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On The Spot for Redberry Launch

Enjoy Jonah Lomu's interview. We recorded him in a crowded hall with music blaring and guests chatting away! Jonah Lomu is the legendary New Zealand Classic All Blacks Rugby player

On location at the launch of Redberry, doing a stand-in for our videographers to check lighting and sound

Redberry Sdn Bhd (Redberry) has kicked-off the revamp of its news and entertainment properties by launching two new TV shows to be aired on recently-established partnership channel Bernama TV at a glitzy and glamorous party in Kuala Lumpur today for the crème de la crème of the media industry. The exclusive event was co-hosted with Redberry anchor client, Celcom, and sponsored by ABSOLUT. (Excerpt from Adoi Magazine)

Peggy our video editor prepares her laptop to edit the footage as soon as its been shot

We were 'Johnny-on-the-spot' when Redberry organised  a competition for best reporting during their soft launch (this being a media company). Each participant had 30 seconds to do a 'mock' news report. The guideline was, 'report about anything within the last 7 days'. The grand prize was a Blackberry smart phone. The challenge for us was to record the reporting, edit the them on the spot AND hand them the finished master. Redberry will then broadcast the reporting for guests to view.

Mic-up! A participant gets to have a wireless microphone under his shirt

Considering that this is an ongoing event, our time window and margin for error was considerably short as we had to shoot, edit and transfer the mock reports into a DVD. Kassandra Kassim (Redberry's Chief Creative Officer) was the judge of honour who decided the winner. Before the best reporter received his/her reward, our DVD will be played for guests.

Nasrulhaq keeps pace (30 seconds each) as Baron directs while Sai Bee shoots the scene

Nevertheless, we pulled it off but not without some trepidation. Our cinematographer, Sai Bee expertly coordinated our videography team while I directed the participants. Sai Bee guided the lighting technician, our sound technician and communicated with our video editor.

Under Nasrulhaq's watchful eye (and stopwatch), another participant gets his 30 seconds of fame

For this setup, we used the Panasonic HVX 102b which has 2 XLR connections, ideal for our dual wireless microphones setup. Our audio setup comprised of 2 Sennheiser wireless mics with receivers. These were all connected via FireWire to a laptop running Avid Liquid. The interviews were simultaneously recorded into the camera's miniDV tape and a FireWire hard disk as the they were shot. They were then ingested and edited in Avid Liquid, using cuts and dissolves.

Celebrity Stephanie Chai does her bit to encourage more participants to take part in the contest

Our clients had the convenience of  the Sony GVHD700E. The 8" screen on the HDV recorder/player let them view the interviews as it was unfolding. Lighting was provided by two 650W Film Gear tungsten lights and reflectors which were sufficient for key, fill and backlight.

He's probably the youngest, but he knows his stuff! This chap goes on about sports.

When all the mock reporting were completed, it was Peggy's turn to work her magic. I don't envy Peggy (our Video Editor) all so lonely at her laptop but with all eyes on her, waiting for her to compile that essential DVD. Peggy aced it, Avid Liquid did what it was supposed to do and the DVD made it for playback. All's well that ends well.

Stand-up. Harith Iskandar, Malaysia's leading comedian, had audience roaring with laughter. This bought us much needed video editing time!

That was our setup: I directed as Sai Bee filmed and the rest of our team did their thing. Nothing prepared us for our guest of honour: Jonah Lomu, the famed New Zealand Classic All Blacks Rugby player. The brawny frame of Mr. Lomu arrived at our set with Kassandra Kassim (Chief Creative Officer, Redberry). The interview was conducted and edited. Well, sort of edited... Kassandra wanted the interview to be 7 minutes long, apparently reflecting the 7 Days program that Redberry acquired.

MCU or CU? Baron and Sai Bee discuss some of the finer points of videography

Kassandra Kassim is well recognised in the media industry and we've worked together many years back. As I remember her, Kassandra is exacting in her work. Nevertheless, I was surprised and impressed with how she ended the interview with Mr. Lomu almost on the dot... All this unrehearsed and impromptu!

Kassandra Kassim interviews New Zealand All Black rugby legend, Jonah Lomu. She ends the interview exactly at 7 minutes, just the way she likes it!

Our work was finally broadcast to guests after Harith Iskandar's stand-up. Mostly due to the good quality microphones we used and our Sound Technician's skills, we received good reviews from key people, one of them being Richard Duckett (Kassandra's husband). He claimed the audio clarity was top notch. This is no mean feat since we could hardly hear ourselves speak and we recorded right in the middle of all this!

Background info:
Redberry Sdn Bhd (Redberry) has kicked-off the revamp of its news and entertainment properties by launching two new TV shows to be aired on recently-established partnership channel Bernama TV at a glitzy and glamorous party in Kuala Lumpur today for the crème de la crème of the media industry. The exclusive event was co-hosted with Redberry anchor client, Celcom, and sponsored by ABSOLUT. The event heralded a new era for Redberry as it launched two fabulous new programs: The Last Word and 7 Days (Adoi Magazine)