Putting one footage in front of the other
Andrew White
Q How do you first decide what areas of Britain to cover ?
A There are two different processes I go through when deciding on where we go in the series . Firstly I ’ m minded the series is Walks Around Britain – not Walks Around the Lake District – so I ’ m always trying to make sure the series is going to new areas in every season , and not just the same places . But having said that , they are areas which are very popular which I ’ d be silly not to include more often – such as the Lake District . So it ’ s a balancing act between making sure there ’ s enough popular and recognisable places to draw in viewers , but enough new and varied locations to be able to say we ’ re are still Walks Around Britain .
Secondly , a large source of income for the series comes from product placement - where advertisers can put their products inside the programmes - and increasingly now , destination management companies , tourist boards and accommodation providers are paying us to include a walk in their area . Any such walk has to fit into the ethos of the series , but usually the areas who want to pay are those who wouldn ’ t normally get coverage as a place to go walking , so that fits my first part too .
Having said all that , the areas have to work in relation to the whole season of programmes . I can ’ t have fourteen walks in Rutland , just because they want to pay me , so it ’ s about having a plan across the whole of a season about the geographical spread of the walks .
Q What research is required when planning a series of Walks Around Britain ?
A For my series , it ’ s all about telling stories . Great views after a while can become a bit boring and old hat - ‘ Oh look , there ’ s another drone shot of a mountain ’ - so what we do is tell stories . Now those stories could well be the story of the great view ; but more often than not , the story is something unique to the walk . Perhaps it ’ s where the coffins where taken for burial at the only church in the area ; perhaps it ’ s where an author got inspiration for a book ; perhaps it ’ s where a long-forgotten battle took place - it ’ s all about stories . And we all love stories . I know it will come as a shock to many Guild members , but not everyone wants to walk all the Wainwrights … but stories engage everyone - and it ’ s about finding those walks with stories .
Then , within each walk there ’ s research to make sure we know as much as possible about the route , so if there ’ s something that was there but isn ’ t now , we can make sure we film it - either just to talk about it or maybe to add CGI effects over the top . It ’ s also so we can possibly arrange to meet up with someone significant for that walk and do part or all of it with them .
Q How many episodes are in a series and how long does the shooting take ?
A There are seven episodes in each season , and that is for scheduling purposes . Many of the channels which show Walks Around Britain will every so often show them at the same time every day – known in the trade as stripping - so a seven programme season adds another full week of programmes to the collection . We ’ ve made three seasons so far , and we ’ re part way through filming season four now .
How long it takes to film depends on whether it ’ s a ‘ full ’ walk , i . e . one where we have a cameraman with us , or a ‘ self-shot ’ walk , where I film and present it alone . It usually takes two days per walk for the ‘ full ’ walk and one day for a self-shot walk .
Q What equipment and editing software do you use ?
A The early walks were all filmed on a Canon HDV camcorder , which gave pretty good images , but they weren ’ t full HD broadcast quality . I then moved onto filming with my Canon DSLR – which gave fantastic images , but absolutely shocking sound ! Now , I ’ ve just taken delivery of a Sony 150Z camcorder , which is 4K / UHD capable ( pictured above ). On the walks filmed by my cameraman Dave is filmed either on his Canon DSLR or , more recently , his new Ursa Mini . We also use a DJI drone and a Steadicam , all of which are 4K capable … so it ’ s only a matter of time before we see Walks Around Britain in 4K ..
Editing is all done on Sony Vegas , a competitor to Adobe ’ s Premiere , which I find to be more user-friendly than Adobe ’ s .
Q Do you have a back-up plan if shooting doesn ’ t go to plan ?
A This is tricky , as usually we have the one chance to get the footage in the can – so if bad weather strikes , we just have to keep going . Fortunately , we haven ’ t yet been in a situation where we ’ ve not been able to film anything because of the weather … and because I ’ m the producer , I can decide just to shorten a route so we get a complete walk in , rather than come away with something which isn ’ t finished or useable .
Q How do you keep track of your footage over the course of recording a walk ?
A It ’ s not normally a problem keeping track of what footage we ’ ve filmed , as I ’ m there every time we film ! I ’ m either filming it – when we have other presenters like Leah or I ’ m self-shooting - or I ’ m presenting it - when Dave is the cameraman - so it ’ s pretty easy to remember the stuff filmed and what it was for .
10 Outdoor focus | autumn 2017