Photofilms
Saint Paul’s Cathedral Restored
The St Paul’s Cathedral programme of cleaning and repair cost £40m ($65m), took 15 years and was one of the largest restoration projects ever undertaken in the UK.
This was the first time in its history that the building had been comprehensively restored both inside and out.
The culmination of the cleaning project in June 2011 coincided with the 300th anniversary of the cathedral being declared complete by Parliament.
This photofilm attempts to place St Paul’s in the context of the City of London. Despite is massive size and dominant position St Paul’s can often only be glimpsed through the buildings that nestle up to it.
During the Second World War St Paul’s escaped the London Blitz relatively unscathed despite all around it being destroyed and subsequently became an icon of resistance during the darkest days the UK has ever faced.
To both visitors and Londoners alike it has been a sanctuary of peace and tranquillity for three centuries and remains so today.
[Please note that this is not an official production by St Paul's Cathedral but their help in its creation is greatly appreciated.]
Production Notes
The main footage and stills for this photofilm were shot during a three hour press call on a Canon 5D Mk2. Five further visits were made to Saint Paul’s to shoot the intro walk up (on a Canon XF300), to take more exterior stills (when it wasn’t raining( and capture more audio.
Post production was undertaken using Adobe Premiere Pro.
SB Cabby
The Sailing Barge (SB) Cabby was the last Thames sailing barge to be built of wood and was launched at Strood near Rochester in 1928.
The Cabby worked as a motor barge carrying grain, animal feeds and other bulk cargoes sailing between London and the east and south coast ports with the occasional trip to the near continent.
During the Dunkirk crisis of 1940 she was enlisted as part of Operation Dynamo. Initially tasked to take drums of fresh water to the troops waiting evacuation on the beaches at the last moment she was diverted to the Clyde.
The Cabby worked continuously until 1970 when she was ‘rerigged’ as a company charter barge.
For more information about the Cabby visit sailingbargecabby.co.uk
Production Notes
All stills were taken on a Canon 5D MK2 during a single two hour trip in the SB Cabby along the River Thames. My original concept was for the images to be in colour, but as the best shot worked better in monochrome this dictated the use of black and white throughout.
Post production was undertaken using SoundSlides.
