Our guest speaker this week was Craig Bain, renowned videographer and photographer. His opening words were that he was a “Jack of all trades and master of one”. Although training as a tailor, Craig always had an interest in photography and in 1980 bought a photography business. In 1984 he sold the business and got a job at TVNZ’s Avalon Studios. Craig’s role involved working with film companies all over the world, including Peter Jackson’s.
He was a “behind the scenes’ extra in “Brain Dead” and was executive producer for TVNZ/Warner Brother’s red carpet coverage for the three Lord of the Rings movies, three Hobbit movies and the King Kong premieres here in Wellington.
He was involved in an outside broadcast of Formula 1 and V8 races for a rich family in Taupo.
When the Wellington stadium (now called Hnry Stadium) was being built companies were pitching for the audio visual contract. Craig was employed by TVNZ who won the contract and ran the big screen operation at the stadium for 24 years. He was made redundant in 2008.
Nowadays Craig specialises in wedding videos, live streaming funerals, feeding pictures around the world. He then demonstrated a small part of his equipment including a very small drone, about the size of a saucer that flew around the room taking photos of us all.
Everyone enjoyed Craig’s presentation immensely and wished he could have had more time with us relating stories of his life and career.