Maniac Films Blog Archive 2009

In 2008, we created a product launch video for Provision Communications to be shown at CES2009. We have just completed an edit to update, re-brand and prepare for a new product (the Axar 1500) launch at CES 2010.

We integrated new branding, a new voice over and new product details into the existing film. The Axar 1500 was selected by the UKTI to highlight British innovation at the show in Las Vegas and was even featured on the BBC news technology show, Click.

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We have provided DVD print and duplication services on two more short films for Twofour productions. We worked with Twofour back in October on the first film in the series and once again we assisted with disk print layout and carried out the printing and duplication work.

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We have been back up to Wales to film more 2nd unit shots for Risen, the Howard Winstone Boxing feature - this time we were filming in the Merthyr Labour Club with director Neil Jones from Burnhand productions on the Sony F900. The shoot saw cameo appearances from 7 former British and World boxing champions including Leon Spinks and Tim Witherspoon. As well as camera and technical support, we also provided lighting and grip equipment including our Porta Jib camera crane, Indie Dolley and Tamuz HD monitor.

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We now have a Edirol R-44 solid state 4 channel audio recorder available for rental. The R-44 can record up to 24bit/192khz across 4 channels or a range of other settings. The unit has 4x XLRjack combo inputs and phono audio out to another device.

The R-44 records onto SD or SDHC cards and the data can be quickly transferred to your computer via USB or using a memory card reader. It also features an OLED screen which displays recording levels and other information. This can be paired up with our Sound Devices field mixer (both fit into one petrol bag) to create an ideal field audio recording system. We are really pleased to add this to our collection and we now feel like we have a full and complete audio kit.

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We were approached by Fiona Evans from Plymouth and District Racial Equality Council (P&DREC) regarding DVD creation for the Living Memory Lab, an 18 month project that saw the public learning how to and then creating a 3 minute film to mark the Bicentenary of the Act to abolish slavery. In total nearly 90 films were created and we needed to find a way to create a menu system to display these on DVD. We created a 3D animated book with turning pages, this formed the menu system as the viewer turned the pages to show new topics and films. Although it was a challenge at times we were very pleased with the outcome. We also helped with the final DVD cover and disk print. The final DVD was replicated on Dual-Layer disk.

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We were contacted by fellow IOV member Ben Bruges from Meconopsis Films about assisting with location filming in Portland. A company was demonstrating a new system out at sea and it required us filming from a fishing boat. We worked in challenging conditions on a rough, rainy day but we are pleased with the end result. We used two Panasonic HVX 200 HD video cameras and our new Canon EOS 7D set to 60fps to give us smooth slow-motion shots.

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We were asked to provide some camera training for Engineering students at Bristol University. The Faculty of Engineering now has a new edit suite and a number of cameras including a Sony F900, all of which can be used for documenting their projects, and filming equipment tests. Our task was to ensure that students had a good understanding of how to work with the cameras and editing facilities. We provided 2 days of teaching, practical filming on one day and editing on the second. Overall the students gained a comfortable familiarity with the equipment, and some of the lecturers did too!

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Erin Matthews (nee Starnes) launched her new album 'Frog Street' in Braunton Parish Hall on the 24th October, and Maniac Films were asked to film the event. Erin was joined on stage by a host of musicians for a spectacular show. It gave us the opportunity to try out our new Canon EOS 7D video DSLR, giving us film-look depth of field in a hand-held and portable camera. The footage will be used to create a promotional video to promote the album and future Erin gigs.

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Yes it really is as strange as the title sounds. Trev 'Toes' Lumley from Eyeball Surfcheck has been told for a while now that he bears a resemblance to ex-president Bill Clinton. So eventually he came to us for help. We photographed him against our green-screen dressed as Bill and then dropped in some presidential backgrounds. Trev will send these off to a couple of modeling agencies and see what happens!

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Talented local singer/songwriter Mike Stocks came to us with a collection of tracks for his industry promotional album and asked for help with laying them onto a CD. We organized the tracks, created the CD's, printed the disks and supplied him with printed cardboard sleeves for the album.

"People really like the look of the album, I haven't seen cardboard sleeves like this before and they get attention even before the music is played. They think it sounds great too."

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We were contacted by Twofour productions in Plymouth about our short run DVD print and duplication services. They had recently finished the first in a series of short documentary pieces. We assisted with disk print layout and creation of the disks. Hopefully we will be assisting with the rest of the series later in the year.

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We were asked by Paul Diamond at Battlefield SIM to take part in a trip to Amsterdam and film their exhibition set-up at the International Counter Terrorism Summit 2009. Battlefield Sim is a newly created arm of Battlefield Sports aimed at providing training solutions for the military, police and other organizations. Stu from Maniac Films accompanied Paul and Dre from Battlefield Sim, taking a Panasonic HVX 200 and the new Canon EOS 7D video DSLR. As well as filming the BFS display, Stu was also able to film 3 robots searching a car for an explosive device. The footage will be used to promote the services provided by Battlefield Sim and will be appearing on the website soon.

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The new Battlefield SIM is now online. Battlefield Sim is the new arm of Battlefield Sports, set up in the UK by Paul Diamond to supply realistic infra-red training weapons to the military and police. Paul wanted a professional, sleek website that removed any connection to 'gaming weapons'. showing the products to a much more serious market. Chris Barrett of Barrett Design provided the site and logo design for Battlefield Sim. The site is still undergoing changes, with new pages being added as new products are developed.

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We have a brand new Canon Eos 7D DSLR. It comes equipped with a 18MP APS-C CMOS sensor, Full HD video at 24, 25 and 30P and 720p variable frame rate. We also have a number or batteries and compact flash cards to go with it. Following the success of the Canon 5D mkII, the 7D has taken the DSLR video technology to a new level, introducing more frame rate options, dedicated video buttons and settings and many other improvements over it's predecessor. The 7D has both HDMI and composite video out for external monitoring, and will accept a powered external microphone for improved sound. A great new camera to replace our old broken Nikon DSLR.

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Working with the Dolby UK Marketing team again we used elements of the NAB/IBC Dolby Digital Plus video to create a new presentation video to play back on the stand at CES Las Vegas (Consumer Electronics Show). We used the Dolby Brand Identity Guidelines and Dolby colour palette to integrated new sales messages and finished with a demo of Dolby Digital Plus using a scene from the movie Iron Man(TM). The video was edited at 1080p in FCP using a variety of plugins from GenArts and delivered on HDCAM and Blu-ray disc. To find out more about Dolby Digital Plus, with the Dolby website.

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College student Faye Snook has a passion for filming wildlife and spends a lot of time on the moors and local countryside sneaking up on animals with a camera. She has come to us for a little more camera (both stills and video) training. We will give her lessons in both disciplines and also get her to polish her editing skills on a new Half Life trailer. We also plan to teach her about sound recording, collecting wild tracks at the beach for the Universe Inspectors film.

It has taken a while but the new Battlefield Live Devon is finally live! The website is based on a flash template designed for the Australian arm of the company and we were asked by Paul Diamond of Battlefield Live Devon to edit and customise the site to promote his laser combat battlefield at The Big Sheep in North Devon. Despite a few problems and communication issues caused by the 12hr time difference with the site designer we got there. We enjoy a challenge and with perseverance we have released a website that our client is very happy with.

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After a year of waiting, Richard Gregory has finally filmed 'One Day', a surf film in and around Woolacombe filmed over, you guessed it, one day. The editing process now begins and plans are already under way for a 'One Day Croyde' sometime in 2010. Stu from maniac Films was asked to help out on the day, gathering footage from high up on the moors around Woolacombe, which included finding wild ponies and waiting for the sunset.

For more information visit the One Day microsite. The site also has a sampler from the day's filming.

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We were asked to go along to the Creation Fest 2009 Christian Music Festival and not only film the event for a promotional film, but also to provide live vision mixing for the bands on the main stage. Creation Fest has moved to Cornwall and grown into a 7 day event with seminars, teaching and a skate park in the day, and live music in the evening. Stu and our placement student Steph went down equipped with tents and sleeping bags. It was a great experience for her as she had a chance to film live music on stage and she also had a go at the vision mixing. In the New Year we will be producing a promotional film for next years festival which will be available online

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Plymouth & District Racial Equality Council(P&DREC) have created three short training films for benefit and housing officers working with legal immigrants. We were asked to finish off the films with titles and subtitles, and to build the DVD menus for the final DVD. We also assisted with preparation the of the DVD cover and disk print for replication.

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We have just finished authoring a DVD that will be cover mounted onto a future issue of Max Power magazine. Our task was to create DVD menus using supplied artwork, and to build the final DVD. The disk contained a trailer and exclusive footage from the upcoming Fast&Furious movie, as well as a documentary of the ModBall Europe event. The DVD will be available with the October issue of the magazine

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Before he traveled back to Sri-Lanka, we caught up with Tim Tanton from Paddle for Relief and managed to squeeze in an interview with him and Chantal about their time working in Sri-Lanka to help re-build lives after the Boxing Day Tsunami. The interview was filmed up at Baggy Lodge (thanks to Mike for the use of the room) and both Tim and Chantal were very good on camera throughout.

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We have supplied a full shooting kit including Panasonic HVX 200 HD camera, Redrock M2 35mm adapter, lighting and other grip equipment to Neil Jones from Burn Hand Films for a new feature film that he is producing called Masterpiece. The film is currently in Post-production and will hopefully be released in 2010

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Croydes legendary reggae funk band the Universe Inspectors have finally released their first studio album. One Day is a 6 track EP recorded in one day at North Devon College. "Our aim was to achieve as near to our Live sound as possible - so we recorded the CD while all playing at the same time. With minimal 'overdubs' we managed 6 tracks in 7 takes in one day. We hopefully have kept the energy and feeling of a live performance." Maniac Films assisted with CD artwork design, printing and CD duplication.

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Working with the Dolby UK Marketing team, we created a new Voice-Over for the European version of the Dolby 'Comparing Dolby Pulse and Dolby Digital Plus' video for Dolby to use at IBC in Amsterdam in the demo theater with 5.1 surround sound. We digitized the original HDCAM masters, (You can watch the original American voice version here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGF7N81AVSU) and provided a new HDCAM master version with some slightly changed imagery, a slightly changed script with a new female UK voice over artist.

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We have been working with the Bristol University Faculty of Engineering to upgrade their Final Cut edit suite. The Faculty boasts an impressive array of camera's and VT decks, but the edit facility was out of date and failing. We have now upgraded them with a new Intel based Mac with Final Cut Studio 2 and a Matrox MXO2 box to convert the footage coming from the video decks.

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Steph Palmer joins us for a six weeks placement from her media degree course at Bournemouth University. Steph is studying to be a camera specialist, so we will be getting her involved in lots of filming work (even in the rain), but also lots of post production (editing, photography etc) too. She is also showing an early interest in sound so we may have to introduce her to our microphone collection. We intend to give some really valuable experience when she accompanies us to Creationfest in August.

Matt at Artaura Productions required a short run duplication service for a DVD he had produced for the promoting an interactive device for the blind. We provided cover printing and disk printing all packaged with standard dvd cases.

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Plymouth Centre for Faiths & Cultural Diversity asked us to help out with the DVD authoring for a film they had produced about a Jewish Holocaust survivor teaching children about his experiences. We assisted with menu creation and design, as well as designing the DVD cover and disk prints.

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This week Ellie Hubble, a student from West Buckland School, joins us on work experience. As with all of our students we aim to give her a good grounding in camera and editing basics. We have been working with Martin Cassini from Fit Roads again to add to his film promoting the removal of traffic lights. For the shoot we used a Panasonic HVX 200 for filming interviews and a piece to camera which involved Martin walking across a busy, traffic junction! We also used a Sony bullet camera attached to the dashboard of his car for a in-car piece to camera. During the days shoot, Ellie provided sound mixing during the in-car shoots.

Sophie Gallimore, a student at Bideford College, will be spending a week with us for work experience. We will introduce her to the basics of camera work and editing and hopefully inspire her towards a future career. We have been out filming an interview with Malcolm Deswert (Dessy) for the Universe Inspectors documentary. We filmed the interview in the garden of his b&b Sandy Hollow.

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We have just filmed an interview with Vicky & Lauren for the Universe Inspectors documentary. The ladies were regular visitors to the early Uni's gigs in Croyde and had a lot of good memories and tales to tell us

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In a step towards finishing our Universe Inspectors documentary we have filmed an interview with Roy Newton. Roy went to many early Unis shows and even helped out, so his memories will be invaluable. We filmed the interview in Roy's music studio at his home in Braunton using a Panasonic HVX 200 and our location audio mixer.

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Stu has been seen out and about Croyde with a camera, capturing some scenic cutaways and local pubs and buildings. The footage is being collected as part of the Universe Inspectors documentary. The film is coming along nicely and the extra cutaways will fill little gaps, as well as showing off the beautiful area that is home to the band

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Jason Budge from Ilfracombe Infants School asked us to help with the duplication of a DVD made by the school that celebrated its 100th anniversary. printed the DVD disks and covers and delivered them fully packaged in standard DVD cases.

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Goldcoast Oceanfest is back again with an extravaganza of freesports and music filling the fun-packed event on the edge of Croyde beach over the summer solstice weekend of June 19,20,21. With a fantastic music lineup headlined by Jason Mraz and special guest Newton Faulkner. The event will also featuring an eco expo and a host of beach & water sports. Its set to be another great event.

We will be back at Goldcoast this year too, filming the events and music for promotional video clips for the event organizers Urban Safari (USP)

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Director Neil Jones has been helping us out with the Universe Inspectors documentary this week. With footage collected over nearly 5 years, we have given Neil the challenge of sorting through it all and coming up with a basic script. He will also be taking the footage away with him and creating a rough edit of his script, which will give us a good base on which to finish the film. Niki, our Bournemouth Uni placement student who is training to be a scriptwriter, has also been assisting Neil with the work.

Trevor Lumley from Eyeball Surfsheck has been helping us to film an intro the the Universe Inspectors documentary. We filmed him at Putsborough beach on a bright sunny day and apart from Trev constantly forgetting his lines, it went well and the footage looks great.

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Daylight and Stars is the new album from singer/songwriter Jim Jones and Jim asked us to work with him on a teaser trailer for the web, promoting the album that has been getting great reviews from major music mags. The video was filmed in Nethercott, North Devon in one evening and at one point involved work placement student Niki spraying water onto a shed roof to mimic rain, but soaking Jim in the process.

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Niki Samuels has joined us on a 6 week work placement from Bournemouth University. At university he specialises in scriptwriting and luckily for him we have few scripting jobs lined up for him. We will also be giving him the chance to work with camera equipment and the edit suite.

We have just put the finishing touches to the new Baggy Lodge website. Mike Cotton, owner of Baggy's, felt that the old site needed a new look and feel so he came to us with an idea. The new site has a cleaner, easier to navigate look and is much easier for Mike to update. Baggy Lodge is a Surf Lodge and Cafe in Croyde, North Devon and an attractive website is essential to bring in new business, and to advertise the new services that he is adding all of the time. In addition to the site we have also created a 'Baggy's Blog' which updates the website automatically whenever a new entry is made. This also updates the Facebook page meaning minimum work for Mike and more time to run the business.

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April 2009 - Cosmic Raygun edit for Steve Tucker

Cosmic Raygun are possibly the youngest band in North devon, all being aged 10-11 yrs old. We were approached by Steve Tucker with a series of rushes filmed at one of the bands gigs. Our mission was to take the footage and turn it into 3 interstellar promo videos for use on the web. The footage had all been filmed using a single camera so we used an animated 3D spaceship, (branded withe the band logo of course) and a range of effects to match the great music on stage. Click the image on the left to view the videos on their Youtube page

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Our new Epson disk printer has finally arrived. The device, which looks like a small oven, will print jobs of 50 disks at a time and can even write them as well. This replaces our old disk printer and we are really pleased with the initial prints. We will be using this printer for all of our future DVD and CD duplication work.

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We have begun the final grade of the short film 'Zombies if the Night' produced by Burn Hand Films. Director Stuart Brennan has asked us to convert the raw footage, adding grain, effects and creating a consistent look to the whole film.

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Liveplays are missions, played out using state-or the art, infra-red combat weapons. That is how Paul Diamond from Battlefield Live Devon would describe the anyway. As part of the upcoming website, Paul asked us to film a series of 'mission objective' videos to show on his website and at the battlefield site at The Big Sheep in North Devon. To describe the missions on film, we recruited Pippa Davis, a local woman from Croyde. Together with her on-screen co-commander Barry Haymen, (Battlefield Live employee) she delivered a professional performance and we got 15 missions in the can in one day. These videos will be on the new website when it goes live.

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The clothing range at Genesis surf shop keeps on growing so we called back Sophie from Crazy Fish modeling agency to do another clothing shoot with us. We also called in a regular Manic model, local surfer Joel Blackman to model the mens range. The results are online at Genesis surf shop now.

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The new Lambland is new live and online. We have been working with with Paul at Lambland and Chris Barrett from Barrett Design to develop a great looking, fast and easy to use website, replacing the old site. As part of the new look site we have re-edited all of the existing product photos to include the new branding. The results are online at lambland.co.uk now.

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We were contacted by Bideford based media company Visuallink regarding audio training for their staff. The company has been working in the video and photography market for some time but they decided that they needed to take audio more seriously and that it was time to learn the essentials. We trained them on location monitoring and mixing (using our 302 mixer), types of microphone and their uses and how to capture perfect audio.

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To combat the issue of having too much footage on our systems, we have invested in a new Tandberg LTO3 tape drive. This will allow us to back up data from our hard drives onto 400Gb tapes. As well as freeing up drive space for new projects, it also provides protection against the risk of drive failure and accidental data loss.

David Standing has joined us on a 2 week work placement from Falmouth University. As usual we will be teaching him as much as we can about photography, filming and editing. We hope that he will be able to edit some new Half Life trailers for the Deckchair Cinema and website.

This week we have Tim Attenburrow joining us from West Buckland School. He has come along to experience working in a company and to learn about video production. As part of our on-going work to build a new website for Battlefield Live in North Devon, we went to their battlefield at The Big Sheep to film a large battle between two teams of kids and young teens. As usual it was a muddy affair but we managed to get some great action footage using 2 Panasonic HVX200 cameras and a Sony PDX10 camera. Our student Tim got stuck into the filming, as did our 3rd cameraman Joel, who was helping out for the day on the Sony camera. Check out the video on the website or by clicking the image to the left

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The new summer ranges are in at Genesis surf shop so we contacted Crazy Fish Modeling Agency and we were introduced to Sophie. It was her first photoshot as a model but she soon settled in and we were very impressed with her.

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In December 2008 we were invited by Paul from Battlefield Live Devon to join them on a trip to Browndown Army Camp (Location for Bad Lads Army) and document a training/team building day for staff from Channel 5. The staff from Battlefield Live Devon organised a series of missions for the 'recruits' and it was our task to capture as much of the action as possible. The footage was edited into 2 videos, one can be seen on the left. To view the other video and others visit their website Battlefield Live Devon.

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We have built a website for Candy Skull Records, the record label set-up by talented musician Mike Stocks, who is also the lead singer of local band 'Jog On Robot'. Mike writes and performs his own music and plays a range of instruments. he asked us to create a website with a 'different' look and a few snazzy features including samples, as well as a backstage are for industry users with a password to download full tracks. Keep an eye out for Mike playing with Jog On Robot playing at a venue near you soon.

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We have just taken delivery of a new Lastolite 3m wide white vinyl backdrop and a Manfrotto support system. This new system will make it much easier for us to photograph large objects and of course, people. The vinyl backdrop is wipe clean and a very bright white. The support system has a chain pulley allowing for ease when rolling up the vinyl at the end of a shoot.

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Martin Cassini from FiT Roads has returned to us following successes with his previous film edit with us. We spent a day filming in and around Braunton, capturing a piece to camera, vox pops and cutaways to add to his film, which he will use in an upcoming presentation to local officials. We then worked with martin to produce the film and provided copies on DVD.

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Christmas is over, the sales are done and it's time for the Spring ranges at Genesis Surf Shop. We have been working hard photograph and edit new stock deliveries for the website. Visit the website to see the exciting new styles.

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Helen Blackman from Wildcurl has made it into the final 3 contestants in the 'Love My Devon' competition and has the opportunity to win £10,000 and become an ambassador for the area. She has one month to raise as much awareness for North Devon in the press, on television and online. To achieve this, Helen and her husband Joel will be embarking on a journey with a giant talking plastic cow called Daisy. Maniac Films have loaned them a Sony PDX10 video camera and given them basic training to allow them to create video blogs of the journey. You can follow their journey on the Love My Devon blog. Good Luck to them both

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