http://calabashfilms.com/blog/ en info@calabashfilms.com Copyright 2012 2012-05-10T16:43:09+00:00 http://calabashfilms.com/site/gold_rush_alaska_-_my_final_shoot/ http://calabashfilms.com/site/gold_rush_alaska_-_my_final_shoot/#When:16:43:09Z Here’s a clip from the final episode of Season 1 of Gold Rush in Alaska. I was lucky enough to film the moment when the snow swept in, forcing Todd and his crew to shut down the operation and head south to escape the brutal Alaskan winter. Very cold conditions to film in but it made for a great season finale. 2012-05-10T16:43:09+00:00 http://calabashfilms.com/site/premier_of_the_great_american_manhunt/ http://calabashfilms.com/site/premier_of_the_great_american_manhunt/#When:14:45:02Z This week, sees the premier of ‘The Great American Manhunt’ on The National Geographic Channel. Last year Nick travelled across multiple US states filming three experts as they hunted for a live target using cutting-edge forensic science and good old fashioned detective work. Wide Eyed Entertainment is the British indie behind the new series. Nick O'Meally, director camerman, director producer, producer and director, producer director, Self Shooting Director, Self Shooting PD, shooting pd, The National Geographic Channel, Wide Eyed Entertainment 2012-04-17T14:45:02+00:00 http://calabashfilms.com/site/filming_in_south_america_for_the_discovery_channel/ http://calabashfilms.com/site/filming_in_south_america_for_the_discovery_channel/#When:16:44:14Z Calabash’s Nick O’Meally is Series Directing a new adventure / survival series for the Discovery Channel which takes a car, a survival expert and a petrol head to four of the world’s toughest environments. In South America he experienced some of the most challenging shoots so far in his career, taking a film crew across volcanic glaciers one of the driest deserts on earth and a very, very wet rainforest. This picture was taken on top of a volcanic glacier in South America and features Series Director Nick O’Meally and Sound Recordist Darrell Briggs tracking behind the talent on skidoos. Nick shooting GVs in Chile’s Atacama desert. Directing the action in a Chilean swamp. Dragonfly TV is the British Indie responsible for the commission which will air on Discovery later this year.   Nick O'Meally, director camerman, director producer, Dragonfly Television, Discovery Channel, Self Shooting Director, Self Shooting PD, Series Director, The Discovery Channel 2012-04-02T16:44:14+00:00 http://calabashfilms.com/site/national_geographic_channel/ http://calabashfilms.com/site/national_geographic_channel/#When:22:31:35Z Nick is blazing a trail across America on a new National Geographic series about forensic science. He’s covered eight states in three weeks and still going strong! Self-shooting it all in glorious HD, (Sony F900 & Canon 7D) Nick is following a team of experts as they use state of the art forensic science to track down and identify mystery targets across the North American continent. It’s a classic man hunt mixed with cutting edge science and high octane stunts. Look out for it in early 2012. Wide Eyed Entertainment is the British production company behind the series. Nick O’Meally is Director of Calabash Films and a freelance shooting pd (Producer and Director) Nick O'Meally, Canon 7D, director camerman, director producer, producer and director, producer director, Self Shooting Director, Self Shooting PD, shooting pd, video producer 2011-07-04T22:31:35+00:00 http://calabashfilms.com/site/what_is_social_media/ http://calabashfilms.com/site/what_is_social_media/#When:21:19:14Z Strip it back to it’s naked form and social media is just about conversations between human beings.  We’ve been at it since the beginning of time, but today technology has given us tools like Facebook and Youtube to engage and share information across the globe like never before.  Anything that we create, whether it’s text, pictures, audio or video and share in a social environment, such as blog or video site is ‘Social Media’.  And it’s potential for business, organizations and campaigns is amazing…. Whatever you have to say, social media gives you a supremely effective platform to whisper, talk or shout about it. It has shifted how we communicate and enables everyone to engage more quickly and efficiently than ever before. It’s also an incredibly powerful two-way channel – in other words, don’t give it out if you can’t take it back. But take it back you must, in its true unvarnished, naked context, because how else will you improve otherwise? For businesses, social media represents a fantastic opportunity for feedback, of the most direct kind imaginable. From Twitter and YouTube to LinkedIn and Facebook, it is becoming ever-more important for businesses of all types and sizes to have an progressive, integrative approach to social media. In terms of defining social media, it’s perhaps easier to map out what it isn’t. It’s not staid, old-fashioned or tired. Imagined as a person, it’s the best elements of Generation Y – multi-tasking, attention-grabbing, friendly, supremely tech-savvy, embracing of new ideas and, most importantly, welcoming to all-comers. And with more than 250 social media channels currently available, it’s an ever-growing offering. There’s a general consensus that social media engagement correlates with a brand’s performance. Combine this with the affordability of technology and the connectivity, means social media is bounding along at an unprecedented rate. Furthermore, you can be sure that, if you’re not involved with conversations yet, that your competitors may well be. The world wide web is amazing, never more so than in the explosion of so many fantastic social media sites. And as a facilitator, social media is second to none in terms of amplifying your message. There is one caveat – isn’t there always? Social media has to be done well to achieve this – consistency across different platforms, and agreement over core messages and methodologies are key to your continued success. The beauty of social media is that, on our most basic levels, we’re pretty much all sociable creatures at heart. So your audience, potentially, is anyone and everyone else. The possibilities…. If you’d like to know more, we’re here to help you make the most of your potential. What Is Social Media guest post by Sarah Todd. 2011-02-20T21:19:14+00:00 http://calabashfilms.com/site/social_tv_campaigining_at_its_best/ http://calabashfilms.com/site/social_tv_campaigining_at_its_best/#When:19:19:33Z Combining Social Media with TV can deliver fantastic results. A great example is Channel 4 recent campaigning series, Hugh’s Fish Fight, which successfully integrated a social element into all of its content and built a community around the programmes. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall backed by a host of other celebrity chefs including Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay, tapped into the politics of food to champion sustainable fishing practices and to seek changes to Europe’s Common Fisheries Policy. Key to the campaign is the call for people to diversify their fish-eating habits and to help raise support for changes to the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) to protect fish stocks and tackle unnecessary discarding of certain specifies of caught fish. The TV programmes were backed by a campaign website and active social media platforms including Facebook Hugh’s Fish Fight and Twitter Hugh’s Fish Fight. A key feature of the site was the option for users to sign-up to the campaign to write directly to policy makers in the EU. Half a million people have signed up so far which suggests that it’s been a resounding success. Take a peek at some of the other metrics and highlights from the week of broadcast: Fishfight.net 1 million page impressions clocked between 8-11pm on night of TX3 (14 Jan) Over 500,000 sign-ups to the e-petition Facebook Hugh’s Fish Fight Hugh’s Fish Fight: 181,000 people liked this page Channel 4′s Big Fish Fight: 22,000 people liked this page Twitter Hugh’s Fish Fight Fish Fight trended daily throughout TX, was a ‘Top tweet’ several times and received support from Jamie Oliver, Stephen Fry, Coldplay, Raymond Blanc, Jay Rayner and Dermot O’Leary. Blog post by Nick O’Meally. Thanks to Calabash Films’ cross platform consultant Joanna Haslam for her input. Joanna Haslam is a freelance Digital Producer currently at Keo Digital. She oversaw the creation of fishfight.net and runs the digital element of Hugh’s Fish Fight campaign, part of Channel 4′s Big Fish Fight season. 2011-01-31T19:19:33+00:00 http://calabashfilms.com/site/demand_for_online_video_explodes/ http://calabashfilms.com/site/demand_for_online_video_explodes/#When:16:12:05Z Online video is so hot right now according to a new report by Deutsche Bank. ‘Internet Industry Outlook 2011′ reported that online advertising in the US is set to reach US$28.5bn in 2011. And it’s not just traditional advertising that is flooding the net. There’s a whole host of creative ways to use online video resources to promote a brand, increase sales, revenue and/or traffic to your site. Combine video with a coherent and integrated social media strategy and you’ve got a potent combination. Online video can no longer be viewed as an add on, or bonus to your social media campaign.  It should be a key component of any online marketing strategy.  As one of the speakers, at a recent web cast we attended put it: “A website without video today, is like a company without a website in the 90s” director camerman, director producer, Online Video, producer and director, producer director, shooting pd, Web Film, Web Video 2011-01-28T16:12:05+00:00 http://calabashfilms.com/site/theres_gold_in_them_there_hills/ http://calabashfilms.com/site/theres_gold_in_them_there_hills/#When:15:00:49Z Our director Nick is back from Alaska after an epic two month shoot. He survived the bears and snow to make what’s going to be a great ten part, blockbuster Discovery series. The doc shot on HD by a very talented Raw TV crew from the US and UK, follows the fortunes of a group of unemployed men who strike out for the wilds of Alaska in search of gold - a genuine story of man against nature. The highlight for Nick would have to be getting up and close to the wildlife including Grizzly bears… and if you don’t believe him, see if you can spot one in this trailer for ‘Gold Rush’. Nick O’Meally is Director of Calabash Films and a freelance shooting pd (Producer and Director) Nick O'Meally, Calabash Films, CalabashFilms, director camerman, director producer, Discovery Channel, producer and director, producer director, Raw Television, Self Shooting PD 2010-11-10T15:00:49+00:00 http://calabashfilms.com/site/urban_yoga_goes_digital/ http://calabashfilms.com/site/urban_yoga_goes_digital/#When:20:19:56Z Calabash Films are developing a new yoga blog in partnership with our sister agency Naked and Social. It’s called Urban Yoga Monkey and the tag line is “Urban yoga methods, insights, fashion and digital downloads.” Feeling a bit of OM? Take a look at it here… Our director and self confessed yogi, Joanna Haslam, will be managing the blog, overseeing the social media side of things and commissioning Calabash Films to produce downloadable yoga videos. If you want to know more about the project, find Urban Yoga Monkey on Facebook, YouTube and on Twitter @UrbanYogaMonkey. Or watch the amazing star of our blog, Beth, in action here. 2010-11-09T20:19:56+00:00 http://calabashfilms.com/site/bbc_comedy_online_gets_the_cartoon_treatment/ http://calabashfilms.com/site/bbc_comedy_online_gets_the_cartoon_treatment/#When:23:20:54Z Calabash have been working with three very talented animators to develop a series for BBC Comedy to promote their comedy talent online in a fresh and interesting style.  Performances by stand-up comedians Tom Wrigglesworth and Jason Bryne have been transformed into a visual feast of video, audio and playful animation. Watch this space for the completed shorts from our animators Taplabs, Henry White and Anna Siedlikowska. Animation, BBC, Calabash Films, Online Video 2010-10-26T23:20:54+00:00