A marketer at heart, a storyteller, ambitious cinematographer and photographer. I was born and raised in Athens, Greece. I currently live in London working in AdTech and capture London in stills or videos in my spare time. More
All in Cinematography
Is baby food making art or science? I’m only joking. Everyone knows it’s art. In this short blog post, I’m taking you down the process of making a short video about baby food preparation. And if you don’t know my style already, it’s somewhat of a parody one.
What if beer glasses could speak? What would their stories be like? How did they experience 2020 and how did the last 12 months feel like? I recently made a short film about the impact COVID had in our lives, from a perspective of a beer glass. I know what you’re thinking. How has this lockdown impacted anything else but our mental, physical and financial well-being. Well, that’s what I’m trying to unravel with this post. Read on to learn more.
Will Smith once said; “The new TV I had recently bought came with a 100-page manual. I now had a baby in my arms and not a single page of instructions.”. When I first heard this I laughed thinking it can’t be that hard caring for a baby. Of course, we’re not born knowing how to raise a child, but we’ll figure it out when the time comes. And then, 13 weeks before my firstborn is due, it hit me. I’m nowhere near competent enough to raise a child. So I took on reading.
Can you remember the exact moment you realised your life was never going to be the same again? The time that you knew your future was right there in front of you and all you had to do was make sure you don’t mess it up? People often ask me whether I can place the exact moment I knew SHE was the one. Well, I can. And here’s that story.
The most recent lockdown in the UK has affected many of us in ways we didn’t think it would in the first place. During that process I saw my creativity draining, leaving me unwilling to pick up my camera. I wanted to battle this and push through. And what better way to do this than to persevere and make a video about it.
2020 is the year of COVID-19 and mental health & wellbeing. The pandemic has had devastating implications to the world as we knew it until 12 months ago. On top of that, it has had implications to our mental health not being able to distinguish between work and personal life, leading us to insanity…
I never thought of saying this, but when older generations say “In my time things were much simpler and the process was more enjoyable” they’re right. We live in a world where technology, in the name of automation and simplicity, has taken over every aspect of our lives. From smart devices, to smart homes, to self-driving cars, and private spacecraft, technology has invaded our lives. In the name of technological advancement, we lost one very important element. The thirst for learning a new craft and the sense of accomplishment when you finally get something right. That feeling is what I get when I film analogue.
I know what you’re thinking. Not another video where Nikos is drinking again. Well, I don’t drink in this video. At least not on camera. But let’s face it, alcohol makes for an interesting subject in any situation. Jokes aside, filming this commercial-style video was a great way for me to keep sane during this pandemic since I’m not exactly "allowed” to go out and shoot yet. But in all honesty, I won’t judge you if you wanted to have a pint after watching the video.
Ever wondered what goes in behind every short video you see online, or how long it takes for someone to film and post a video on a social sharing platform? It depends on the length, production quality and storyline. I just thought of giving you an inside view on what goes in creating a short 1-minute product video, and to walk you through my creative process.
Alcohol, and more specifically cocktails, have traditionally been one of the best products for TV ads. It’s easy to create stories around them, since the process of mixing the various ingredients is a story of its own. So since we’re in lockdown and I can’t film outside, I decided to make my own short cocktail-making video one morning. And yes, it involved some sipping and tasting during early hours.
Two year’s worth of footage and photos are gone. There’s no way to recover them and I have only myself to blame. And that’s all because spending north of $80 a couple of years back seemed like an unnecessary and costly expense. I couldn’t be more wrong. Let me explain.
Exercising during the COVID-19 global pandemic can be somewhat of a challenge. Sure it’s fine if you enjoy running outdoors or going to the parks and doing some stretches. But what happens when your standard form of exercise is a team sport which is now banned? You have to improvise if you want to get rid of that extra weight you gained as a result of the lockdown. One of those improvisations led me to take up a HIIT class at home. A big mistake…
Or was it? I made a video about it so let’s find out.
Every YouTuber who respects itself (and drinks coffee) has to have a coffee making video in its channel. Jokes aside, videos like this present a great opportunity to sharpen my product videography skills and focus on the frames and sequences I want to include. At the very least, I’d be left with a delicious cup of coffee.
Last year more than 60,000 London homes were broken into. One of those was of my good friend and best man who came home from work one day only to find out his apartment of 6 years was broken into in the middle of the day. That gave me an idea to stage and film my very own break-in... of my own apartment.
Celebrating Christmas early by decorating the tree, was not my cup of tea earlier in life. However, everything changed when I met my wife, and since, decorating the Christmas tree in November has now become a family tradition I hold dear in my heart.
What’s life without memories? They drive us, give us strength, motivate us and make look back with pride or sadness. But the worst part, is when you need to stop making memories and leave everything behind.
How long is too long without your other half? I lasted less than a week and I was eager to reunite with Katerina. Not home. At a Greek island. Travelling half across the world to meet her didn’t scare me. What scared me was that I had to spend another 1.5 weeks apart…
I promise you, this is not a click bate. It really did happen. Water skiing in the English countryside is one of this country's hidden gems! I loved every last second of it, and of course, I documented it with my camera!
Some people ask me why I don’t vlog and still use this “old fashioned” medium that blogging has turned into. I could simply say that “scripta manent”, but in this digital world, the same applies to spoken words and videos. But for me, there’s something a lot deeper in blog than this.
A few weeks ago I started a BROLL video challenge. It’s been 5 weeks since I started making these videos, and I wanted to share my thoughts and progress so far with all of you.
