Behind The Camera

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Behind The Camera

Simon Hicks is the Director and principal cameraman of most of Fighting Films' DVD and video productions. He is currently directing the IJF's official record of the Athens Olympic Judo competition, the fourth Games that Fighting Films has covered and the first to be available on DVD.

"When are the Olympics going to be ready?" That's the question I'm getting asked all the time, whatever Judo tournament I turn up at. It's a difficult question to answer, because few people realise the massive amount of work that goes into every Fighting films DVD. Yes I was there in Athens, courtesy of the IJF, filming from the best possible matside position and yes, I caught lots of incredible judo that I know you're all dying to see. But (and there are a lot of buts) that is only the start of the story.

I have one camera at the Games and the judo competition takes place on two mats. So all day, for seven days, decisions have to be made as to who to shoot and who to overlook. With the semi-finals happening at the same time it is often an impossible choice and, inevitably, I miss some very important moments. Every missed Ippon feels like a disaster. But it is Fighting Films policy to produce the most educational DVD's possible for coaches and fighters, and this means that we make every effort to show a champion's entire route to the final in our productions and not just the medal fights. This means that once the Games are over, and we've worked out what we're missing, a lot of Olympic footage has to be found from other sources, and nothing is more difficult to get hold of.

Simon at Sydney 2000 But this is only the beginning. Once we have all the footage the important moments need to be downloaded into the computer and the vast edit starts. To produce a three-and-a-half hour production like this takes many weeks of work deciding what to include, adding slomos, graphics and music. Once the edit is complete there's still a mountain of work including a marathon voice-over session with Neil Adams commentating, sound mixing, NTSC transfers, DVD authoring, test discs to be produced and approved, covers to be designed and printed, and IJF approval obtained before we can even consider duplicating.

So, "when are the Olympics going to be ready?" I really don't know yet. All I can say is that we've logged all of our footage and downloaded everything relevant into the computer. We now have some, but not all, of the other moments we need and editing is underway, but we are still months off a finished product.

In the meantime various other productions are at different stages. The first '101 Judo Ippons' to be released on DVD contains many of the best moments I have ever filmed, including a Ko uchi gari that renders Uke unconscious and Japan's extraordinary victories in the 2002 World Team Championships. We are currently working with the IJF on a series of DVDs aimed at coaches who teach judo to children.