Guide to Self Management in Cancer Rehabilitation

The last few months have been spent creating a DVD for Velindre Hospital in Cardiff, which deals with the care and treatment of all types of cancer. Sue Acreman, consultant AHP for Velindre NHS Trust cancer services, wanted to use the DVD to help promote self management after leaving hospital.

As they already had a booklet, we came up with a treatment which involved filming various scenarios with ex-patients, a voice-over and music.

DVD Menu highlighting the Practical section

We then put together an interactive DVD detailing the 8 points in their care plan.

1. Physical
2. Nutritional
3. Psychological
4. Informational
5. Spiritual
6. Practical
7. Social & Relationships
8. Financial 

The project was delivered on DVD in English and Welsh, with an additional 5 minute subtitled version for use in doctors' surgeries across Wales and eventually the UK.

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the people involved, who helped make this DVD, especially the ex-patients and staff at Velindre Hospital, and the Croupiers Running Club in Penarth for donating some of their runners for use during filming. Thank you, and good luck to all of you.

Kiwi Knights are set to go!

Max & Dave - The Kiwi Knights

For the last few months, we've been preparing for one of our biggest adventures yet. We are sending two Kiwi guys off on an epic journey that will see them take in 14 countries, cover 5000 km, and take almost a year to complete, all on foot!. That's right... they're walking the entire 5000 km.

Their journey starts this Sunday (15th August 2010) from outside the Templar Church in London, where they will be setting off for Portsmouth, walking the same footsteps that the original Knights Templar did over 800 years ago. They will be blogging daily about their entire journey so we've set them up with a website, which they can publish to directly from their mobiles just by sending an email with a picture or video attachment. The guys will also be filming the entire trip in HD, sending back footage weekly for editing and uploading to the blog. This footage will also be edited and purposed for TV.

We are also looking for co-production partners to join us on this multimedia adventure, so if you are interested in getting involved, please contact Viv via our contact page.

Why not click the link above, or here, and give them a visit.

Video Editing and DVD Authoring for UWIC

We've spent the last 5 months on a very big job for Estyn/UWIC, which entailed editing 60 x 1hr English and Welsh language lessons.

Shot on DV by Bay TV using 2 cameras, the lessons were edited here on our Avid editing systems, using the multicamera mode. The tapes were synched together in a multicamera group, then it was a simple case of choosing which camera to look at and when, just like using a vision mixer.

The lessons were then played out to DVD for appraisal, before being further edited down to roughly 1/2 hour. Some lessons also had a 'feedback' section by the examiners to the teachers.

All 60 lessons (15 English Primary, 15 English Secondary, 15 Welsh Primary, 15 Welsh Secondary) were then authored to DVD, 3 lessons per DVD, and are to be used internally by UWIC as a teacher training resource.

All artwork, printing and duplicating was done right here too, supplying UWIC with 11 copies of 20 different DVDs.

Carew Wartime Memories 1939 - 1945

We were asked to create a 1 hour Wartime Remembrance DVD for the Carew Cheriton Community Association & Carew Cheriton Control Tower Group.

These guys have used Heritage Lottery funding to renovate their control tower at Carew in Pembrokeshire. It now looks exactly as it did back in 1941, with all the paraphernalia that you would expect to see in a wartime airstrip control tower.

The DVD was to make a record of the memories of the people that lived in Carew during the 2nd World War. Viv took a camera down to Carew, and interviewed lots of the locals to record their version of events. Some were just kids at that time, others just visiting, but all had stories to tell, about German aeroplanes bombing the runway, the huge oil fires that required the London fire brigade to spend 5 days putting it out, the gunner who "had them in his sights" but didn't receive the order to fire and many more similar tales.

With over 24 hours of interview footage and over 300 photos, we edited a 1 hour documentary detailing the stories and events of that time. The artwork comprised the full colour DVD cover (pictured here) and 2-page booklet, together with onbody print, together with artwork for an audio CD compiled by Lawson Dando at Albany Studios in Fairwater, Cardiff.

Adult Learning and Why you should learn Welsh

Another advert for Capell Creative (thanks Steve!), this time a revamp of the Adult Learning campaign from a couple of years back in which a series of celebrities and members of the public say why they are learning welsh... to help my business, to get on in life, to talk to my staff, because it's fun, etc.

Barry YMCA New Website

We were approached by the YMCA in Barry to revamp their website. Having been rebuilt almost from the ground up, the YMCA felt they needed a newer, fresher looking website, with the ability to book rooms and present news of the many different activities that take place. We sent our photographer (Andy Brotherton) down to take shots of all the rooms and some external shots for texture, and through consultation with the CEO and staff, rebuilt their website to provide the services they required of it.

The Great Pyramid Beckons

We sent a team of people out to Egypt to get some footage of the Great Pyramid for a project we are working on (more news of that later). Viv led the crew with Sheena (producer), Andy (photographer), Rob (Soundman), Danny (Producer) and Sue (publisher) and we spent 5 days shooting up and down the Nile, around the Pyramids, in the Coptic Churches and loads more. We even had time to party on the last night. The footage and photos are for a number of projects we have in the pipeline all based around the Pyramids, and involving a best selling author. Intrigued?