Videographing Kitty Van Der Heidjen’s visit to Siem Reap for UNICEF

It was a pleasure to be contacted by UNICEF to make a video of Kitty Van Der Heidjen’s visit to Siem Reap. UNICEF’s communications department are always easy to work with. They have a clear vision of what they want to achieve. They provided me with a solid brief that we went over during pre-production so everyone was clear on what the outputs would be.

 Kitty Van Der Heidjen is the Deputy Executive Director of Partnerships for UNICEF. She visited a school in Siem Reap to see how UNICEF has been supporting the life skill development for young people.

 In the morning we visited a school and the students made presentations about their campaigns to raise awareness about the environment and climate change.

 Kitty was impressed by what she saw. ‘I have been completely amazed by what I saw. In front of me on the podium, I had 12-year-olds, mostly girls, by the way, who were talking about climate change,’ she said.

‘They were talking about what they saw in their community. They were talking about what they saw in their community in terms of how that is impacting their lives. and the need to collect waste and the need to recycle waste,’ she added.

 Kitty was also impressed by the tree planting campaign run by the students, ‘They were talking about planting trees and making sure that the trees were well-maintained, so that we could actually do something about climate change.’

 In the afternoon we visited the communities to see the positive changes the young people’s projects had created.

 ‘A big part of what they are doing is not just talking about this in their classroom, but really talking to their parents, talking to other classmates, talking to their communities and making change happen,’ said Kitty.

 It was a challenging shoot as Siem Reap was suffering from a heatwave and a severe drought that was taking away vital income from the communities surrounding the school.

 ‘The village pond, where they would take tourists to go on a boat ride is gone,’ said Kitty.

While the situation is dire, it was great to see youth-led initiatives making such a positive impact in their communities. Hopefully UNICEF can expand their work in this area both in Cambodia and globally and Kitty can mobilise more youth to join the Green Rising movement.

You can see more examples of my work with UNICEF here and here.  

Capturing Commercial Drone Photography for Cambodain Zulite Stone

Panmin had a been in touch about about a corporate video and requested additional drone photographs for use on their website, print materials and at trade fairs.

I had recently bought a DJI Air 3 as I’d had a job that required indoor drone videography and photography and I’d hired a DJI Mini 3 Pro. With improved vision sensors and technology, the Air 3 was the ideal tool for the job.

The improved battery life enabled me to fly for extended periods while capturing all aspects of quartz processing.

While the 28mm lens was great at showing the scale of the factory, the new 70mm lens allowed me to punch in and use the drone for dolly shots to get in close and to highlight the key details of the process.

With the combination of sensor size, sensoring technology and dual lenses the Air 3 was the ideal tool for the job.

 I also managed to capture a series of exteriors showing both the facitliy and the industrial park.

 The client were happy with the result and have used the photos extensively on their website

 You can see more examples of my drone photography here and here.  

Corporate Videography Shoot for Cambodia Zulite Stone

I was contacted through my website to make a corporate video for Cambodia Zulite Stone Co. LTD. Their parent company was attending a trade show in New York, so they needed a corporate videographer to deliver a video they could show at the trade show to showcase the quartz products they make in their factory.

Despite the language barrier, the process was easy. They sent sample videos they’d shot and we communicated about the key aspects of the product and the key aspects of the process they wanted included.

 I then travelled to their location and spent the afternoon recceing the factory before shooting the next morning.

 A key aspect of what they wanted to show was the scale and capacity of their operation. Due to its omnidirectional vision system and a three-dimensional infrared sensing system my newly acquired DJI Air 3 was the ideal tool for flying inside their factory.

I also shot close ups on tripod to highlight the details and precision of the key parts of the process.

The edit was a smooth process. I quickly turned around 1st and 2nd edits and after receiving feedback, I made some final tweaks so the video was ready to present at the exhibition in New York.

 The management at the factory were keen to show the favourable working conditions they’d created for their staff. The staff are given 3 square meals a day and are provided with accommodation as part of their contract. This allows them to save more money.

 You can see more examples of my corporate videos here and here.

Collaborating with the EU as a videographer on a range of projects

It was great to collaborate Landell Mills and the EU as a videographer on a range of projects including Pedal for the Planet, Erasmus + and Radiation Monitoring.

Pedal for the Planet

Pedal for the Planet: It is Time to Change Gears on Climate is an EU intitiative to promote cycling in Phnom Penh and the rest of Cambodia as a whole.

As a keen cyclist myself and someone who makes an effort to live in a sustainable way, it was great work as a videographer on this project.

Having spent COVID in Phnom Penh, it was great to see more and more locals taking up cycling.

Hopefully this kind of event will guarantee that this trend continues and the perception of cycling evolves from being seen as a form of transport for people who can’t afford a motorbike or car to being seen as a green, healthy leisure activity.

Erasmus + in Cambodia

The Erasmus + programme is close to my heart as 2 of my siblings are alumni. It was great to work as a videographer on a couple of videos highlighting the experiences lecturers and civil servants who have benefitted from the scheme and students who want to study in Europe.

It’s a great opportunity for lecturers and students to study and live in Europe. Hopefully this will be an enriching experience both personally and professionally and when people return, they’ll be able to share their experience and implement some of the things they’ve learned to develop the education system here.

Radiation Monitoring

The production of the video was a collaboration between Pixel Peers,  MME and myself. MME have their own videography team and supplied footage of the radiation monitoring early warning systems being installed in a number of locations across Cambodia.

Pixel Peers then provided the motion graphics and I edited the video.

There were 2 iterations of the video. One was shown at the launch of the project. I then covered the inauguration as a videographer and cut in images and speeches to produce a second version to be distributed online. 

Working with MME was a pleasure. It’s a dynamic, forward-thinking ministry who are doing some great work.

You can see more examples of my work for the EU here and more examples of my documentary work here.

On the Tonle Sap – Working as a Videographer for the EU’s #OurPlanet project

Biodiversity

After spending a wonderful Christmas and New Year with my family in France for the first time. Since COVID, it was great to kick off the year working as a videographer for the EU to direct, shoot and edit 6 videos to showcase their Our Tonle Sap project.

It was good to work on a series of campaign videos for a campaign as the videos could clearly follow the central tenets of the project.

The 6 videos I made were, an intro video to the visit and videos about how the Our Tonle Sap project supports biodiversity, climate, community, conservation and sustainability on the lake.

Since 2021, the EU-funded project 'Our Tonle Sap' has helped preserve biodiversity and support communities against environmental changes.

The Tonle Sap is a biodiversity hotspot. Home to over 700 animal species, Including fish, reptiles, birds and mammals.

H.E. Igor Dreismans. The EU ambassador to Cambodia, visited the lake to promote the Our Tonle Sap project.

‘Protecting the environment, protecting biodiversity, may be the biggest challenge our generation faces,’ he said.

The EU is actively involved in projects to conserve the lake's biodiversity.

Supporting the replanting of the flooded forest lost to fire, to ensure a climate resilient future.

Climate

Due to climate change, there are more fires in the flooded forests on the lake.

We interviewed, Mean Bunthong, a ranger on the Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary. ‘We've built 3 towers to monitor for forest fires,’ he said.

As well as monitoring for fires, rangers are planting saplings to restore the forest.

We spoke also spoke to Hou Kaylan, who trains the rangers. ‘We train rangers to plant saplings

to stop the fires from spreading,’ she said.

‘If there are enough trees, the biodiversity will be preserved,’ added Bunthong.

Community

There are 170 villages on the Tonle Sap with a population of 80,000 people.

Working with local partners, the EU has facilitated training for female entrepreneurs living on the lake.

Rouen Chantha an entrepreneur spoke to us about the training she’s received.

‘We received training on running a small business and processing fish products,’ she said.

‘Making prahok (fermented fish paste) makes me happy. I earn enough income to support my family.’

We also spoke to Rob Tizard a technical advisor working with Wildlife Conservation Society.

‘By working with the EU we're able to expand our activities to more communities, more activities hopefully have a greater impact on the lake’ he said.

Conservation

The EU works with local partners to support the Ministry of Environment in the development of the Prek Toal Ramsar Site

We spoke to Rob Tizaed about the conservation efforts that are being made as part of the project.

‘We protect the bird species, the bird populations have continued to rebound,’ he said.

Thanks to the EU funding, the protected bird sanctuaries bring income to communities through eco-tourism.

Stefan Messerer, German Ambassador to Cambodia, said, ‘We acknowledge Cambodia's

commitment to conservation. Let us work together and make this happen.’

Sustainability

The EU supports the Fisheries Administration in managing the Prek Toal Fish Conservation Are.

To protect the lake’s fish stocks, only small-scale, sustainable, community-based fishing is allowed in the conservation area.

We spoke to Duch Dam, a local fisherman. ‘The rangers make it easy for us to make a living. If they see illegal fishing activity, they stop it.

Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any videography projects you would like to discuss. You can see more examples of my videos for social media here.