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Video Spotlight- 5 Questions with Caroline Harrison
Video Spotlight- 5 Questions with Caroline Harrison
Posted by CarrieB | January 20, 2010 | Leave a comment
This week’s Video Spotlight hails from Northern California, courtesy of filmmaker Caroline Harrison. These videos are a production of Golflink.com and hosted by Laird Small, director of golf at the Pebble Beach Golf Academy. Please click the image below to see the segments!
What was the most difficult or unexpected challenge of this production? Noise. We were in the middle of one of the most popular and well-maintained golf courses in the country (Pebble Beach) on a bright sunny morning at 8am. Lo and behold, we were not alone. There were mowers emerging from every horizon, cars driving between us and the hole, and golf carts full of chattering clientele (and not the sort that you could easily ask to be quiet).
What equipment did you use for this shoot? A Sony EX-3, a Porta-Jib Explorer jib, Cartonie Tripod, LED 1000 light from Flolight, Sennheiser G2 wireless mic, a reflector and a Rhode directional mic with blimp.
What was your first filmmaking job? [She smiles] I decided it would be a good idea to make a film about the re-introduction of wild wolves to Idaho when I was 16. I borrowed an ARRI 16mm film camera from a rather surprised cameraman in Boise and set off in a small Ford Escort I'd picked up for $500. Now, wild wolves cover about 60-75 miles a day. There were only six of them. So you're with me, this wasn't a 'good' idea. I ended up with more moose, bison, bear, and otter footage than intended and finally, after six weeks I had an encounter with two wild wolves deep in a forest while the camera happened to be rolling ...
What is your favorite part of the production process, and why? That moment when your talent asks for a second take because they've seen you tweak and improve, tweak and improve everything to make this shoot work as well as possible and they want to rise to that level in their role. It's when we become a team.
What attracts you to filmmaking? Two things: The process (identifying the story, drawing character and emotion from the talent, fiddling with equipment, editing - nothing I don't like about that) and the impact. Most people would rather watch imagery and hear a soundtrack than listen to an awful lot of people talk in reality. Film adds magic. So I'll shut up here.
Caroline Harrison has been making films for more than a decade, for both the BBC in England and the ABC in Australia. Her last film with the BBC won the prestigious Planet Earth award at the Wildscreen Film Festival. Recently, she spent nine weeks visiting nine cities across China to create a documentary about the potential for acceleration of a sustainable Chinese construction market.
What was the most difficult or unexpected challenge of this production? Noise. We were in the middle of one of the most popular and well-maintained golf courses in the country (Pebble Beach) on a bright sunny morning at 8am. Lo and behold, we were not alone. There were mowers emerging from every horizon, cars driving between us and the hole, and golf carts full of chattering clientele (and not the sort that you could easily ask to be quiet).
What equipment did you use for this shoot? A Sony EX-3, a Porta-Jib Explorer jib, Cartonie Tripod, LED 1000 light from Flolight, Sennheiser G2 wireless mic, a reflector and a Rhode directional mic with blimp.
What was your first filmmaking job? [She smiles] I decided it would be a good idea to make a film about the re-introduction of wild wolves to Idaho when I was 16. I borrowed an ARRI 16mm film camera from a rather surprised cameraman in Boise and set off in a small Ford Escort I'd picked up for $500. Now, wild wolves cover about 60-75 miles a day. There were only six of them. So you're with me, this wasn't a 'good' idea. I ended up with more moose, bison, bear, and otter footage than intended and finally, after six weeks I had an encounter with two wild wolves deep in a forest while the camera happened to be rolling ...
What is your favorite part of the production process, and why? That moment when your talent asks for a second take because they've seen you tweak and improve, tweak and improve everything to make this shoot work as well as possible and they want to rise to that level in their role. It's when we become a team.
What attracts you to filmmaking? Two things: The process (identifying the story, drawing character and emotion from the talent, fiddling with equipment, editing - nothing I don't like about that) and the impact. Most people would rather watch imagery and hear a soundtrack than listen to an awful lot of people talk in reality. Film adds magic. So I'll shut up here.
Caroline Harrison has been making films for more than a decade, for both the BBC in England and the ABC in Australia. Her last film with the BBC won the prestigious Planet Earth award at the Wildscreen Film Festival. Recently, she spent nine weeks visiting nine cities across China to create a documentary about the potential for acceleration of a sustainable Chinese construction market.
