| Q1: What’s the best thing you’ve ever watched? |
| Planet Earth |
| Q2. Who was your idol when you were growing up or who is your idol now? |
| I was 13 and we were walking the Milford Track in New Zealand. Phillip Leishman a well know broadcaster in NZ was a day late joining us and arrived by helicopter with the door off and an old VHS on his shoulder. I immediately new what I wanted to do for a job, his inspiration and guidance over the days that followed helped me get where I am today. Sadly he passed away this year. |
| Q3. What was the first camera you ever bought or used? |
| A Digital Betacam 790, it was a huge moment as I had taken the plunge to be an owner operator and had borrowed about £40k. I used that camera for about 7 years… I doubt we’ll ever see a format last as long as that again. |
| Q4. What is your favourite camera and why? |
| I love the Canon C300 for it’s image quality and size but having to have the entire rig and external viewfinder is frustrating. It’s my workhorse at the moment but I’m sure it wont be long before I replace it with the Sony F55. |
| Q5. What’s the most bizarre/funniest/favourite thing to happen whilst on a shoot? |
| The most surreal shoot was going with Andrew Lloyd-Webber in his jet to Moscow to interview Vladimir Putin about Eurovision…. |
| Q6. What’s your favourite or worst place to film and why? |
| At the moment my favourite place to film is anywhere that we can fly the Octocopter as the shots you can get with it are amazing. The worst place to film is in an office conference room. |
| Q7. Who is the most interesting person you have worked with? |
| I spent a lot of time filming with David Jason in Europe, he has some great stories and loves flying his helicopter. I used to watch Open All Hours in New Zealand when I was young and I would never have thought I’d be filming with Granville when I was older. He’s a real gent. |
| Q8. Name one unnecessary item that you cannot do without on a shoot? |
| My Teradek Bolt, I’ve wasted a lot of money on the Teradek Cubes, which are hopeless, but they have cracked it with the bolt. It fits on the C300 nicely, Half the price and size of the Wevi and I’ll probably save the value of it in replacing broken BNC cables. |
| Q9. What would you like to film that you haven’t already? |
| I’d really like to go and film an expedition in Antarctica. The place fascinates me and even if I don’t get there through work it’s somewhere I’d like to visit one day. |
| Q10. What job would you be doing if you couldn’t do what you do now? |
| I ask that everyday as I see so many jobs I wouldn’t want to do. I really think being a documentary crew is one of the best jobs in the world. We are always going to places that people want to see and hear about. You get to travel the world and meet interesting people. it is a fantastic job. |
| Q11. What’s one piece of advice you would give to an aspiring Cameraman? |
| You have to get along with people and have a good attitude. Confidence will come and when it does it makes the job a lot easier. When you have the time use it to perfect the shot but there will be times when content is more important than quality, if you nail the content they will love you for it. Buy your own kit!And never format a card during a shoot!
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For more information on Roger view his shooting website here.
Or for his helicam website, Flying Fern Films click here.
Vimeo site click here.