Filmmaker: Neill Watson (www.neillwatson.com & blog.neillwatson.com)

Pro or amateur: Professional photographer. Shooting stills on Canon 1DS, specialising in location photography of transportation and built environment including cars, transportation, aerial photography

Shoot location: The Jamtland area of Sweden, around 80kms east from Ostersund on a frozen lake. Car - BMW M3 Rally car. 320 Bhp. Driver - Andy McKenna

Production equipment used:

Canon 5D MkII
Battery grip
14mm f2.8
70-200 f2.8
Manfrotto Variable Grip Arms
Woods suction mounts
Manfrotto 530 fluid video head - the fluid congealed in the low temps - Manfrotto have offered to build a special fluid cartridge for next time….
Lee ND filters
San Disk 8Gb cards

Editing software: Final Cut Studio

Editing hardware: Basic capture / location backup to 17″ Powerbook and external Seagate Firewire 800 HDD
Edit on G5 Tower PPC, dual 2.3 Ghz, 4 Gb RAM

Editing Workflow:
Convert to Apple Pro Res before loading into FCP in Compressor
Export after edit as full res Quicktime movie file
Create versions for upload using Compressor and Quicktime Pro, depending on destination

Favorite shot or clip in this film: The in car shot on 14mm beside driver Andy McKenna. I’ve sat beside plenty of quick drivers over the years, but Andy is the the fastest, the most creative and treats his driving with the same passion as a photographer does his images. Always a laugh. He’s grinning at one point - that’s because we’ve run out of opposite lock, so not sure if it’s about to spin out…

Tip for 5d MkII filmmakers:
1. Watch as many of the online videos that cover the basics of controlling aperture as you can. Tyler Ginther’s guide on Vimeo is a good start
2. If you’re a stills shooter moving to video, learn to ’shoot for the edit’ and create points in your footage with the edit in mind that make smoother cuts. And get a really heavy set of ’sticks’, you’ll need it
3. If you’re going to struggle to control focus and there’s plenty of light, use a wide angle and get in close, as DOF is less critical, or if on a telephoto and panning, just let it go to f22 and select a focus point that gives the DOF you need
3. Canon say it’s not a video camera, it’s a DSLR with video capability. True, but for some shoots, it’s actually the best tool for the job. The handheld in-car I shot was a lot easier due to the light weight