In this industry you have to hustle for work on a daily basis – calling agencies, emailing art buyers, keeping up with your social media outlets, cleaning the sign above the studio door…it’s a constant, active cycle.

That said, sometimes when the planets are all aligned and the moon is in it’s third phase, you stumble across something worth shooting. That’s exactly what happened to me on a shoot in California for Eibach Suspension. Hit the jump for the video and more photos…

When I look back on my time at Coventry University, it doesn’t seem all that long ago. In reality it’s been almost five years since I sat in my first lecture and so, so, so much has happened since then.

I’ve gone from shooting the occasional editorial piece to directing global advertising campaigns for multi million pound brands. It’s crazy.

So when I got the opportunity to pop back in to talk to the first year students on the Media Production course I jumped at the chance. They were a great bunch and even though some were admittedly very hung over (living the student dream!), were very receptive and forthcoming with their questions and suggestions.

It was great to see so many of them taking the initiative afterwards and coming up for a quick chat, as well as tweeting and emailing me later in the day. I’m looking forward to seeing their progression through their time at Uni and hopefully working with some of them on shoots in the future.

Back in September I was out in Italy filming four adverts and shooting print campaigns for the 2012 range of Honda Motorcycles.

We started off at Imola for the World Super Bikes, where we interviewed Honda rider Jonathan Rea. We then headed down to Rome where we were based for the remainder of our stay, travelling out every day to some beautiful locations and the green screen studio.

Filming these ads and shooting the still campaigns at the same time was a hugely rewarding experience and allowed us to achieve the same aesthetic throughout the whole campaign across both print and digital media. The majority of the filming (and still images) was shot on the Canon 5D and 7D with the fast pace action being captured on the Sony FS100. As you can see from the videos below, the footage we were getting back from all of the cameras cut together great.

The crew was amazing and without them the crazy schedule we were shooting to would just not have been possible.

Hit the jump to watch the adverts and more behind the scenes photos…

2012 Honda Fireblade (25th Anniversary Edition)

2012 Honda Integra

2012 Honda NC700S & NC700X

2012 Honda Vision 50

The photos:

For more info on the 2012 range of Honda Motorcycles, visit: http://www.hondamc2012.com/

….oh and when I got back to the UK, it would have been rude not to pop out and get myself one, wouldn’t it?

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage… all to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food ….into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films…..

= a trip of a lifetime.

move, eat, learn

Rick Mereki : Director, producer, additional camera and editing
Tim White : DOP, producer, primary editing, sound
Andrew Lees : Actor, mover, groover

Thanks for the heads up @TimSadler.

Here’s a taste of the projects I’ve been working on so far this year:

At the start of the year I was comissioned by Eibach suspension to shoot a series of short videos for YouTube to showcase their suspension line up.

Then Adam Roberts, good buddy of mine and Creative Director at Crayon London dropped me a line to film and edit a video blog for the Sony website detailing how he used a Sony NEX camera to shoot his short film “Another Yesterday“

Some of you may remember the pit bike video I posted up a couple of months ago – well off that back of that I was asked to put together a promo video for Demon X Pit Bikes.

And I even managed to get myself a new bike!

So yeah…busy few months and there’s another three projects that are in production as I type – so I’ll post up some more work as and when I can (including the images from the stills shoot I did last month once they’re no longer embargoed).

I had no video specific equipment with me that I would usually use – no Z-finder or monitor, no tripod, no follow focus or shoulder rig. But I’m pleased with the way the footage has turned out and I’ll be shooting more in the near future with the right gear (I’m currently looking for an RC helicopter pilot who can fly a 5D around…email me if you can help!).

Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

A couple of set up shots after the jump…