Recent Assignment: Save the Children, Malawi

I was recently given as assignment to go to Malawi and produce a video and stills package for a healthcare award run by Glaxo Smith Klein and Save the Children. The deadline was quite tight, I had two days in which to shoot everything I needed (stills and video) and then had to edit and deliver on the 3rd day. These types of assignments are always a challenge because you tend to work solo and have to be capable of doing everything, wearing all the different hats, and doing so in an unfamiliar, sometimes difficult environment. On this occasion I was very lucky to find some great local help on the ground, including a fixer who also knew his way around a camera (always handy). Below are some of the images from the assignment and also an edit I put together from the two days of shooting. 

bCPAPMalawi 4 from Greg Funnell on Vimeo.

And below are some little behind the scenes snaps: With Esther and her son at her home in Blantyre, Malawi

Ernest (my local fixer) shows a previous video he shot with Esther, to her and her family, for the first time.

Video: Recent short film shoot for WWF

In the middle of last year I was asked by WWF Vietnam to film a short piece highlighting sustainable Pangasius fish farming in the Mekong Delta. I decided to bring a Canadian colleague, Sofi Langis, on-board, as having worked with her before on other documentary projects in the past, I knew she'd bring invaluable experience to the project. Together we produced a stills and film package, with the final film being a six minute long piece on the subject. It included both Vietnamese and English interviews and footage that we shot across the country from the farms and factories through to the cities, in both the UK and Vietnam. You can watch the final product below.

WWF Sustainable Pangasius Farming from Sofi Langis on Vimeo.

New Moving Image work: s.ecret.me

I had the pleasure recently of being asked to shoot a video for s.ecret.me, an organisation that, as the name suggests, is rather intriguing and secretive. It's quite hard to explain without giving too much away but think of it as hostile environment meets spy finishing school. The whole thing is by invitation only and incredibly high end - most of the instructors are either ex-special forces or from government agencies. Needless to say it was a fascinating and exciting shoot to be commissioned for.

Myself along with friend and colleague Sam Strickland, filmed and produced the trailer in one weekend. Paul Trewartha added his motion graphics and editing expertise, putting in an 18 hour edit day to get it all finished, and Ben Wiseman composed the score for the piece.  


S.ecret.me from Greg Funnell on Vimeo.