There has been a lot of disruption in the creative industries throughout 2023 and I appreciate that many of my freelance colleagues, particularly those who work in film and TV, have been out of work for a good part of the year. Considering all this uncertainty, I’m extremely grateful to have been in work at all and am fortunate to have enjoyed some interesting projects at that!

With that in mind, here are some of my favourite projects from the last 12 months…

2022 has very much been the post-pandemic ‘bounce back’ year for me and for many of my peers too. It was so good to reunite with old clients, but I was also fortunate to work with some incredible new ones as well. Despite experiencing some challenges and a grim economic outlook for us all as we go into 2023, there has been much to celebrate and build on as the freelancing journey continues.

Here are some of my personal highlights from the past 12 months…

When creating a video maintaining good pace is, in my opinion, probably the most important goal for an editor, besides meeting a deadline! A major part of this is the style in which we edit our sequences. So, in this post I’ll be showing you 5 creative ways to edit footage in order to help keep an audience’s interest. Each of these techniques balances the modern with the tasteful, and for the most part, doesn’t take much time to implement.

Could any of your projects benefit from the following approaches?

Videos featuring interviews or ‘talking heads’ are very popular in the corporate sector, both for internal and external use. However, one problem that can occur with this format is that they can sometimes be viewed as a bit dull. If you’re going to invest in video, it works both in your favour and mine that the target audience finds them interesting!

So, how can video production techniques be used to make them less stuffy and help them stand out from the competition?

Last year, in the midst of the pandemic and as we approached our third national lockdown in the UK, it felt inappropriate to do my usual roundup of the year. Truth be told, I’d had a difficult few months (along with everyone else) but it paled in comparison to the vast majority of the population. As we now sign off for 2021 (wondering where the time went) and learn to live with covid, I think it’s time to start talking about our achievements again.

2019 was a big year for me for several reasons. Firstly, I hit the big 3-0, which actually wasn’t as scary as everybody had made it out to be. I also somehow, miraculously, managed to get on the property ladder! If you’d said that to me 5 years ago, I would have laughed.

When you hit milestones in your life such as these, it does make you self-evaluate, both in a professional and personal sense. Fortunately in both cases, things are going well!

The white screen ‘studio’ look is a tried and tested style used in many corporate and talking head videos. There’s a reason why so many people use it - when done properly it looks professional and high end. However, just shooting in an infinity cove or against a white backdrop isn’t enough to give it the ‘look’. Yes, you’re going to need a decent camera, but the secret to making it look professional is to create an effective lighting setup that ensures your subject jumps out to the viewer.

Choosing a video production professional to hire can be just as difficult as picking any other service or tradesperson. You may have done a Google search and found dozens of people to choose from and it could all seem a bit overwhelming. I know that feeling; where on earth do you start? Well, there may be a wealth of talent out there but if you go with the wrong person or company it could end up being an expensive mistake. So, assuming that you'd prefer to use a freelancer over an agency, I've listed here a few key qualities that you should look for when choosing your videographer..

As of last month I have officially been freelancing in video production for 5 years. It's quite incredible to be honest and I can't believe how quickly the years have gone. So much has happened in this time and it has been a rollercoaster of a journey.

Thank God winter is nearly over. I mean really, it has felt like the longest winter in a long time. Everybody just seems so much happier when the days are longer, especially us cameramen. More time in the beer garden..ahem..I meant more light for filming!