Shooting with Gok Wan for Channel Four and How to Look Good Naked TV Show
HTLGN was a challenge. Not just because of having to shoot so much bodywork but the whole format was stressful.
HTLGN was the show that enabled me to start working very quickly and this is something I tend to do these days, the challenge really from the very start was how to light quickly, how to light people who were very conscious of their body and most of all how to make the image very striking for TV and show off my lighting skills.
The show was pre filmed and the production team was very structured, they needed the TV photographer to speak on screen and give directions in away that looked good and explain what he was doing to make them feel comfortable. If you then add into the mix timings and your actual shoot time of possibly 10-15 minutes and the fact that it was Gok’s baby and what he said goes then your ok and good to go.
I worked for the production team at Maverick TV who booked me direct to turn up at the actual shoot. These were at various locations in the UK and could be any weather. The funniest one was all the guys riding their bikes in -1 degrees with nothing on and to spare the guys I have not posted this image.
For me the whole process was a good one as it helped hone my skills for fast set up and fast lighting on a strict time budget. I had to learn how to light with batteries and with max of 3 ProPhoto lights. Another lighting skill i developed by shooting this work was under exposing the backgrounds to create the more dramatic effect. Channel 4 and in particular Gok Wan loved this effect. It made a simple group of people look dynamic for the TV. One thing we were not allowed to do was to retouch the images at all. They had to be pure in form and shape otherwise there would have been an issue about body shapes and the whole retouching thing that is current
The HTLGN show brought attention from another TV show and that was The Gadget Show where I was pitched against Jon Bentley and his tech. This was a 15 minute feature and went out a few years ago more here.
