From international newsrooms to Sydney livestream professionals

Image: A livestream event for The Blueprint Institute at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.

Well, we're on lockdown again Sydney.

But thanks to the art of livestream video production, your events or key meetings can stay on and occur in a virtual capacity.

I've worked for almost a decade in television news (That's Wedge-Tail founder Bill) - for Al Jazeera on the international front, SBS TV in Sydney, shooting for the BBC and the ABC, as well as several other news agencies around the world. We've gained a lot of experience in the art of bringing things to air live – keeping a cool head and making sure your video gets out to where it needs to be in the world.

Last year, my colleagues and I turned those skills into a dedicated, proficient, Covid-safe and ultimately competitive Sydney video production livestream service.

Here's what a couple of our clients have said about our livestreams over the past year:

"A godsend...I couldn't speak more highly of Wedge-Tail."

Harry Guinness, CEO, Blueprint Institute.

"Wedge-Tail were the ultimate professionals from first contact.The finished [live-stream] product was outstanding and provided all parents (and the school) with peace of mind. We can't thank Wedge Tail enough for the quality product and their service. Made a great day outstanding!"

Linda Deep, Kingsgrove High School.

Our two-person team can provide your customers, clients, colleagues (or fans!) an easy-to-use YouTube or Facebook livestream, a fully private and password-protected Dacast video stream, or a simple Zoom event with a video production of high quality - think bright lights and quality sound - plugged into the host's account. Heck, we can even provide a live feed direct from a drone if you need; we're fully licensed and insured on that front.

After the event, we can provide you with a high-quality video production of the video we've been streaming.

We're also sensitive to the needs of small operations – so have a chat to us today about the essential elements making up an informative and secure video livestream event.

Drop us an email or call 0420 652 289

Video and drone production on the State Library's landmark 'Dyarrubin' project: Open to the public!

An evening shot of the bend in the river at Sackville shot on the Inspire 2 drone.

A quick note to say that if you are in Sydney, we're super proud to have carried out the documentary video and drone work for the State Library of NSW's landmark Exploring Dyarubbin project.

Dyraubbin is the Indigenous Darug word for the Hawkesbury River west of Sydney, and the State Library team have been working for months on a groundbreaking exhibition which – as well using Wedge-Tail's video production! – tells the stories of a group of Darug women from across the region. Stories of survival and cultural heritage and cultural renewal, stories of creation, stories to fill your Easter holidays with if you're visiting central Sydney.

The exhibition also features the work of academic Grace Karskens who has been working with Darug people documenting and uncovering the (until now) partially-lost names of the region. Such a pleasure to work on and to have a fairly free-flowing creative video brief to work with.

The exhibition has been beautifully produced/curated by the talented Marika Duczysnki and Arielle Whitnall. As well as the beautiful photography of Joi Lai, there's plenty of video and drone shots of big country to keep the kids occupied. Get down there!

Shot on the Canon C300 mark ii video camera, Inspire 2 and Mavic Pro 2 drones, and edited on Final Cut X - above embedded video is but a taster!

Documentary video shoot with Stan Grant and Tracey Holmes in the Snowy Mountains

It's a pleasure to publish the video and drone shoot with Australian broadcasting couple Stan Grant and Tracey Holmes, carried out last winter in the Snowy Mountains.

The mini documentary was commissioned by leading portrait photographer Nic Walker who wanted a video production to document his photographing of Grant and Holmes for the National Portrait Gallery's Love Stories collection, which has just opened.

Walker went to great lengths to have this portrait take place in the dawn light on the edge of Kosciusko National Park, a place of great important in Grant's (Wiradjuri) and Holmes' (European and Chinese) family stories. It was an early start after leaving Sydney the day before, but the mood captured in Walker's portrait is, simply, beautiful. The amount of work that went in to the image is remarkable; and it pays off. It was an extra treat to take a trip after the (admittedly not too bad) lockdowns we'd had in Sydney.

The video production itself is shot in ultrawide screen (21:9) at 4k to make the most of the stunning landscape. Shot on a Canon c300 mark ii and a Mavic Pro 2 drone, both capturing 4k footage in LOG (Canon LOG3, from memory, with a coolish grade). I was a little worried about the drone battery in the cold conditions, but from memory the temperature was hovering just above zero. That Mavic drone really is a workhorse and a nice size to carry into remote jobs like this. My toes faired less well, and some poor bugger put his feet in that freezing creek.

In terms of production time it was fast - shooting and interviewing in a two-hour period, with the odd drone shot captured later in the morning. Let us know what you think of the edit and shoot in the comments.