Torches and the Telegraph

Yesterday was the torch relay shoot, and if I were to sum it up in one word it would be INCREDIBLE!  Rosy and I along with my friend Lauren set off from the house at 4am, this was a little painful but not as bad as I thought. We started the filming at lands end for the arrival of the torch and the first lighting of it with Ben Ainslie. We set up our equipment right next to Sky news and the BBC, I must say I did feel quite important stood there with my press pass! It was all really exciting as the helicopter arrived and circled, we all watched on intently with our cameras poised ready to catch the action. Once the helicopter had landed The Olympic officials came round with the flame. My excitement elevated as they lit Ainslie's Torch. The crowd erupted as Ben walked along with the flame. I ran off with my camera to get a closer look, I among many camera operators crowding Ainslie and even made the news myself! See the picture below.

There's me holding my camera in the pink top!

There was barely enough time to catch our breath before we headed off for Falmouth again to film an interview with Ben Ainslie for the Telegraph. 

I really loved doing this, it was great to work alongside a professional and also to meet such great athletes as Ainslie and Amy Williams (Olympic Gold Medalist for Skeleton). The footage that we got was put into the Telegraph video 'Lighting the Road to 2012: Ben Ainslie gets the London Olympic torch relay under way'

Evie and her Mum, that's me and my camera on the right. Image from google

We then headed to Bodmin to film with Evie Fairman, I found this whole experience amazing. I loved being so close to a great contributor and experiencing and witnessing her emotional journey. I really enjoy documentary, it is so rewarding being let in to these amazing peoples lives. I feel as though both Evie's and Garvey's family have really opened up to us and this will help make this documentary successful. We need to get the nitty gritty side of their conditions to show the public just how inspirational they both are and help raise awareness about their illnesses too. I think that one good way of doing this would be to give them both a camera so they can make video diaries when they are going through a tough patch. I believe that they would find it easier to be brutally honest when we are not there waving mics and cameras in their faces. The video diaries could act as a venting point for them. As director I desperately want to do these young people justice, they deserve it. I get the impression that both they and their families want to use this documentary to make people realise that these conditions exist. Evie's heart condition is more common that people think and the only way of diagnosing it in babies is to check their pulse and heart rate in different areas of their body. People also don't realise that children do get cancer, I know myself I always think, 'oh it won't happen to children', but it does and raiding awareness of just how common it is can help families catch it earlier than Garvey's managed to. 

Rosy filming the sign Evie's friends made for her. Image from google.

I am really looking forward ro working more on this documentary, I think it has got great potential, I would watch it if it were on TV. That's got to be a good thing, right?