Hunter Valley Indigenous history videos - Covid-safe video production

This month we're working on a lockdown version of a short Indigenous history video series with Sydney-based NSW Greens Senator David Shoebridge.

I've known of video production companies not keen on shouting from the rooftop when working with politicians. But the campaign David is running is aimed at preventing open-cut coal mining – of which there is plenty – in the NSW Hunter Valley, north of Sydney, from encroaching on sites of grave significance to local Aboriginal people, the Wonnarua clans. As a member of One Per Cent For The Planet with a clear environmentalist bent, Wedge-Tail is happy to be on board.

Broadly speaking, the series speaks to the 'frontier war' violence in the Hunter Valley in the comparatively early days of the colony of New South Wales. British troops, supported by the newly-formed NSW mounted police (still going strong in 2021) wrought horrific violence on the Indigenous peoples of the land; often in a spiralling tit for tat, which also saw many attacks on white settlers. This was war, however unevenly the odds were stacked.

COVID-SAFE SYDNEY VIDEO PRODUCTION

Despite travel restrictions we've been able to produce the first video in a series of four in a Covid-safe way. We're were lucky enough to get a batch of video and drone footage provided which came from some of the archaeological work happening at the site. Sadly, we were unable to travel to the region to film or produce drone footage given the restrictions in Sydney at the moment – nor could we carry out interviews. It's not the highest quality footage we're working with – but sometimes patchy video which tells the story is better than quality video which does not, drone or otherwise. [Editorial] Content is King!

Matched with suitable archive and historical photography from places like the State Library of NSW and the ever-trusty zoom interview, we've been able to produce these videos entirely from the Wedge-Tail office. We've had David's researcher Aish record her audio from her own home while speaking, and send it back to the edit suite to achieve slightly higher-quality than a Zoom recording would have achieved.

This is the first of four videos, we hope it shines a light on a too-often under discussed aspect of our shared Australian history.

And if it floats your boat, please have a look at Wedge-Tail feature documentary The Lake of Scars – we'll be sharing some very exciting news there soon.

Above: A shot of the Ravensworth Homestead in the Hunter Valley

Thermal-imaging drones to find koalas - documentary shoot

What a great drone video assignment for Wedge-Tail a few weeks back; hired to spend a few days in the wild with a team of cutting-edge government and university researchers using heat-seeking drone hardware to detect and monitor koalas.

Working with Germany's Smac Media, it was the kind of video production assignment there hasn't been enough of over the last year of Covid disruptions; the adventure kind.

The team were using a range of DJI hardware - Matrice and Mavic drones - to seek out koalas in the dead of night (they give off greater heat spots at night, in winter) before attempting to locate any positive sightings on foot afterwards.

We were on the NSW mid-north Coast; but temperatures were still dipping to around 3/4c each night. A camera operator's (or indeed a drone operator's) hands are definitely best-friends with fingerless gloves in these conditions. There are also questions around drones, cameras and their batteries, as well as foggy lenses in cold conditions like this.

Koalas - and many other species - were hit hard by the devastating fire season the summer before last. It's hoped that technological advancements with the capabilities of drones will keep monitoring efforts on track. Ultimately though, there is no doubt what the big issues are for koalas - habitat loss thanks to humans, along with illness such as chlamydia, attacks by dogs (feral and domestic), and death by motor vehicle.

Using drones to locate wildlife is something that has been used in different territories around the world - including in Australia - for a number of years. Working with the team of researchers on this environmental filmmaking project was also of real interest for us given that the use of drones for mapping and wildlife monitoring is also something Wedge-Tail Pictures has been developing to work alongside our video production capabilities in remote environments.

Editing will be carried out by Smac in Munich; dig out the final show ('Wildlife Diaries') to see what we found with the drone!

From international newsrooms to Sydney livestream professionals

Image: A livestream event for The Blueprint Institute at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.

Well, we're on lockdown again Sydney.

But thanks to the art of livestream video production, your events or key meetings can stay on and occur in a virtual capacity.

I've worked for almost a decade in television news (That's Wedge-Tail founder Bill) - for Al Jazeera on the international front, SBS TV in Sydney, shooting for the BBC and the ABC, as well as several other news agencies around the world. We've gained a lot of experience in the art of bringing things to air live – keeping a cool head and making sure your video gets out to where it needs to be in the world.

Last year, my colleagues and I turned those skills into a dedicated, proficient, Covid-safe and ultimately competitive Sydney video production livestream service.

Here's what a couple of our clients have said about our livestreams over the past year:

"A godsend...I couldn't speak more highly of Wedge-Tail."

Harry Guinness, CEO, Blueprint Institute.

"Wedge-Tail were the ultimate professionals from first contact.The finished [live-stream] product was outstanding and provided all parents (and the school) with peace of mind. We can't thank Wedge Tail enough for the quality product and their service. Made a great day outstanding!"

Linda Deep, Kingsgrove High School.

Our two-person team can provide your customers, clients, colleagues (or fans!) an easy-to-use YouTube or Facebook livestream, a fully private and password-protected Dacast video stream, or a simple Zoom event with a video production of high quality - think bright lights and quality sound - plugged into the host's account. Heck, we can even provide a live feed direct from a drone if you need; we're fully licensed and insured on that front.

After the event, we can provide you with a high-quality video production of the video we've been streaming.

We're also sensitive to the needs of small operations – so have a chat to us today about the essential elements making up an informative and secure video livestream event.

Drop us an email or call 0420 652 289