How Nick was thrown in the deep end filming the Olympic diving. EP #216 - Nick Bell

G', day, guys. Dan here with episode 216 of the how to Scale a Video Business podcast. Now, today we're doing something a little bit different. This isn't so much about how to scale a business today, but more an insight to someone who's a very good friend of mine who's just come back from filming the Olympics. Nick Bell is a cameraman I've known since about 2007, since we first did a bit of work on Scrap Heap Challenge together back in the uk. We moved to Sydney a few years after Nick and his wife Lou did, and we've been great friends ever since. Nick's just come back from filming the diving and I thought it would be really fascinating to get a kind of front row seat into what was a very unusual Olympics, but also what his role was. He was on the slow motion camera and what kind of pressure that felt like to be filming at an event and get a real firsthand experience of what it was like to be one of the camera crew that filmed this year's Tokyo Olympics. So I again, a bit different, but I thought it'd be interesting to get an insight from Nick on life as a freelance cameraman.

Nick, thank you so much for joining me on this podcast episode. I guess you've got no choice because you are in day 12 of quarantine.

Yeah, yeah, I wasn't doing too much today, so you caught me on a good day.

Well, Luke, for those of you who are watching or listening to this show who don't know. Nick.

Nick.

Nick is someone I've known since about 2007. We first started working together on a show called Scrap Heap Challenge back in London. But Nick now lives in Sydney, Australia, and we used to live just around the corner from Nick and his wife Lou. And so I've known Nick a long time, but Nick has just come back from the Olympics. Nick, tell me, what was that experience like going to Tokyo and working on the Olympics?

Yeah, sure. Yeah, it was fabulous. In one word. It was even more interesting because of what's going on in the world at the moment. I think I was originally booked a couple of years ago when it was due to go ahead in 2020.

With the situation around the world changing constantly, that was looking less likely and unfortunately, obviously, it got postponed with the intention of running it in 2021. So we were all fingers crossed that we could still go. A lot of colleagues who were meant to go still did pull out by their own decision just for they didn't feel safe going. But I was quite Confident that they were going to run it safely and we were reassured the whole way through. So, yeah, we eventually got. Got to go. It was fascinating experience. It was my first Olympics, so even more special for myself, no expectation from anything previous, but even the guys that have done it for many different Olympics actually said this did feel different, but in a, in a good way, in a special way because of the, the effort that was put in. The Japanese people were absolutely amazing. The volunteers and the, the other teams, I think probably ended up being more vocal because there weren't spectators in this, in the venues. So, yeah, every day I was sort of pinching myself that, wow, this is going to be one of the best jobs I've ever had the pleasure of working on.

So, yeah, but you had, you had a very, what I think is a very cool camera position. Tell us about where you were situated and what you and what your shot was.

Yeah, sure. So I was lucky to be working on the diving specifically. So I was in the aquatic center, which is always great for Australians and British because they always do well in swimming and obviously we had some, some good chances in the, the diving as well with Tom Daly competing in his third or fourth Olympics, I think, even, even at his young age. But yeah, so I was actually allocated one of the slow motion cameras, but I was banging front of all the boards, so I was pretty much the only angle that was head on to all the divers. Most the classic shot that they always show is the side shot. Then there's overhead shots.

Spider cam, jibs, whatever else, underwater shots. But yeah, so I was pretty much the only one that was, that was always dead straight on. So I was used live for close ups of faces, the nerves, the anticipation before the diving, and then also used as slow motion replays for the full length of the diving as well. So, yeah, it was very interesting camera, actually. I was very lucky and pleased that I got that one to do.

I'd imagine a lot of people listening to this show who are videographers would kill for an opportunity to do something like the Olympics, but it's quite a long process to get there. Wasn't. I mean, can you tell us a bit about your journey? I mean, you left the UK, what, 2007, 2008, to move to Australia.

Over here.

It wasn't easy to get started, was it? Tell us a bit about that journey because I think, I think it would be really helpful for people to understand that whilst it's amazing you've just done the Olympics in 2021, it was a significant Journey to get there. Tell us a bit about that.

Yes, certainly, yes. Myself and my partner, who's now my wife, we got married since we've been here, but we both came out with no expectation as to how long we'd stay in Australia. We wanted to do some traveling. Then we settled in Australia with the intention of staying six months to a year. If it worked out, we'd stay longer and longer and obviously I'm here 13 odd years later so it definitely worked out. And we're dual citizens now, Australian and British passports.

So yeah, so when I first arrived here I was keen to stay in the same industry. Kept the camera work that I'd been doing in London for the previous few years.

I'm sure everybody knows it's a reasonably competitive industry and to stand out you have to have something special or meet the right people. So it was quite a slow start once we got here I had to go back to quite a bit of assisting work. Even though I was a, I was an operator at the time, didn't have my own equipment so I was. The first work I was sort of exposed to was outside broadcast work which tends to be multiple camera, live events, sport, music, such like, which I hadn't been involved in in the uk. I was more involved in the ENG style camera work, pre recorded shows and and such like. So it was a new skill for me as well. But once you got the foot in the door, if you do a good job and meet the right people, it tends to be the same as most things in our industry. It's sort of people remember you, you meet a director or you meet some other camera guys you get on well with and your work tends to snowball from the previous work. So I was quite lucky that I started getting involved in some big productions.

And met some great people who sort of took me on their own journey as well. People, you people you meet directors and certain operators. So a few years ago I got involved in a lot of motor racing which I was always quite keen on as a fan growing up. Used to go, go to motor racing occasionally. So it was interesting work to be working on the motor racing out here. The biggest.

Category out here is the supercars in Australia. So I was lucky enough to get involved in that and got a bit of a reputation for being doing whip hands on the main straights or such like. So got on very well the crew there and became part of their core crew. And it just so happens the director on the supercars for the last few years has been an obs director. For the Olympics for the last few years. There's a few Olympics as well. So when Tokyo came around and he had, he had a crew that he trusted on the supercars, he actually took a few of us, put our name in the hat that he wanted us there with him. So that was a great compliment. Actually. I still still owe him a few cases of beer for that.

Yeah, I mean imagine doing a whip pan on the supercars. And I've seen anyone will put your Instagram a child beneath this link. But whenever next on the supercars or any sporting event, he tends to have his phone mounted to do a kind of behind the scenes camera of him whip panning. And I'm guessing that would have served you well for the diving squid going back to the Olympics. You know, slow motion camera on a dive that lasts probably a couple of seconds.

Yeah.

Tell me about the pressure because is it some. What's the, what's the crazy number of people watching an Olympics broadcast? It's in the buildings, isn't it?

So, yeah. So I was just to confirm I was working indirectly for OBs, which is Olympic broadcast services who provide the pictures to every network around the world. So the networks, each country takes the feed from what we were providing the pictures for. So yes, it would have been a great deal of viewing. I'd never worked on diving before, but again, the director that took a few of us who hadn't been to an Olympics that never worked on diving before trusted us, put us in cameras he thought we would work well with. So yeah, it was a bit of pressure. We did have a couple of days before any broadcast which we were able to practice, rehearse. The athletes were practicing also. So we got to see the actual athletes performing dives both on springboard and on the 10 meter platform. So that was very valuable because there were a number of times.

The rhythm on the springboard especially sort of builds up. So it is a muscle memory after a while. So to start with, I was, I was missing people going out of shot trying to go too tight like most cameramen do on, on trying to challenge themselves. But yeah, you get into the flow of it and, and by the time the broadcast started it was, it was quite smooth and thankfully it all went very well and they were very happy with the coverage from all the cameras.

I think that as a cameraman myself or former cameraman, I'm fascinated by what did the average day look like in terms of a competition day? Because how long were you in Japan for and how long was competition?

Yeah, sure, I Think I was in Japan about three weeks in total. As I say, I flew in. Various people flew in at different times because of the lack of flights as well. Actually that was another situation. We were. We had to get travel exemptions from the government and they had to organize flights for us. So there were minimal flights coming in to Australia and more going out. So it was easier getting there. But. But yeah. So I arrived one day, was on site the following day. So all the cameras had been previously set up so we didn't have any rigging to do. So we were sort of straight into being allocated our camera positions and rehearsing. Basically.

There was an official dress rehearsal day with OBS watching to make sure all the graphics were in place. Camera positions. The timing of everything worked well, even down to a fake medal ceremony. We all rehearsed the timings of that as well. So yes, it was very organized. So that was the first couple of days and then the diving actually I found was quite a prestigious one to get on in terms of the crew because the competition for diving is actually during the. During the preliminary rounds. It's actually only an hour on air each day. So the guys filming the swimming, which was literally next door to us, and they were also colleagues that I know from Australia, they were going in for a very early morning session. All the qualifying and the swimming and then the aquatic center would be available for the diving to go on while there was a break in the swimming in the middle of the day. And then we would finish our day and the swimming guys came back in to do another session going into the evening because there's so many heats and semifinals and finals and different disciplines in the swimming. So we had a few days where we had two sessions towards the end of the second week where they were getting to the pointy end and the metal areas where they would. I think we worked out the most dives in any session was about 180, something we had to film in about two and a half hours. There's up to 30 divers and in the men's competition they have six rounds each as well. So. So yeah, and we'd all. We'd also done a previous session, preliminary rounds and semi finals as well. So that was. It was our session. Our time at work was during the middle of the day. Probably like in fairness only probably an eight hour day, leaving the hotel, getting back, which is quite unusual. I think most of the other sports at the Olympics, they do tend to do really long hours. So I do feel very privileged. It certainly being my first Olympics to be able to be on that sport and enjoy the experience rather than having to just work solidly and not really take it all in for personal reasons as well. So I felt very lucky. Yeah.

And as Brits living in Australia, I mean the love for Tom Daly and the excitement around his competition. Yeah, how was that? And you got a chance to meet him as well, didn't you?

Yeah, I was very lucky actually. I was living in the UK when he became a personality as a very young kid going to his first Olympics. So I knew his story and I was sort of trying to tell all my Aussie mates this is going to be a great story if Tom can do well at the Olympics because he's, he's had a couple of bronze medals in the past and he's got this personality, infectious personality and he's a big, big name in the UK anyway, especially for, for coming out as a professional athlete as well. So there was, there was multiple areas of that story that could have turned into the, the, the dream that it did for him. So yeah, it was, I was bigging it up. And then the whole fact that he ended up knitting on the side of the, the pool in his downtime added to the, to his story and I think even not being British that all my Aussie mates ended up loving him as well. So yeah, it really sort of, it made for a great sort of offshoot to his story. So, so yeah, they were, I think probably because there weren't any members of the public in the crowd, it probably made the athletes a bit more.

Gave them a bit more access to anybody else who was in the stadium, such as the broadcast crew. There were quite a few volunteers and as I said earlier, all the support staff and all the other teams were very vocal in their, in their praise for any, any of the athletes. So the atmosphere was still fantastic. But I think it probably gave us as the broadcast crew a bit more access to what they were going through. And I actually sort of lent over my camera platform and wished Tom and Matt good luck for their, for what ended up being their gold medal winning day. So that was really nice. And then when he came back for his 10 meter platform the week after, he was sort of familiar with a few of us around the pool deck. So we were sort of acknowledging him and saying hi or whatever. And then before the, before the final.

I had to go up and say hi and can I get a selfie with you? Unfortunately, but a bit unprofessional. But those situations, I see it as much as a Life moment rather than a work moment as well. So I absolutely love my work. Anybody who knows me knows.

I live by the. If you enjoy what you do, you're never going to work a day in your life. So I would much prefer to be working than sat at home not working. I'm unusual like that. But I think a lot of people in our industry are like that. They. They're doing it because they actually really enjoy it. So. Yeah, so you're in a unique position, aren't you?

You get to be in an incredible position and I know you pretty well and I would be exactly the same. It's like if you don't take that opportunity there and then with someone who you've built up a bit of rapport with, you got an English accent and it's such a beautiful picture because it's just like. Because we've been watching the Daily Diaries, Tom's YouTube channel. Just such an affable, easygoing guy. Yeah, yeah, I saw that picture. I was like, it's perfect, you know?

Yeah. He was such a nice guy. And literally this was just before he'd made the finals. He was probably one of the favorites to get a medal in that 10 meter platform after he'd already got the gold, I think he said himself. It took the pressure off him a little bit winning that gold. So he was actually a lot more relaxed. And his knitting and his crochet, he said, is a mindfulness thing and that relaxed him. So he was more than happy to have a chat to us. And we had a little, little crew mascot that lived in the OB truck and that came out. We were, we were sort of betting on who would win each session. We were doing every day just as a little crew tournament, basically which nation would win and what score they would get. So this little crew mascot get got given to whoever had won the previous session. So I guessed the right results on a couple of occasions. So I got to keep the little mascot on my camera platform. And one of the knitting projects Tom did was to make a little scarf for our crew mascot. That's how. How much rapport we ended up having with him. So it was. Yeah, it was, it was really cool and it. And it added to the whole experience of being there, I think. But I don't think that would have been quite the same if it was a normal Olympics and the pressure of a massive public crowd as well. So I am grateful for having that more personal experience.

And what an amazing.

Time to be a cameraman. Because while the world is in different Stages of disarray and sporting events are being impacted in all sorts of ways. The camera crew are. What were the. Apart from the athletes and the host city? If, if you guys hadn't been there, it may as well have been the Olympics didn't happen.

Yeah.

How much responsibility do you. Did you feel to like, did it add any pressure to the fact that, you know, I know you do this for a living and it's just. And it's a job and you're used to the pressure, but did that play on your mind at all that. That this. This very unusual situation was surrounding it?

Yeah, I think it's sort of subconsciously more than anything. I think obviously I love to do a great job at any job I'm in, but you do.

Certain jobs. You do feel more importance. You get a sense of how many people are watching.

I put one photo up on my social media the first day we started on diving and all my friends from around the world were like, oh my God, you're. You're in Tokyo. And I think it was added to the fact that people haven't been traveling either. So for me, it was the first time overseas for almost two years, which was a big deal in itself.

Attending this, one of the biggest events in history at this time in the world at the moment. So, yeah, so there was sort of a subconscious pressure, I think. But. But we were. Yeah, we broadcast. We were classing ourselves as being very lucky to experience it. Obviously, a lot of the funding is obviously the television rights, so it needed to be covered if it was ever going to go ahead. So, yeah, there was a certain element of that pressure, but I think day to day I was just going to work and enjoying what I was doing. And because I. We had had time to perfect it and to get to know each. Each of our camera positions, we were just really enjoying our time there and we were confident in our own ability to. To show what needed to be showing. The amount of cameras thrown at the job. I think one of OBS's.

Initial wishes is whatever sport they're covering in the Olympics, it has to be the best coverage of that sport that you've ever seen. So I was talking to our director again on. On a chat on Online the other night. We had a. A crew trivia night the other night just towards the end of our quarantine. And he was saying he actually in London, I think he said he had some input. They'd had a promotional video for Rio and one. One of the diving shots on this promo was somebody diving off a huge waterfall and there was like a POV shot flying over the top and following them down the waterfall. And it, and it got him thinking and he was, and he suggested to Obs, he said, I, I would love to, obviously we can't do it exactly like that jumping off waterfall, but he said, I'd love a camera above the divers to be able to have a POV shot as they dive, sort of zooming in, following them down overhead and seeing, seeing their point of view of jumping off this 10 meter platform and going into the water. And within a couple of days they'd arranged mounting points in the roof of the new stadium, the Aquatic center in London, to be able to fit a, a hot head camera above the platform because they wanted it to be the best coverage they'd ever had. So. And that camera exists at every Olympics ever since, just from our director's suggestions. So yeah, it was, it was a real privilege to be part of something which is sort of at the pinnacle of anything you're going to.

Work on in that particular area.

Well, in television we're so used to budget constraints on crew, on resources, so it must be nice to work in an environment where literally they always want to make it the best it can be. So they'll throw the whole toy box.

Yeah, certainly, yeah, there was definitely that feeling if there was. If you weren't comfortable with any of the equipment, it would be sorted within half an hour. Even the extent that they knew the Australian crew would need to quarantine coming back to Australia. So the deal that was made was yes, we still want the same Australian crew that we've had since the Sydney Olympics. All of the aquatics are covered by an Australian crew that's booked indirectly for obs.

So the deal was made, yes, we still want the Australian crew. We know they're going to have to quarantine, we'll pay for the hotel quarantine and we will, we will give them an incentive for the two weeks that they have to do the quarantine as well. So it made it a no brainer for us really, because there would have been those concerns that coming from overseas we were going to have to fork out to do a two week quarantine and the time as a freelancer as well, not being able to work for those two weeks. So they were very keen to keep the quality that's been in the last few Olympics at the Aquatic Center. So it is nice to have that kudos, I think, as a big company providing a world class event like that.

And you're now in day 12 of quarantine. Tell me, how has that experience been? What is that about yourself and that experience?

I think I've coped okay. I think just because I knew this is what I was going to have to do after the opportunity to be able to go to Tokyo and work on my first Olympics. So I was sort of ment prepared. I have been lucky that I got a nice hotel. I'm in the Marriott in Sydney and Circular Quay. Stepped into my room, 26th floor, look out, got a view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I can watch the world go by. And it's also been helped, unfortunately, people who don't know. Sydney is in another lockdown at the moment because of COVID cases rising. So people outside haven't really been able to do much either. So I haven't had any fomo. Not missing out on much. There's not as much work at the moment going on in Sydney. People have had to travel for extra work.

So, yeah, that definitely helps my mental state. And with technology nowadays you're only like, I'm chatting to you in different states in Australia, you can see people, you can have a good chat, you can catch up. And we were allowed to have care packages delivered to us as well. So we get great food three times a day provided by the hotel. And my wife was very kind, dropped off a few extras for me. You can order in food if you want extra stuff. So, yes, it's not been too bad.

Hopefully the situation gets better in Australia and they work out a different way of doing the quarantine. I think they're trialing a home quarantine in South Australia very soon. So, yeah, as long as people end up doing the right thing, hopefully we'll. Things will get back to a new normal at some point.

Yeah. So you said work's looking a bit dry just now. What's next for you, Nick, in the next sort of month or two? Have you got much?

Yeah, yeah, it was. I was actually very lucky being away at this particular time, to be honest, because I think it would have been pretty quiet around Sydney for live sport has all been cancelled, unfortunately. I do have a few other colleagues that were sent up to Queensland, in fact quarantined up there. They had a deal where they were allowed to go to work working on the Rugby League and the Australian Rules Football. For the first 14 days they were pretty much confined to their hotel, apart from popping out to these jobs and some of them are still up there. They left about the same time I went to Tokyo. So they'll have been in Queensland for about six weeks away from their families, but just to have the opportunity to still work sort of three or four days a week. So, yeah, it's going to be a little bit lean I think when I come out. As there's no live events going on at the moment in New South Wales, I do have a bit of studio work. There's still television still needs to be made, so I've got a few, few days in studio. I try not to pigeonhole myself. I love doing sport, I love doing live events and music, but I'm just as happy standing behind a pet camera filming somebody talking on a conference for a corporate do or whatever. So I just enjoy, enjoy working and the opportunity to be able to get the variety in, in my career, actually. So, yeah, so it's going to be a bit quiet.

What's, what's, what's your Instagram handle? So people who are listening can, can check you on Instagram. It's a great place to, you know, you post a lot of content on what you do there.

Yeah, yeah. It's Beema Bell, which is a nickname of mine, so. B E A M E R B E double L Beamer Bell is my Instagram nick.

We'll, we'll post that in the link to this. It's great to speak to you, mate. Yeah. I was one of the people that saw you in Tokyo and I knew you were going, but it still took me by surprise. And I've got to ask you before we go. Yeah. I think towards the end of the Olympics, you actually did an Instagram story where you went up the 10 meter board. Talk me through what that feels like looking down from that 10 meter board.

Yeah, it was, I think it was the last day of competition, the same day that Tom got his bronze in the 10 meter platform. And a few of us were like, we still haven't had a look up there. We're gonna have to go up there. So we just sort of took it upon ourselves.

You have a new respect for what these guys are doing, guys and girls are doing off a 10 meter platform, let alone standing on the edge there. Handstands on the edge, triple somersaults with full twists and still landing and not doing a belly flop or back. It's, it's absolutely unbelievable actually.

It looks, when you're, once you're up there, it looks a lot higher than you think. You feel like you're in the roof of the whole aquatic center. I was lucky enough many years ago before I got involved in tv. I actually did a sports science degree, which is a whole other story. But as part of that course we actually did. We got the opportunity to go off a 10 meter platform and I tentatively went off a couple of times and it scares the hell out of you. And that was just. And that was just jumping off the end of this 10 meter platform like some people might do a national park into a, into a massive lake or something. But the skill that these guys and girls have in being. Being able to know where they are in space and still land with the elegance that I do is unbelievable. So yeah, yeah, it was. I didn't get too close to the edge because I was fully dressed. I didn't have my speedos that day and I think, I think we'd have probably got told off by the broadcast team as well. So. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, one day.

It's been great hearing your, your tales and I'm sure you're looking forward to getting back to Balmain in a couple of days time. Thanks.

Yeah, definitely. It's so close. It's literally just a couple of kilometers over that way, which is almost more annoying being so close. But.

Weather'S been all right. It's a bit overcast today though, so I'm not missing out too much. But Only less than 48 hours to go and I'll be with my wife in lockdown in Sydney. Awesome.

Thanks, mate.

Thank you, Dan.

Hey guys, thanks for watching. I hope you got a huge amount of value from that episode. If you're looking for additional support or resources to support your business journey, then head over to Denlenny.com where you can get a whole heap of other resources, free downloads and access all the other episodes in this series. Be sure to subscribe and I'll see you next time.