This was a deceptively simple TVC shoot for NRMA’s Climate Change initiatives. Matilda, our talent, sitting on a log delivering a monologue in one single dolly-in shot. To end, she gets up and walks away wheeling her bike down the track. Simple right?

In reality, there’s a fair bit to coordinate in a shot like that. Getting the performance right, perfecting timing, minor script tweaks, camera moves, focus pulls and so on.

Then there’s the time of day. The sun was only going to be in the right spot for ten minutes, fifteen, max.

So you can imagine the pressure during that tiny little window. Matilda had to get it right - every take. The film crew had to get their part right. Then there were variations to cover… which had to be right.

So as usual, stills had to be very, very quick. Because I also wanted the right light. So you wait until there’s a tiny break in shooting. The director conferring with the agency or some lens change happening. And that’s your two minutes to shoot.

Luckily we’d all been practising all afternoon.