Process
Planning and pre-production are the cornerstone to every successful project, and it was no different with this one. We set up workshops with Tori to dig a little deeper into the project requirements and deliverables. What are the key messages, audiences and where will the content be used? Â We worked with Tori to refine the script and make sure it hit all of the key messages. When we had a clear understanding of the project requirements, we focused on the filming part of the project, and as keen walkers and mountain bikers our team were very excited to start planning this.
When it comes to outdoor shoots in Wales there a lot of moving parts to consider when planning a video shoot.
- Weather – Always a huge consideration when shooting video in Wales!
- Wind Speed – We knew we had to get some amazing drone shots of her walking around the Beacons, so wind speed was a key factor in the planning for the video.
- Location! Location! Location! We used a combination of recce’s, local knowledge and Google Earth to make sure we knew where all the best spots were.
- Timing – Sunrise on a cold, crisp and clear day was a must. We plotted out the time of sunrise and the angle of the sun throughout the day.
We kept an eye on all of these elements and as soon as the stars aligned, we made our move and drove to the Neuadd car park to walk the Roman road past the Upper Neuadd reservoir to the Gap, sat between the foot of Cribyn & Fan y Big. Â An early start was needed to capture sunrise from the top of Cribyn, so we left the car park and began our trek at 6am.
Whatever blurry eyes the team had were soon blown wide open by the incredible sights that waited for us on those hills. Tori was keen to wait for a weather inversion, so the valley floor would be full of mist, and the careful planning and waiting for the perfect day paid off in spades. Not only did we get a beautiful sunrise, but we were treated to the most amazing Dragons Breath (see the start of the attached video) and an incredibly rare sighting of a Brocken Spectre, an optical illusion created when a magnified shadow of a person is cast on to cloud.
We spent an incredible, and very cold few hours shooting video and photography with both handheld cameras and drone, before heading back down to the valley floor to record an interview to use throughout the video. This was definitely one of the most challenging location shoots we have carried out. The early start, the cold, the location and the wind up on the hills made for a testing morning, but one we absolutely loved and would do again in a heartbeat.
