that there are not too many screw-ups. Overall it went well and I enjoyed it. It was different today as I was a simple camera operator. I had to concentrate on getting the right shot and fight away the desire to sit down or do something else. On both days the last speaker was the more entertaining of the day.

The FIBA 2006 is over and yesterday was the day where I recuperated by sitting in the sun in the morning and editing a short video clip in the afternoon. Both were nice occupations to unwind from the past three weeks. it’s been fun and all that remains from this work is a highlights tape filled with cheerleaders. Next time I hope to be at the event in person rather than on the sidelines.

The games are starting at 10am Tokyo time but 3am Geneva time and it’s amusing getting to work. Yesterday was really tiring as I’d been woken by workers at 7am. So far we’ve seen about 40 matches and Italy’s defeat was a shame. We only have one match at a time but four of them in total so our day is 14hrs long. The teams today are: germany vs nigeria, US vs australia, France vs. Angola and Greece Vs. China.

It’s the fourth day of the FIBA championship so it’s the fourth day where I wake before 0400 european time. I wouldn’t mind staying in bed a bit longer. I’m starting to understand the game better and I’ve seen that certain teams are far more entertaining to watch than others. On friday it’s a day of rest. My dissertation research is currently stagnating as I’m so exhausted by the time I get home. The Lebanon edit is finished for the moment so I should be less tired, at last. On the sixth there’s a projection of the full program so far. I’ve just thought back to my Tanzania edit and how I used to have a mentality whereby making longer documentaries was better than short ones. It’s a mentality I lost when in England whilst doing my HND. I was brought up to concentrate on using screentime as efficiently as possible, forgetting that occasionaly it’s important to let things breath. In December the same documentary will be around 50 minutes long.

The first day was a long one with twelve matches recorded. Four matches at a time three times with an offset of half an hour between starting times in pairs. It’s amazing how many time breaks there are in this sport. Work continued on the Lebanon edit I’m working on. Related links: Photos from the event

For the next few weeks I’m going to be living according to the FIBA schedule of games and it may be hard. there are going to be a few early mornings which end around 1300 CET so that’s not going to be too bad.If I had a passion for basketball this would be perfect. It’s going to be a new experience for me.

The next two weeks or so shall see me resting but not from media work. There’s a good chance I’ll be working on a project about a Prison in the Lebanon. It was shot a few weeks ago and the person in charge of the project needs help with the editing. It looks as though it’s going to be an interesting project. I’ve already viewed quite a bit of footage, read the voice over text and discussed the idea. I’ve started to form some ideas of how to create the story and tomorrow this should progress further with me going in to work. In around two weeks I’ll have an interesting work shift, from 5am to 1300 hours, in other words my work day will be finished when other people get their work day started. We’ll see how that goes anyway. Ciao for now

Over the next two weeks, I am working in part of what will become part of the new media landscape. I receive footage via satellite and edit short summaries to become video clips on the official site of the organisation. At the moment it’s not visible to the normal public but it is an interesting activity. As part of my dissertation, I have to understand where the documentary has come from and where it’s going. It’s an interesting way to spend time and I’m learning about new things all the time. We’ll see what the landscape will be like once I’m working full time in the media again. Paleo was really good fun. An average day consists of five hours of work, followed by at least two or three concerts, a multitude of conversations before ending with three or four hours of sleep. The conversations have ranged from the passion that certain friends have for Nutella to driving Segway around one particular stand. With one friend we went through to the moshpit of one concert and there was a good ambiance. With another friend everything was far calmer, more relaxed, taking time to unwind and relax. I have learned about long hours in the sun drinking ice tea whilst at work and enjoyed it greatly. It’s good fun because there’s a breeze, people come and go, and as they do your greeting varies. The variation in greeting is part of what makes the work so enjoyable. When people pass they do so without wanting to take time to chat sometimes but as they have a badge you can read their name. In doing so you can greet them more personally. I read so many name badges over a number of hours that it was quite a challenge to remember everyone’s name. In fact, I could probably remember none. Faces… that’s what I remember all the time, not names. On that note, I’ll stop rambling.