dokofilms

Doko Makes Music...Well A Music Video

2011-10-18T17:16:00.000-07:00

Recently we got the chance to make a music promo for a a great track, from a great band, none other than Cornershop.

The Latest from Doko

2011-10-18T17:06:00.001-07:00

2011 ANNA POLITKOVSKAYA AWARD FILM

Do you want affordable video content for your charity?

2010-08-05T06:32:00.000-07:00

Do you need help to create engaging, professional looking video content for your charity? Does the cost of commissioning video production companies make it unviable for you to have videos of the work that you do? Do you have unused audio and visual resources sitting in your office drawer? Doko Films can help your charity with one-to-one or group training, instruction and advice, so you can film and edit your own videos. Whether it’s a film to help fundraising, training or communications, Doko Films will provide the support you need; from the creative conception to the final edit. Not matter what level of commitment you can offer, we can meet your needs accordingly - we can teach you to do it all or just help you get the footage together and edit it for you.

Where Do I Start?
Do you have the equipment you need to make a video? Doko can provide advice so you can make the best use of the equipment you’ve got or give you advice on what equipment you should be investing in. This doesn’t mean buying camera and editing equipment at a cost of thousands of pounds, for just a few hundred pounds you can have all you need to create a great film. Or if you’re not ready to make such an investment, we can rent equipment to you to make your film. We will then give you all the technical training, so that you are comfortable with using the equipment and ready to plan your production.

Planning Your Film
Once we’ve established the equipment you have access to and given you training in how to use it, we will then take you through the creative process. From the initial idea to storyboarding and scripting, Doko Films will guide you through the entire process to create an engaging, inspiring and entertaining film. We will also advise you how to construct an idea that is practically achievable. From location fees, contributor release forms and music rights filming may not always be as straightforward as you might think. But we will clarify and simplify all those details that you might not of thought about.

So we’ve worked out what it is you are going to film. Now we need to plan the shoot and formulate a shot list so we get all the shots we need to edit the film together.

Shooting Your Script
On to the really fun bit, this is your chance to bring out your inner Spielberg. The secret to a good shoot is in the planning and with our help (we will always be just a phone call away) there is no reason why you cannot film all that you need to, on time and within budget.

Editing the Film
This is often seen as the most mysterious aspect of filmmaking but itreally needn’t be. The development of editing technology over the last few years means that now it is very likely that you can do all that you need to do with your office computer and some free or very inexpensive editing software. It may sound obvious but editing is simply the process of organising files and if you’ve ever put together a PowerPoint presentation or a photo slideshow you shouldn’t have too many problems creating a great film. With a few hints and tips from us, your colleagues won’t believe that you made a great film on such a small budget.

The Premiere
Whether you want to make lots of DVD copies to distribute, have a real premiere or export the right movie file to upload to the web, we will still be on hand to guide you through this. Whilst it’s ultimately up to you how you use and show the film, Doko Films can also offer guidance on how you make the most of your ‘pride and joy’ insuring that it is seeded and distributed correctly.

About Us
Doko Films prides itself on making high quality video and stills content on a tight budget. Whether we’re working for the BBC, global brands like Speedo or Microsoft or charities such as Deaf Child Worldwide or WWF; we take great care in understanding the needs of our clients and helping them communicate clearly and effectively. Doko make broadcast documentaries concerned with environmental, social and political issues. Our work has included producing ‘Everest ER’ (a series that looked at the work of doctors in the Himalayas) for the BBC and ‘Before And After’ a series that looked at the lives of teenagers from all walks of life for Channel 4. We have also produced commercial and corporate films for a large number of prestigious clients and agencies around the world. These include Microsoft, Speedo, BAA, Aigle, Ford, MRM Worldwide, Elements Management, Wunderman, Open Fundraising and The Pentland Group. More recently we have been involved in training charity professionals and young asylum seekers so that they may experience the fun and excitement that we feel when making films.

If you are interested in how we may be able to help your charity, please contact:
justin@dokofilms.com

Welcome to Rokeby School

2010-07-05T05:34:00.000-07:00

I've been doing quite a lot work in schools recently making a variety of films with the help of the students. This has largely been with 'new Londoners' a phrase that sounds a darn size better than the many headline favourites. These teenagers did not fit into such clumsy stereotypes; they were helpful, resourceful, kind. They wanted a good education, a good house, they wanted to be doctors, engineers, lawyers even mathematicians! Sound familiar?

The film below is one of a few we've made at Rokeby in Newham, it was made to help new students coming to their school feel welcome. They are all about to move into a brand new school and I hope they all flourish in their new home.

Rokeby School - Mid Phase Admission Film from justin rhodes on Vimeo.

Zip It

2009-09-10T09:59:00.000-07:00

Doko Makes Zip Mix of Donna Summer's I Feel Love

We have just made this short 'zip mix' to promote the British film The Firm (out September 18th). Take a look - I think the track is excellent and it looks pretty good too. Not surprising, as we chose to shoot it on a Red cam (that may not mean much to you but me and Steve were very excited about it).It also features three of the cast from the film who put in fine performances in our mini movie and indeed in Nick Love's feature film.

More old movies with Magic and Fur

2009-09-08T07:55:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have seen the other collection of old movies courtesy of Tim Longfoot set to Magic and Fur's track 'Us'. well they liked it so much they asked me to do another to their track 'Do Not Toll the Bell' and here it is.

Do Not Toll The Bell from Magic & Fur on Vimeo.

Earth Hour Lights Out

2009-03-30T04:19:00.000-07:00

Well done to the person who switched out all the lights at the Houses of Parliament on Saturday for Earth Hour and indeed well done to the rest of the world who switched off. Turning out lights is, of course, very easy. Now we need real and difficult change. Will the governments of the world really show that they are going to do something about climate change and build a new green economy that puts real value on the limited and precious resource of the Earth and the Sun? They'd better, otherwise we are in rather a lot of bother - to put it politely. Of course it's not just governments but individuals and businesses that also need to act. Whilst I was out in London during Earth Hour I was disappointed to see how many buildings in the City were still blazing with light. And no, they weren't being smashed up by hardcore campaigners. It was all rather quiet in the City but not I'm afraid very dark. I also thought I'd see a few more individuals out on the streets to see the switch off. Was this apathy, the rather miserable weather, or was it that we a more used to getting excited about things switching on rather than turning off. We celebrate things in our culture that are faster,bigger, brighter, newer, more luxurious, more exotic. We're not used to extolling the virtues of the slower, the smaller,the older, the simpler. But for us to viably continue on this planet that is what we must do.

Doko Makes Campaign Film for WWF

2009-03-18T02:23:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest offering from Doko Films, made to promote Earth Hour. On Saturday 28 March 2009 at 8.30pm, people, businesses and iconic buildings around the world will switch off their lights for an hour – WWF’s Earth Hour. Last year 50 million people around the world took part this year they aim to get 1 billion involved. This inspiring event will kick start WWF’s global deal campaign to convince governments to agree effective action on climate change. December's UN climate summit in Copenhagen is their last chance to get it right, so show the world you care and take part. If you click on the link (the blog title) above you can send the film on to five friends and help spread the word.

Hell, it's frozen over!

2009-02-02T01:48:00.000-08:00

People actually smiled and said good morning as I walked to work through the snow this morning. I don't know about where you live but here in London that never happens. Even from the lens of my camera phone things look pretty special...

Old Home Movies

2008-11-25T08:17:00.000-08:00

I've just recently been asked to organise a friend's family films. He handed over more than two hours of footage - it's fantastic stuff and I thought others might find it as fascinating as I have. So below I've uploaded just a tiny bit of it.

This film comes from Tim's great grandparent's honeymoon to Spain in about 1938/39. It largely shows a bullfight and I warn you not to watch it if you are rather sensitive about animal welfare. (In case you interested I set the footage to the music of a band called Magic and Fur who I think are jolly good).

Tim's great grandfather worked for the British Power Boat Company with Hubert Scott-Paine and I think much of the footage has real historical value. All this footage got me thinking about the possibilty of making some short documentaries based around theses family treasures. So I put to you, do you have any family movie treasures that should see the light of day? Perhaps together we might unearth some old stories that need to be shared. If so drop me a line at justin@dokofilms.com

Until next time - J

Gorillas in our midst...

2008-10-24T01:45:00.000-07:00

I’ve been meaning to put this little bit of footage up on the old interweb for a while. As you may or may not know Jay (Clark), Toby (Trackman) and myself were lucky enough to go to Rwanda this summer. After filming for Handicap International (see archive for that film) we headed up to the Parc National des Volcans to trek for gorillas. Wardens from the park take small groups to visit some of the gorillas in this beautiful park made famous by Dian Fossey. Whilst it cost us $500 each to spend an hour with a group of about 16 apes, none of us regretted this truly incredible experience - I thoroughly recommend it. Plan your trip with www.rwandatourism.com Rwanda needs all the tourist bucks it can get and it is certainly a beautiful, friendly and safe place for an adventure.

This photo (courtesy of Jay Clark) is of the silverback of the group who weighed in at over 200kg. Some of the film features a fair bit of forest floor shots - that was largely due to this big bugger bounding towards us. Some might say my reaction was not that calm but I think he knew who was the alpha male.

Apologies that the footage below is not up to Doko's high standards, it was shot on a small handycam. Filming the gorillas with a big broadcast camera cost $5000 so we thought better of that. But whilst it may not be ‘Life on Earth’ quality, I think you do get a idea of just how exciting it was to stand just a few feet away from our close cousins and there are some cute baby ones playing too!

Go ape but don’t monkey about.

Justin

The first Doko blog post!

2008-10-14T06:21:00.000-07:00

So we've finally entered the blogging age. The plan with this blog is to highlight what we're up to at the moment and what is attracting our interest here at Doko Towers!

Recent news - last week saw the launch of the Inclusion Rwanda film that we made this summer for Handicap International. The film looks at the issues of including disabled children in mainstream education. You can watch the film below.

News just in today; a film we made with Indus in 2006 called Everest ER has been officially selected for the Adventure Film Festival in Boulder, Colorado. http://www.boulderadventurefilm.com

Fingers crossed we win something! You can see a clip from the film below.

Well that's it for now I'm off to see how much a flight to Colorado is.

Cheers, Justin