Behind the Lens - Callum Swift

Callum Swift is a videographer from the UK. He's the main man behind the massive hit films MADE and The Uprising. Callum managed to find some spare time in between studying for his Medicine degree to answer some questions!

Interview, Photos and Videos inside!

First up, what's your name and where are you currently living?
Callum Swift, currently living in my van in Dublin, but we just signed the lease on a house so I will have a roof over my head on Friday!

What made you want to start filming bikes?
I was in Morzine for the season and very randomly decided to make a film instead of doing a season of racing. It started off as a fun little project, I never thought it would turn into a proper DVD, but the more shoots I did the more stoked I got on it and the better my filming got (I had never used a video camera before making the film) so it kind of escalated from there!


What setup are you currently shooting with?
Shooting video with a Canon 7D D-SLR camera

You shot both 'The Uprising' and 'MADE' whilst you were at Uni studying medicine. It must have been pretty hectic trying to fit studying with shooting.
Yea it was! Missed a lot of lectures and was pretty stressed coming up to exams, but managed to get the film done and pass my exams as well so I was stoked! I’m in third year now and we have rotations in hospitals which I can’t miss any time, so no more films for me for the next few years at least.



With your first film 'The Uprising' you got in and shot a lot of big riders. Did that help going into shooting 'MADE' that you knew a lot of the top guys already?
Yea definitely, it’s a lot easier to film guys you're friends with as you're relaxed and they put way more effort in so you end up having a laugh.


You also shot a lot of not so well known riders in The Uprising, but in different and cool locations. Do you think that was a main part of its success?
Yea I think so, it's really hard to find fresh locations to shoot, but it's important otherwise all films end up looking the same.

In MADE, you had probably the biggest names in downhill all in one movie. How cool was it going out and shooting with those guys?
It was unreal, all the riders are so sound I had a great time shooting and hanging out with all of them. Some of the shoots like Sam Hill were just one day meet-on-the-mountain affairs whereas for others like Steve Peat and Josh Bryceland I was staying at their house with their family and everything so you really get to know them. One of my favorite bits is seeing their garages, the amount of stuff they have in there is ridiculous! Minnaar had among other things a jet ski, golf buggy and of course every type of bike under the sun!





Are you currently working on any films? We haven't seen a lot from you recently. Have you decided to focus more on your University work?
Yea University has got more serious now so I have had to put the filming on hold for the time being until I finish which is a real pity, but I’m photographing a charity naked calender next month so I’m keeping busy!

You seem to be really popular with all of the WC Photographers and Videographers and I've heard many stories, including sleeping with half of your body outside a tent. What was your favorite moment while shooting your two movies?
I don’t know if there was a single best moment, every shoot and road trip was epic so there are too many good times to list, anything from partying in Whistler to camping at the Megavalanche, filming from a chopper, getting loose on the back of Peaties quad bike, breaking into the water park in Bromont at night, getting sideways round Manchester with Bryceland and his Volvo drift machine in the pissing rain, filming Minnaar on his Moto at sunset, dirt jump jams, swimming in the lake in Maribor, uplifts with the valley boys and everything in between!

But easily the best part of it all was the premiere of MADE in Birmingham, I had my family and friends there and some of the riders there like Steve, Josh, Brendan, Ben Reid and Rach Atherton. I was so nervous before, but it all went well and everyone loved the film, and the venue happened to be world renowned drum and bass club so we went straight out of the cinema into a rad party which was the best end to the year I could have hoped for!

If you could film anyone, anywhere, who and where would it be, and why?
Steve and Josh in a completely new and wild location like China or somewhere. I loved filming with those two, they are so funny together and enjoy riding so much that it’s easy to get amazing shots, and a crazy location would be class to make it a bit different and exciting.


Have you ever made any big mistakes while on a shoot?
Luckily nothing too major, I think the only time I really messed up was a WC final when after the winner came through I did all the interviews pressing record and stop without looking I thought I knew when it was on and off, only to find the next day that I had it the wrong way round so I ended up with a lot of shots of the floor that ended just as I raised the camera to the riders face!

Do you prefer a day of shooting amazing riders, or a day of ripping down crazy trails?
Riding is obviously way more fun, but shooting is also exhilarating when you know you are getting amazing stuff. I always ended up filming if it was a choice between the two because I wanted to make the film the best it could possibly be which means 100% commitment.

Have you got any plans to get back out on the circuit and do another big full length?
I'm not sure, I would love to, but I guess I will see where I’m at when I finish university.

Do you think we will ever see 3D mountain biking movies?
I hope so!

Finally, any shout outs or thank-you's you want to give?
Just all the riders who were sound enough to give up their time to push up a mountain to film with me! Also all the people who sorted me out with lifts and a roof over my head, it wouldn’t have been fun sleeping half out a rent in the parking lot for two years! I am especially grateful to the top guys like Minnaar and Steve who had faith in me to film, probably most importantly Bryceland as he filmed with me when I literally had nothing behind me to show for myself, which gave me a bit of credibility to approach the other guys. And all the boys who made the races so fun to be at, you know who you are!

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Thanks a lot to Callum!


-Tim Lake
Southside-Productions.co.uk

Photo credit: dr-photography.co.uk