Warrnambool’s James Kol swapped the south-west coast for the bright lights of Erinsborough when he worked on the Neighbours set as a camera operator.
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Mr Kol, 20, has been working with Aerial Vision Services (AVS) and its company's chief pilot Justin Zattelman who operated the drone for a day of filming last week.
“You have the director in your ear telling you what shots they want and how they want to frame it and I’m doing that for them, with a live feed coming down to the ground from the drone,” he said.
Mr Kol said he was fortunate to meet AVS Larry Lawson, who’s from Warrnambool. “He took me under his wing and has given me some really good experience with professional productions,” Mr Kol said.
He shares his time between Warrnambool and Melbourne where he is studying a marketing and management degree and does his own media production work for his business James Kol Videography.
Mr Kol said it was a great opportunity and helped him to develop new skills which he could use locally. “It was a great experience working with industry professionals and with the professional equipment that Aerial Vision Services uses.
“It’s quite an intense thing having 150 production and crew all staring at you while you’ve only got a few chances to get the shot.”
Mr Kol is grateful for the chance to work on large-scale projects. “It’s a big thing for someone to not only put their business name in your hands but $30,000 worth of equipment, so I’ve been really lucky that Larry’s trusted me to give me that opportunity.
“They’ve been doing live broadcasting of the horse racing for the Victoria Racing Club (VRC) with the drones and then Neighbours came along which was an exciting project to be a part of.”
Mr Kol's passion began a few years ago when nine of his mates put in $100 each to buy a drone. He said they made surf films and then he and another “landed a wedding for $500 which we thought was the bees knees”. He’s since branched out into corporate promotional films and wedding videography.
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