Welcome to this exciting episode, I am privileged to talk with Mike Jonathan, a seasoned professional with an incredible career spanning nearly three decades as a cameraman, director of photography, and director in both television and film. Known for his outstanding work on documentaries and short films, Mike has released his debut feature film, Ka Whawhai Tonu - Struggle without End.
Double Loop Film Podcast next exciting interview with Director Mike Jonathan, talking about his feature film Ka Whawhai Tonu.
Ka Whawhai Tonu is set in 1864 during the New Zealand land wars in Waikato. It follows two teenagers who must take control of their destiny as they face the chaos of battle between Māori and Colonial forces against impossible odds. The main roles are played by Paku Fernandez as Haki and Hinerangi Harawira-Nicholas as Kōpu. The movie also stars Cliff Curtis as Wi Toka, Temuera Morrison as Rewi Maniapoto, and Jason Flemyng as Daniel Morgan. Mike talks through his process of bringing this story to live, working with Temuera Morrison, his career and his goals for the future.
Find out more about Mike here
Here’s the next exciting episode talking with Haydn Butler first time feature director but long time story teller.
I dig in to the journey that lead Haydn to tell this dark and humours story.
Synopsis
It's desperate times for a small rural home kills and butchery service, as big business begins to threaten their livelihood the owners fall into offering a new service - killing people, to make ends meet.
IMDB Film link.
The film is showing over the next few weeks in theaters, I’m sure you’ll have a fun time.
Great to see this Farmers Weekly article on Rabobank senior animal proteins analyst Jen Corkran and the work the team has done. The article is well worth the read. Looking forward to working with the team and continuing to tell their amazing stories.
I have to say that the team from Rabobank made this project easy with a great location for a background and motivate team members who are truly passionate about their work. It was a simple single softlight setup with the sun in the right part of the sky to give a lovely light from behind, showing up the landscape and a rim light to the subjects. Simple posing is always best as it helps relax the subjects and speeds up the shoot.
Looking forward more of these projects thats for sure.
I'm thrilled to introduce you to the charismatic and witty Te Radar, our special guest today. Te Radar, a renowned New Zealand comedian, television presenter, and documentary maker, has captivated audiences around the world with his unique blend of humor, curiosity, and storytelling prowess. With a penchant for exploring the quirky and offbeat, Te Radar takes us on a delightful journey into the intriguing, the unexpected, and the downright fascinating aspects of life. In this episode, we're in for a treat as Te Radar shares his incredible adventures, unravels hidden gems, and imparts wisdom gained from his years of travel and exploration.
Prepare to be entertained, enlightened, and thoroughly entertained as we delve into the mind and experiences of Te Radar. Whether he's embarking on culinary expeditions, unraveling mysteries of the natural world, or uncovering the quirky tales of everyday life, Te Radar's boundless enthusiasm and infectious laughter promise to leave you both entertained and inspired.
the charismatic Te Radar, a New Zealand comedian and storyteller.
If you’ve never heard of the Rural Support Trust I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s a non-profit organization that provides support to farmers and rural communities across New Zealand. Established in 2000, the Trust operates on a regional basis, with 14 trusts covering different areas of the country. The Trust's primary goal is to provide emotional and practical support to farmers and their families during times of stress or crisis.
Late last year I was privileged enough to help Rababank New Zealand with some promotional photographs of the Surfing For Farmers program. The program offers local farmers the opportunity to learn to surf .. it my opinion an excellent way to take you mind of your business and stresses of the day! It struck me that the amazing work the Trust did in conjunction with Rabobank, and several other sponsors was critical to helping farmers get valuable time away from farm. I know only too well about how hard it can be to run a business and how easily you can get lost in it.
One of the key services provided by the Rural Support Trust is the Farm Business Resilience Program. This program is designed to help farmers improve their business management skills and build resilience in the face of challenges such as droughts, floods, and other natural disasters. The program includes workshops, one-on-one coaching, and access to online resources.
In addition to the Farm Business Resilience Program, the Rural Support Trust provides a range of other services, including:
I was inspired to spend some time with the team and create some stories about what they do and help raise awareness of this vital work. The plan was a simple one. Create a branding story about the Trust and it’s goals. They had little to no video marketing material so this project was going to be beneficial to them, creating tools for their website, social media platforms, and pitching material for potential donors.
After a few interviews and generous donations of content from Rabobank and Ninmo Productions the videos have hit the mark and I hope, made an impact for them.
If you can I encourage you to connect with the Rural Support Trust and help out however you can.
Rural Support Trust website.
Awesome morning with the Frank Risk Management team as they help plant 2000 + trees along waterways helping restore them. I love these stories and always keen to tell them and encourage others to get involved. Check out https://kaitiakitangatrust.com/ if you want to get involved and https://www.frankrisk.co.nz/ to learn more about them.
The Frank Risk Management team in action in Raglan, Waikato, as they help plant 2000 + trees along waterways helping restore them.
Like the first few seconds when you first meet someone you make a decision about the person whether you are conscious of it or not. The same happens when someone looks at your website. From logos, colours, and layout, to photos and videos, all tell an important part of your branding story.
Taurikura is an initiative that I really love. Started by Kawena Jones and Kirsty Barber to help gain a wider spectrum of voices in our political bodies. This is a cause that I can really get behind. This project brief was simple, bright positive portraits to help put faces to names. With some ngahere (forest/bush) background to capture the grassroots feel of the organisation, and some incredible light coming through some single portraits but also some team photos of them together these portraits captured the essence of the project.
New Zealand is famous for it's stunning landscapes, pristine environment, and amazing people. But, our waterways (catchments) need our help. With the hard work and effort of many volunteer catchment groups around the country, many catchments are being returned to health. New Zealand Beef and Lamb are doing their bit to support these groups.
Nathan Higgins talks about his latest film Drink Up You're Next, a hard look at drinking culture in New Zealand from the point of view of children raised in those environments.
Louis Armstrong once said “Music is life itself”.
Consider this… Perhaps you have your own playlists on spotify, or a stash of CDs in the sunvisor of your car, the soundtrack that helps you block out the noise and fuss of the world. Your soundtrack to your life that helps you feel inspired, energised, creative, or calm and peaceful. Music can be the curtain you pull across to help create your own space. Music certainly plays a role in our life from the beat of our mothers heart to learning in school, and beyond.
Music plays a vital part of my creative process as a storyteller, giving emotional connection to my footage, helping drive the rhythm of my edits, and helping the viewer understand the significance of a scene, on a deeper level.
I was very keen to interview Jeremy about his work as a musician, composer and artist. I met him, a few years ago, taking his photo for a story about .. his beard. He’d entered an international beard growing competition. It was a great shoot, and we’ve stayed in contact ever since.
Born and raised in Hamilton, NZ Jeremy’s mother helped in with piano lessons from the age of 5.
His skills don’t stop there, the drums, the harmonica, the bass, the turntables, synths, melodica, and theremin among others.
He also regularly sings with several bands, and in theatrical stage shows. He has performed throughout NZ, as well as in Fiji, Nouméa, Vanuatu, Singapore and the US.
He has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) – majoring in Music, a master's degree, and a Doctorate.
Dr. Jeremy Mayall is currently the CEO at Creative Waikato - a Regional Arts Organisation in NZ specializing in capability building for the arts community, and working as an advocate for the arts. He is also a composer/performer/artist and researcher. There is so much to this man that I can’t list it all here.
I talk with Jeremy about his musical start, his creative journey to his role as CEO of Creative Waikato, enabling others to have their own creative journeys.
I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.
Apple Podcast link
Once and a while you get to meet someone that really has a lot more to say than they let come forth. That quietly spoken person that says what needs to be said in not much more. I had the great pleasure to meet and work with Ben Woollen on the set of Adam Harvey’s Minimally Invasive. There I was able to watch him create some pretty stunning visuals for that short, and had the advantage to do it as the behind the scenes camera operator. The great thing about shooting behind the scenes is it gives you the chance to be part of that team but not have the pressures of the production crew. I got to watch Ben create with Adam, which always suits my visual journalistic nature. To see a creative team take ideas from the page to the screen is really fascinating to me.
On set of Minimally Invasive. copyright 2020
Ben struck me as extremely professional and in the short conversations I quickly wanted to know more about his work and how he got to where he is today. Thankfully Ben was happy to come on to this podcast, talk about his film journey thus far and some of his plans for the future.
“I got to play with Gopros with Peter Jackson”
His insights and stories are fantastic and inspiring. From creating stop motion animations with a side-loading VHS camera, to playing with Gopros with Sir Peter Jackson, on Mortal Engines, Ben's path has taken him from Hamilton to Wellington's film community to San Fran for the Scott Dixon documentary “Born Racer”.
Supplied.
I truly enjoyed talking with Ben and I know you will too. He has some great insights on the film industry and advice for those whether they are trying to get in to it or they have started their journey.
LINKS
Ben Woollen - https://www.benwoollen.com/
Chasing Time English - https://chasingtimeenglish.com/
GFC Films - https://www.gfcfilms.com/
Director Writer Adam Harvey talks about his journey making films as a young teen and now on a clear trajectory preparing to his first full length feature.
Scott Granville has found success in more ways than one. In this podcast he shared some of his journey that took him from a drive to create narrative stories to using his talent to make a unique English Education product, the meet a niche and a business opportunity. Scott and his producing partner Ben Wollen have won many awards with their films and bring their combined talents to cut their own paths to not only creative success but financial success too.
Sometimes I get a whole bunch of time to create a set of branding portraits for my clients. We might go to a couple of locations, use the portable studio setup, but sometimes clients are busy and need to get as many options as possible in the shortest amount of time. So key for me is to get have several sets of shirts or tops or jackets so that in one sitting we can get options to use in multiple situations.
The Feathers team is a great bunch of people. I had a great time with them for their staff portrait session last week and they were stoked with the results, as was I.
Here’s their website
‘A picture paints a thousand words’ first appeared in a 1911 newspaper article quoting editor Arthur Brisbane.
So it’s pretty simple to take a corporate photo right? But it’s what those pictures say that really becomes important when you want to convey something about your business or yourself for that matter. The Feathers Planning team, need to convey that they are professional, knowledgeable and good to work with. To achieve this, a mix of location, light, and posing works well for this project. I’m really pleased with these results.
The future of marketing is changing, but telling great stories about you and your business still connects with viewers no matter what platform you use or how you do it. New Day Egg needed to connect to their customers and dispel the multitude of misconceptions about what free range chicken farming is all about. Mr Otto McGirr is a passionate kiwi farmer who loves his flock and has created a farm to give them the best of a true free range life. You can feel his passion and care with this story.
Moving forward we are all seeking clarity on how we work, and where we work. Most of all we need to be safe. With changes that need to take place clarity on how we work to keep our talent, crew, and clients safe is essential. We’ve developing our guide lines in accordance with Screen Industry New Zealand and Advertising and Illustrative Photographers Association NZ.
With the new directive from the government it might seem like dark times, however, there is always the opportunity to find and make in to a brighter future. In this case it’s an opportunity to keep communicating with your clients. Whether that’s through self filmed vlogs to help you key clients manage their situations or equally podcasts. With a bit of a brainstorm you might be able to create content for
There a many issues that your clients need to discuss and get your help with. Reaching out to them in their time in need is often the best thing you can do.
For Chris Hillock Photographer, with the new restrictions some photography and filming will not be possible or prudent. We are still able to support you with content creation and editing. Whether you need advise or support, we’re here for you.
Our thoughts and support is with you all.
Chris & the team.
Covid-19 Health & Safety policy 2020
INTRODUCTION
With the recent developments of Covid-19 in New Zealand, we are implementing a health and safety protocol in line with the recommendations from the New Zealand Government.
CHRIS HILLOCK PHOTOGRAPHER IS STILL OPEN FOR BUSINESS,
and creating both still and motion imagery for our clients. However keeping our clients and staff safe is important, and using safe practices is essential. We use government recommended safe practices as detailed here. If either party or any part of a project is required to be rescheduled, no fees or penalties will be applied, and details will be worked out as needed.
We are still creating and providing the following services:
How we can help you and your team.
We are here to support you in your efforts to keep safe and keep your business going. Communication with your clients is essential and we can help you with:
These can all be done in a safe and convenient way.
PRODUCTION AND CLIENT INTERACTIONS PROTOCOLS
PRE-PRODUCTION
Communicating via email and phone we can map out a project as required. If a meeting is required this can be done via:
Skype (account - Chris Hillock),
Phone +64223962833,
Zoom (account - Chris Hillock).
PRODUCTION
In-person videos can be captured with a fair amount of normality with social distancing and safe handling practises for props or products to be photographed. Items for production such as lapel microphones can be used with cleaning wipes and passing via a sharing table. Non essential people can skype or facebook into a shared video conversation to keep a view on the production as required. Clear and precise briefs will keep filming or still imagery capture as brief as possible.
Makeup - clients are encouraged to provide their own makeup, however a professional makeup artist is available with a strict set of protocols. (These include wearing masks, gloves, using 90% sanitiser on all tools between talent, using once-only makeup application pads).
POST PRODUCTION
Online review platforms have been used for some time for notes and commenting. Vimeo is our preferred platform and enables clients to review videos from anywhere, on computers, tablets or phones, with ease.
Delivery via online platforms, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Masive, are all available and have proven to be reliable methods of delivery.
If you have any questions about our health and safety measures please don’t hesitate to ask.
INTERNAL STAFF PROCEDURES.
Co-Space Shared Office Interactions:
Client communication:
No further in-person client meetings until NZ Covid-19 alert level is at 1.
Here’s a great project I’d love to share with you. FarmIQ is a leading farming software company that really makes a huge difference to their clients. Their software platform allows farmers to make informed decisions on a wide variety of issues around the farm. It was fun to work with the team again as we had created the Summer Series with them a few months before, and with their winter promotion, they needed to get the word out on the features that their software offers for farmers. FarmIQ is really reaching out to it’s target clients with social media, as it’s the most effect way to do this. With the short life span that any marketing content has in the digital age, it’s important to get the most out of any production, so that you can get the most out of your spend.
The FarmIQ Winter Series (and the Summer Series that I created for them too), is a great case study, creating not only a series of videos showing key features of the software but also looking at the different places that they can get their message out. We all think of Youtube and Facebook, but with a myriad of platforms with a myriad of formats required, it’s key to create the content that takes advantage of each platforms strengths. Creating a single video is far from a “one size fits all” situation.
“Creating a single video is far from a one-size-fits-all-platforms situation.”
Farm IQ summer series - Todd White left, and Libby Wood getting ready to film
A single video from a production, published on-line is far from a cost effective way to get your message out there. Once the content is out there, it’s life span is disappointingly short, however the way this project was created is very smart. Creating a set of videos, bumper ads, and booking a full day of filming we created 7 main videos to talk about their product that can be rolled out over their campaign season, keeping their messages, logo and product in view for longer. It also allowed them to create 5 bumper ads to use as advertising to put in to Youtube to generate viewership of their content and drive potential clients to their website (website = cash register).
One of the key things that FarmIQ has done is understand who their target clients are, and where they are consuming media, (on the phone, youtube, facebook, instagram, etc). In FarmIQs case they are targeting young farmers who are tech-savvy. They are already using phones and computers everyday to run their businesses. It’s where they get a lot of their information.
Youtube and Vimeo as platforms offer great features that allow you embed and post your video content with ease. Both offer free options, through professional grade (Vimeo) options if you’re creating and posting a lot of material. The 16:9 format is an industry standard, which really works well on a mobile phone held horizontally.
Traditional Youtube 16:9 ratio video
However not so well if the phone is held vertically, and this is were the square format is starting to come in to it’s own. Instagram is the platform designed to take the most advantage of people holding their phones vertically.
The great thing about this project was the way we shot the footage allow us to re-crop and create videos that fit the Instagram TV format. This flexibility really provided great value to the whole project.
GETTING THE FARMIQ MESSAGE SEEN.
Like any video, it won’t be seen unless you get it in front of your audience and here’s where bumper ads come in. They were quick to capture, and when placed in front of a Youtube video through advertising space, you’ll get the attention you need.
For the Winter Series, the bumper ads provide the ability to draw attention to your messages in the longer form. FarmIQ uses these very short videos (6 seconds - see the below video) at the start of other Youtube videos as part of their marketing spend. In conjunction with Facebook, Linkedin (and the appropriate platforms) you can quickly get your audience to view your messages.
FarmIQ have created a well thought out campaign, taking advantage of the content they need to produce, and using it on the various platforms that their target clients are looking at. This is great strategy to get the most out of their efforts.
For this project, the old colours were well out of date. The browns had lost their luster, and certainly didn’t flatter the building any more. With urgent remedial work required, the owner engaged with Arto Architects to patch up the water damage and give her a bit of a polish. The shapes and structure of the building is unique, and I’d never seen anything like it before.
This year I was invited to shoot this film as part of the 48 Hour film festival this year, and I was really excited to join the team with the talented director Paige Larianova, and her crew. Nominated for 7 awards in our region, the shoot was a blast and we all had a bunch of fun.
Shot on Sony A7R3 and a single hand gimbal, we needed to shot fast and fluid. That gave us the speed to get the amount of shots captured to tell this story in the 48 Hour time constraint for this competition. I captured the footage with a HLG3 profile in the BT202 colour space, which gave me a nice clean picture in the low light conditions to start from and I have to say even though I would have liked a Sony A7S2 or an Arri (anything) I was happy with what we captured. Graham our lead male and lighting guru did a fantastic job with the lighting setups.
I have to give a big shout out to the post production team, especially to Obi Wan Adobe(William) who really showed some amazing skill putting it together in the time frame available to us.
Here’s the amazing film poster from Consi who did our art direction and the graphics for the film.
I hope you enjoyed the film and I’m looking forward to working with the team again. We’re hopeful that we can develop this project a bit more and see where it leads us.
Day 4 and heading home.
After a busy, exhausting, but rewarding 3 days, I was able to wrap 5 stories for Interplast. When I first was given the brief from Deputy CEO Interplast Cameron Glover, I was a bit unsure that I would be able to make the requirements, however I was very happy to get all those stories captured. It gave me a lot of confidence that as a filmmaker that I’m up to the task and have the skills sets I need to make more documentaries in the future.
Day 3 has been amazing. Seeing the life changing results the team was able to achieve was mind blowing. See the smiles and joy on the patient and parents faces was unlike anything I’ve seen before in my 26 years as a photographer. Being part of the team and capturing these stories is very rewarding. I am really in awe of the skills of the surgical, physiotherapy, and speech therapy teams. Any difference I can make by sharing these stories will lead to some massive changes for those patients, their families, and their communities. Every $1000 that I can help raise will give a child a life changing procedure.
After an amazing day I was really blown away to see and meet some amazing people. There is something humbling about meeting people who work as hard and are as dedicated as the staff of the Commonwealth War Memorial Hospital. The difference they make to the lives of Fijians is fantastic. Dr. Samesa Matanicake Junior, is one of those rare people who give more than most. His efforts have made a huge difference to his patients but also for the hospital, Suva and Fiji.
’ve been keen to work for Interplast for a while now. It was great to get going and start creating some footage for the project. After a bit of planning and talking with Interplast Deputy CEO Cameron Glover, the bones of the project and what we need to capture was set out. Cameron was keen to get going on a small trip to the Commonwealth War Memorial Hospital in Suva, Fiji. Interplast has been sending teams there for many years, and it’s a bit of a showcase of what Interplast does. Dr. Samesa Matanicake Junior, head plastics surgeon has been mentored through the Interplast program and now has started bring junior surgeons in to the plastics surgery program. This really is fantastic as this helps Fiji provide it’s own independent services and build it’s capacity to support other Pacific Island nations and their people. This was the first trip for this project and I was really excited to get stuck in and contribute capturing this story and others on the 3 day trip.
With our hearts heavy my fellow Rotarians and I showed our outrage, support and love for the Boundary Road Mosque family, our family.
Attendees of the Rotary District 9930 conference show their support and grief at the tragic events on Saturday.
What’s happened on Friday does not represent my New Zealand! Not the values and morals of what it means to be a New Zealander. My thoughts are with our Muslim community, you are part of our family.#notmynewzealand
Rotary members join hands with mosque members from the Boundary Road Mosque, Hamilton.
The Hamilton Operatic Society does some amazing work, and create great productions. I was very happy to come along during dress rehearsal this week to take some images of the cast from “ Princess Garden Party” that will be held at the Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival this weekend.
The great costumes where put together by Maggie and the team. With a dark grey mottled background and a cross light setup, these actors did a wonderful job expressing some of their characters performance. I shot with a large softbox and a snooted flash (rear left) to create some Rembrandt lighting, giving the shots depth and tension. Letting the background go dark really helps make the actors pop out, and not distract the eye.
When Dairy NZ came to me with a project, it was mostly centred on a video about riparian planting, which I am really interested in, so I jumped on the chance to work with them. I learnt a lot about how small changes made even just to fencing can really relieve a lot of the problem for our waterways. However a tag on request was to capture a landscape picture for the upcoming Mystery Creek Fieldays stand to show off the beautiful countryside here in the Waikato.
So I new that this would be a big, no huge print. It would require a huge file to print from, so I would need to take a stitched panoramic photo with my Sony A7Riii camera. I put the camera on my Nodal ninja and found the ideal spot to take the pic overlooking the farm with all the aspects we needed to capture with wetland areas, a large power line running through the farm and some great hills and paddocks. I couldn’t believe all these elements of the story were right there.
The panoramic work out really well, and the detail I achieved was remarkable. On such a huge print I had to really get my nose up against the walls to get to the point of seeing pixels. Needless to say I was stoked! With some great feedback from the Diary NZ team, and the public this project was a great success.
The year is coming to a close, and it's been a fun and exciting one, with one video for DairyNZ going viral with over 7 million views, it's been a bit mind blowing.
Creating an exciting documentary and some cool projects coming up for 2019 will make it a blinder of a year! Keep an eye out here for updates as things start kicking off.
Happy New Year to you all, and best wishes for 2019!
Chris
If you love stories then this is a very cool event for you. This short promo skit was great fun to shoot with the very talent Chris Hanlon and Chris Williams. Thanks to director / producer Paige Larianova for the location, and the great direction for this on. Great fun, and I hope as many people can attend the screening as possible.
They say water will be more precious than gold in the next 50 years. Hearing what the Suez team has to say about how we use our drinking water is fascinating. It’s certainly something we should all think about.
Paterson Burn Optometrists is one of those companies that really knows their stuff. They were a pleasure to work with and our model Rahn, from Stellar Management was fantastic.
Sometimes it might seem like an ordinary day, your every day routine, and then you find something extraordinary. These times I like the best. Traveling home on Air New Zealand flight, I had my camera with me, and shooting with my lens up against the glass, I fell in love with the South Island, again.
Traveling around this beautiful country is such a blessing, giving me a chance to recharge my batteries, refresh my eyes, and get out of my own head space. Mapua had a break in the rain down on the new shopping and cafe area, and it's right next to the wharf. It's such a beautiful and relaxed location. I loved the cloud and water, the colours are fantastic.
This project was a whole heap of fun to create. Take one brand spanking new workspace, some flowing camera work and tricky editing and hey-presto a very dynamic way to present this beautiful building. Good fun.
I'm very proud to have created this project, and happily enough Genesis is happy too.
It's been a while since I redid the website and it's well overdue. There are some more exciting projects coming up in the new year, and I'm very excited to bring them to you.