Caver Keith
Active member
My video won the Hidden Earth video salon in 2015, well when I say it was my video although I did all of the editing and most of the filming it was really a collaborative effort between myself, Brendan and Mark. It was based on photos taken by Mark and Brendan and we called it What It Takes To Get The Shot.
What I didn't know was that this triggered an automatic invitation to produce the opening video for the next conference.
Strewth!
What to do?
Full panic mode!
It's fine producing silly caving videos for YouTube whilst hiding behind a computer screen but to witness the Hidden Earth audience watching my work live and then having to face them immediately afterwards was a very daunting prospect, and the standard had always been so very high! No pressure then.
I wanted to do something a little different to anything that had gone before. I also liked the idea of showing the camaraderie amongst the great bunch of people I go caving with and how much fun we have together, but what to do?
The idea came to me a few weeks later in a flash of inspiration. The filming would be easy but I needed to re-write the lyrics to two songs and then find someone to record them for me. For nearly a year it seemed that the idea would never come to fruition. I had contacts in Dudley Arts Council and through that local radio. I also have a few musical friends, but couldn't get anyone interested in doing the singing and recording. I was almost back to full panic mode as I didn't have a plan B. Then Brendan suggested I try Nigel Atkins. I send the email and almost immediately the reply came back:
Hi Keith
Happy to do the vocals for you, not sure you need the full band to record the track, I have the backing track to Duran already..
Happy to help mate
Best wishes
Nige
Game on!
Nige did a fantastic job with the songs. When I played them loud as they would be in the conference hall I knew that even if the video turned out to be crap the music would carry it. I had some clips from previous videos that I knew would fit in and Mark and especially Jess came up with many more suggestions. All that was needed then to complete the video was a couple of weekends filming in South Wales and another in Yorkshire.
Credit Where Credit's Due
Nige for the incredible job he did on the songs.
Brendan, Mark and Bartek for allowing me to use their brilliant photos.
Brendan, Mark and Jess for acting as critical friends throughout the creative process and for their suggestions which elevated the video to a level I could not have achieved by myself.
Members of Dudley Caving Club who were willing to take part when I had stupid ideas like doing crazy dancing while tied up in rope.
Special thanks to Mark, Jess and Kay who were the core team for this video when filming on location.
I couldn't have done it without you.
The Video
Well it did seem that it was well received. We had some great feedback throughout the weekend - thanks, and then the icing on the cake was it won in the video salon.
So if you weren't at Hidden Earth this year or were there but for some inexplicable reason want to see it again then here it is.
http://youtu.be/85SPHUPrEks
What I didn't know was that this triggered an automatic invitation to produce the opening video for the next conference.
Strewth!
What to do?
Full panic mode!
It's fine producing silly caving videos for YouTube whilst hiding behind a computer screen but to witness the Hidden Earth audience watching my work live and then having to face them immediately afterwards was a very daunting prospect, and the standard had always been so very high! No pressure then.
I wanted to do something a little different to anything that had gone before. I also liked the idea of showing the camaraderie amongst the great bunch of people I go caving with and how much fun we have together, but what to do?
The idea came to me a few weeks later in a flash of inspiration. The filming would be easy but I needed to re-write the lyrics to two songs and then find someone to record them for me. For nearly a year it seemed that the idea would never come to fruition. I had contacts in Dudley Arts Council and through that local radio. I also have a few musical friends, but couldn't get anyone interested in doing the singing and recording. I was almost back to full panic mode as I didn't have a plan B. Then Brendan suggested I try Nigel Atkins. I send the email and almost immediately the reply came back:
Hi Keith
Happy to do the vocals for you, not sure you need the full band to record the track, I have the backing track to Duran already..
Happy to help mate
Best wishes
Nige
Game on!
Nige did a fantastic job with the songs. When I played them loud as they would be in the conference hall I knew that even if the video turned out to be crap the music would carry it. I had some clips from previous videos that I knew would fit in and Mark and especially Jess came up with many more suggestions. All that was needed then to complete the video was a couple of weekends filming in South Wales and another in Yorkshire.
Credit Where Credit's Due
Nige for the incredible job he did on the songs.
Brendan, Mark and Bartek for allowing me to use their brilliant photos.
Brendan, Mark and Jess for acting as critical friends throughout the creative process and for their suggestions which elevated the video to a level I could not have achieved by myself.
Members of Dudley Caving Club who were willing to take part when I had stupid ideas like doing crazy dancing while tied up in rope.
Special thanks to Mark, Jess and Kay who were the core team for this video when filming on location.
I couldn't have done it without you.
The Video
Well it did seem that it was well received. We had some great feedback throughout the weekend - thanks, and then the icing on the cake was it won in the video salon.
So if you weren't at Hidden Earth this year or were there but for some inexplicable reason want to see it again then here it is.
http://youtu.be/85SPHUPrEks
