Bloc 2012

A Falkohaus Production : facebook.com/falkohaus
This is a film I shot for Bloc Festival. It was directed by my brother David Terranova : blog.davidterranova.com

Music : Extrawelt : 'Was Übrig Bleibt' : New album 'In Aufruhr' out now on Cocoon Recordings

Art Direction : Stuart Hammersley : giveupart.com

Filmed on location at London Pleasure Gardens : Royal Victoria Docks : New Venue for Bloc 2012
blocfestival.com

Music : Extrawelt : 'Was Übrig Bleibt' : New album 'In Aufruhr' out now on Cocoon Recordings

Mood Film

We were asked to pitch for a commercial for Dove Men Care, so we decided to pop down to Scooterworks in South East London and film a quick mood film. Shot on the Canon 5D.

ECO CRIME INVESTIGATORS Trailers for National Geographic

We produced three one hour programmes following the Environmental Investigation Agency as they uncovered wrong doings in the "Ivory Trade", "Illegal Timber Trade" and "Whaling" for the National Geographic Channel. These are the three trailers.

Hunt for the Whalers Trailer from Red Earth Studio on Vimeo.

Blood Ivory Smugglers Trailer from Red Earth Studio on Vimeo.

The Real Chainsaw Massacre Trailer from Red Earth Studio on Vimeo.

This is the TX Card for the US screening.

Kenya

Programme #4 and the final shoot for National Geographic and this time we headed to Kenya to follow the Environmental Investigation Team as they tried to uncover some facts on the illegal ivory trade.

Nairobi skyline. We didn't stay here long as we headed north past Mount Kenya to the dry and arid landscape of Samburu National Park.








We met Ian Douglas Hamilton founder of Save the Elephant foundation who have been working tirelessly protecting these amazing animals in Samburu National Park.

He took us out to go and see the carcass of Resilience, a matriarch shot by poachers 3 weeks before our visit. She managed to escape them and stumbled around the bush for two weeks. She was eventually found lying on the ground in convulsions and it was decided the kindest thing to do was put her out of her misery with a gunshot. The poachers never managed to get her tusks which in a twisted way makes her killing even more pointless.

Filming Resilience's carcass.

The evening of our second day in Samburu and as we relaxed chatting away to Sir Ian and his staff a message came over the radio that an elephant had been shot. It was too dangerous for any of us to go and find out. KWS were informed and they sent an armed patrol. Early the next morning we headed deep into the bush and found the mutilated body of "Hope" a 40 year old matriarch. She was riddled with AK47 bullets and her two front tusks had been hacked off with a machete. David, the head ranger, started asking around the local tribes and they all said the same thing, Somali poachers.

Hope had two small calfs who ran off into the bush during the attack. Luckily they have since attached themselves to another group and fingers crossed they will survive.

By the afternoon poor "Hope" was easy meat for the local villagers.

Adam, (left), and producer Nick Courcoux, (right), filming with the Kenyan Wildlife Service anti-poaching team in East Tsavo National Park.

Filming a drive by shot of the EIA vehicle near the stunning Chyulu Hills National Park.

Amboseli National Park

Mother and calf

A matriarch and her calf dig for water in the dry riverbed in Samburu National Park.

A giraffe in the setting sun in beautiful Samburu National Park.

Columbus, North Dakota

What happens to a dying town when it discovers oil? Welcome to Columbus, North Dakota, a tiny prairie town with a shrinking population in the low 100’s.
This is a story that was brought to us (Red Earth Studio) by Kelly Neal. An American living in Glasgow at the time, she had directed a short film in Columbus back in 2007 about ice fishing called "How to save a fish from drowning", (winner of a Scottish BAFTA).
When we saw the stunning landscape and fascinating characters we all came to the conclusion that there was a bigger story to be told.
Filming started in June 2010 and we have been back and forth five times over the last year. The production is self financed and therefore the field crew has been small, just myself and Kelly. It is filmed on a Sony HDXDCAM700.
At present we are at the rough cut edit stage and have just signed a contract with Channel4 and More4. YLE (Finland) and DRK (denmark) are also going to put pen to paper in the next few days and we are waiting on a few more European channels to come on board and most importantly a US broadcaster.
It is Exec Produced by Mark Wild, Producers are Ces Terranova, Julien Mignonac and Myself (Adam Docker), Production Manager is Joanna Ford. I am also the DOP and Kelly Neal is the Director.







A once booming community, these days Columbus’ liveliest parties are funeral processions. Columbus’ youth and small-hold farmers have fled to the bright city lights of Fargo. This has resulted in a quiet disappearance, a withering away of the landscape until all that is left are vast swaths of lonely countryside peppered with abandoned farms and ghosts of the past. This is about to change. In the next 6 months the sleepy little town’s residents will have their lives turned upside down in a modern day gold rush, in this case black gold.



Sitting atop the Bakken formation, Columbus’ elderly residents are unwittingly the owners of part of the biggest oil find in the lower 48. Drilling has just begun, bringing with it a steady stream of out-of-state oil workers and a chance for wealth beyond their wildest dreams. Columbus is about to get a new lease on life.







Meet Wiley Post. A wise-cracking, sly old dog with a limp and a ready-grin, Wiley is the voice that guides us through the story of Columbus. At 76 years old Wiley was born and raised in Columbus. He’s seen it through its good days and now through the bad. A grumpy old man with humour in his heart, he reveals much of the information that drives the story ahead.

He leads us through a tour of the town, limping his way along the barren Main Street that’s awash in memories for him. We learn of the town’s former glory, its population of over 800 people and the hustle and bustle of abundant local businesses. But as Wiley says, “that’s all gone now. We got 1 café and 1 bar. And by God I never thought I’d be mowing grass on the sidewalks of Columbus North Dakota. But that’s what I’m doing.”



Filming started in Summer 2010 and we return every 3 to 5 months.


Kelly Neal Director



Winters in North Dakota are harsh. It was a new experience for me and for my trusty Sony HDXDCAM 700.
Average temperatures were around -20c so I decided to take a jacket and heat packs for the camera but it was cumbersome. It meant unzipping to set it on the tripod and a hassle to change discs and to film on the shoulder, the access for the hands wasn't easy and I couldn't get good maneuverability with it on, so off it went. We drove everywhere, even from our rented accommodation to the cafe which was about 50 metres and the engine was always left running to keep it warm. Shooting outside was so cold that we limited it to around ten to fifteen minutes max. Nostril hairs and the cables on the camera would freeze. The 700 was robust and trusty as ever and we didn't have one single problem arise from the extreme conditions.

Spoken Word

Spoken Word artist and Chill Pill founder Raymond Antrobus performs one of his poems "Have You Heard?"
Filmed on a Canon 5D at the Dean Street Theatre in London.

Canon 5D Test

Testing the Canon 5D. Thanks to Joy from Models 1, James Mountford for production and Holleigh Gallon for Make-up, music David Terranova

Vet Adventures Promo

Vet Adventures sees the return of Dorset vet Luke Gamble (founder of wvs http://www.wvs.org.uk/) as he continues his travels across the globe treating animals in need. You can watch his exploits on Sky1 HD, Sky1, Discovery Animal Planet Europe and Discovery Animal Planet Asia.

We filmed the series over the whole of 2009 and visited ten countries. Series one saw Luke visit India, Grenada, Malawi, Thailand and Mexico. Series two sees him travel through Zambia, Peru, Nepal, Costa Rica and Uganda.

Sky Rainforest Rescue 3D - Behind the scenes

When Sky asked my company Red Earth Studio to produce a short 5 to 12 minute 3D film of the Amazon for their Rainforest Rescue campaign, I could see we were in for a challenge. The fact that Sky was aiming to showcase this in an interactive pod around the UK in an attempt to raise £2 million to help save one billion trees in the Brazilian rainforest, whilst also promoting awareness of environmental issues and sustainability, made this a creative, worthwhile cause that I felt privileged to be involved with.



The general consensus is that 3D is limited to controlled, set-up environments due to the size of the equipment and the complex workflow. But Sky, keen to push these limits, wanted a hand-held feel for this film and therefore approached us as a production company specialising in observational documentaries. We were undoubtedly excited as this would be our first foray into 3D filming and, as commissions go, this had to be one of the most demanding. Having spent the previous few months noticing the buzz and excitement around 3D in the TV industry, it was great to be able finally to get our hands dirty and find out what all the fuss was about. And the best part? We had just one week to organise it!



Originally it was planned to film in the region of Acre, which is where the Sky Rainforest Rescue sponsorship programme operates. However, situated to the far west of the Amazon, near Peru, the logistics and costs of this location made it impossible, so we relocated the shoot to the district around Manaus. Here there was plenty of forest, a rich variety of animals plus indigenous tribes to be found, while still being close enough to civilization should anything go wrong. We had just five days to film everything so couldn’t afford any serious delays. Nevertheless, the location would throw up plenty of challenges for both people and equipment, being both a yellow fever and malaria area, intensely humid, and prone to torrential rain every day for six months of the year, which would include the time we were there – a testing environment indeed for the array of electronics we would be relying on.



On a previous shoot in Los Angeles, we had met Bruce Austin (3D stereographer) and Sean Coles (cinematographer) from BAP and 3Rive Productions, respectively. They had built a clever little prototype Si2k beam-splitter 3D rig that was small and light and worked with Schneider 8mm wide angle Cinegon lenses. The feed from both cameras was perfectly synced and they were able to output into one single QuickTime file onto a Cinedeck unit mounted on the back of the rig. We had evaluated all the options prior to the shoot, from REDs to EX3s, but all were too big, heavy and/or clunky. The Si2K ticked all the boxes; it was slimline, very easy to handle and operate, and made ENG style filming in 3D a reality.

Bruce and Sean decided to throw in a second Si2k side-by-side camera with XA4x7.5DA-1 (7.5 to 30) Fujinon C-mount lenses for the close-up shots. This recorded onto a 1 Beyond hard drive unit, just in case the Cinedeck failed in the notorious Amazon humidity.



The flamboyant Richard Rasmussen is one of Brazil’s top wildlife TV presenters whom we had worked with on previous projects. He spends most of his time travelling around the wildlands of Brazil and was an ideal candidate for this production. His English was a little rusty, but it was good enough and his engaging style of presentation more than made up for any slightly odd grammar. The plan was to show Richard walking through the forest, pointing out all kinds of creatures – monkeys, snakes, tarantulas, lizards, parrots, insects – as he encountered them, while at the same time informing us about the trees and climate of the rainforest. In other sequences, he would dance to the strains of panpipes with local tribespeople, feed pink river dolphins and climb high above the forest canopy on a huge tower. Richard’s walkabout was to offer visitors to the pod a rich and varied experience of this part of the Amazonian rainforest.



First day of the shoot and it pours with rain. Because of the humidity, one of the recording units shuts down resulting in filming coming to a worrying halt.
L to R Sean Coles, Pedro Guimaraes (asst camera), Tiago Bittencourt (soundman)



Every shot had to be meticulously studied after every take to check for any raindrops or humidity on the lenses, insects and lens flare. It is definitely a slow process and it felt like working with a complicated film camera, probably a little more slower because there are so many factors to take into consideration that don't exist in 2D.



Freeman White, 2nd asst. camera.



Filming a scene with Richard Rasmussen dancing with the Dessana tribe



The Cinedeck is an incredible piece of kit. As well as serving as our recording unit, it allowed us to replay footage back and to check the images coming from both lenses. We were also able to view both live pictures, as well as rushes, in anaglyph mode. This is not a perfect image, but it did allow us to check whether the I/O (interocular), or 3D effect, was too much or too little. Bruce, the stereographer, was very rigorous in looking after this. Because there were lots of trees and branches appearing in the foreground, we kept the I/O – or the distance between the two cameras – to a minimum (between 1/4 and 1/2 inch), so that it wasn’t too disturbing on the eye.
http://www.cinedeck.com/



Viewing the rushes on the Cinedeck with my anaglyph glasses.



Filming the Chief of the Dessana tribe playing his drum



Despite the dark interior the Si2K read it really well and we were able to push the picture in post without it breaking up. The Off line edit was done at Red Earth Studio and all post was done at Prime Focus, London.



I thought I would take my director's hat off and give filming a go. Here I am filming some monkeys up in a tree.



The style of the film is ob-doc, handheld and we predominantly used the beam splitter camera using Schneider 8mm Cinegons, wide angle fixed lenses. When we needed to film close up shots we would use the side by side camera with XA4x7.5DA-1 (7.5 to 30) Fujinons as well as the Linos 30mm lenses. All of the lenses were c-mounts.
As the lenses were independent from one eye to the other, it meant every time we changed frame on the Fujinons they required calibration, thus slowing down the shoot. We resolved this by shooting as much as we could on the wide and then repeating the scene again on the tighter lenses.



A Bald Ukari monkey, also nicknamed "english monkey" by the locals because of their red face, gives Sean a hard time and like everything else in the forest, demands some form of payment before being filmed.



Tiago getting friendly with a monkey.



Looking for tarantulas.



Filming in the forest is dark! And there is only a short window to film in it, between 10am to 3pm, which doesn't leave much time to get everything done. Dark rain clouds make it even worse. Why didn't we film with a portable light some have asked. We did think about it, but on top of all the equipment we had to carry as it was, an extra battery pack and lights would have been a burden on the small crew that we had and on excess baggage as well. We wanted to keep the scenes as natural as possible and a light would have created shadows and an unnatural look. When it got to dark to film one of the scenes with a tarantula, we took the spider on a short walk, took some leaves from the forest floor, had a couple of the crew hold them behind Richard as a prop and filmed the scene on the road, away from the shadows. Two minutes later the heavens opened and an almighty deluge forced us to rush back to our cabin.
And yes, we returned the spider where we found it.



Richard doing a piece to camera while walking through a stream.



We happened upon this enormous Bird Eating Tarantula by chance, unfortunately it never made the edit.



The massive Bird Eating Tarantula.



Filming pink river dolphins in the Amazon river. One of the challenges we faced filming on water were polarisation issues, meaning one eye would see reflection on the water, whereas the other eye would see through the water. In a more controlled environment we would have played around with polariser filters, but we didn't have the time, so we positioned the camera where it had the least amount of reflection.



Richard feeding the dolphins. They would bump into you, nuzzle on your legs, jump out of the water and splash you, making filming difficult and perilous with the expensive camera. Should Sean get hit and slip in the water, it was up to me and my deft reactions to save it.



That's a wrap.



Together With Richard Rasmussen and some dastardly snake!



The Crew. From L to R: Adam Docker (Director), Carlos Campos (Richard's asst.), Tiago Bittencourt (Soundman), Pedro Guimaraes (asst camera), Sean Coles (Cinematographer), Freeman White (2nd asst camera), Bruce Austin (Stereographer), Pedro Neto (Fixer) and Richard Rasmussen (Wildlife TV presenter).