Attica Rage Update & Stuff

I have just recently returned from a 4 night UK support tour with Attica Rage (supporting Die Apokalyptistein Reiter). We went to London, Leeds, Edinburgh and Nottingham. I have no idea why it was in that order. I obviously don't want to give away too many details but I can say that it gave me a bit of insight in to the harsh reality of being in an unsigned small scale band. I collected around 10 hours of footage on the trip and I think a fair amount of it will make the final film.

Two weeks prior I accompanied the band to the first ever SFX weekender where they were playing a majority cover set of rock classics. Some of the songs performed include "Paranoid", "Dirty Deeds", "Rebel Yell", "Cryin' in The Rain". The whole weekend was surreal experience with costumes, lectures and workshops. I attended talks by a model designer, Tom Baker, Gerry Anderson and some Dr Who writers. The highlight of the weekend was crossing paths once again with the almighty Neil Buchanan (legend) and his band Marsielle. This time I managed to get some footage of him so hopefully he will have a small cameo in my film.

Last night was the opener of Secret Wars' Warriors League at Glasgows Subclub. Vues, Estum, and Rekor took on a team of Swedish totty from Malmo. Glasgow got the crowd vote and Malmo got both the judges votes. Disappointing night for Glasgow. I was there filming with my sidekick Calum MacPhail and camera maverick Michael Sherrington. I sat back at the hard camera for most of the night, taking a much deserved rest. I don't know what Secret Wars wants done with the footage (I don't think they do either) so I won't be editing it any time soon.

Cookie Advert, Dog Tired Cathouse set, and other stuff

A few months back I was given the assignment from uni to make up an ad campaign for a product of my groups choosing and produce three adverts for it (one for each member of the group. The adverts had to be under a minute long and had to pay homage to cinema or cinematic technique (in other words don't do anything remotely original). So completely ignoring this our group did an ad campaign for Cookie Restautant in Pollokshields which was nearing completion and supposed to be opened in late November. Due to the unready state of the place at the time not much filming took place at the actual restaurant so we had to get creative. The advert below is the one I directed (edited by Calum MacPhail).



I plan to revisit the location and do a documentary piece on it in the near future now that it is open and looking the part. The place puts an emphasis on healthy organic eating using whatever is in season. It works close with the community which makes it an interesting prospect to film.

On to the next thing. As mentioned before I got a crew together to film Attica Rage's last Glasgow gig at the Cathouse on 2nd December 09. On that night we also filmed the support Dog Tired and 15 Times Dead. Over Christmas I edited together the Attica Rage set and have it ready to use in the documentary (if needed). I've also managed to put together the Dog Tired set which came together very quickly. I used it as an opportunity to experiment with fast cutting since the tempo of the music suited it. The sound editing was tough since not a single camera picked good sound and the feed from the mixing desk was a tad high. I did as much as I could with this and the results are useable. The full set is in the playlist below.



Since Hard Rock Hell I've been spending my time keeping the uni content with paperwork and filming Attica Rage as they lay down the bass and guitar tracks down on the album. Next up is the SFX weekender. It's basically a geekfest down at Pontins in Camber Sands. It will be like a home away from home. The band are playing a half cover/half original set. Should be a fun weekend of filming. I hope I get to meet Tom Baker.

Attica Rage at Hard Rock Hell 3

Last week was a massive week for myself and Attica Rage. On Wednesday I assembled a crew of merry men and managed to shoot a full length Attica Rage set, with no less than 7 cameras, and also the support bands Dog Tired and 15 Times Dead. At this time I have only had a look at the footage from the hard camera taking the feed from the desk. I'm glad to say that for the most part it sounds awesome. A huge relief since it was the first time I have done this. I will be assembling the footage probably towards the end of next week.

The following morning it was onward to Hard Rock Hell 3 in Wales. The experience exceeded my expectations as far as the footage I was able to get. Without getting specific, there were numerous developments within the band concerning their direction in 2010. I also got to meet an icon from my childhood in the form of Neil Buchanan (Art Attack) who was there performing with his band Marseille. See the above photo. Top guy. I caught many other bands over the weekend, including, Logan, RATT, WASP, Queensryche, and Lauren Harris.

I'd like to thank the band for having me along and making me feel so welcome. I'd also like to thank the HRH management for giving me near enough full access to the festival. The only down low points for me was the lack of decent food and gym facilities. Bad food and no exercise makes Colin a tired boy.

The next step in the documentary is coverage of the guitar tracks on the new album. Pretty routine stuff in comparison to last week but necessary none the less.

Secret Wars - Warriors League Qualifier

On the 20th November I and my trusted sidekick Calum, attended the latest Secret Wars event to hit Scotland. It was an Art Jam designed for artists to show their talents and to aid in the selection for the Warriors league 2010. For more info go to www.secretwars.co.uk . The video is much simpler than the last one and only took me a few hours to throw together. Given that the night didn't have much structure there really wasn't that much I could do with it other than do a higlights kind of thing with it. I quite like the results.



Thanks to Secret Wars, Monorex, and Conzo for giving me the gig and also to Calum for not getting too drunk and managing not to break my camera.

Attica Rage Documentary Announced

It has recently been announced by the band Attica Rage that I will be filming a documentary on them. For the past few months I have been busy filming the band and will be continuing with them for the next 12 months. Here is what the band had to say in their official newsletter.

"Production is underway for a feature-length Attica Rage documentary and live concert film which will be filmed over the next 12 months, with a possible DVD release for Christmas 2010. UWS film student Colin Wood approached the band in summer and has been in filming our album pre-production rehearsals over the last couple of months. He'll be capturing footage of the album recording studio sessions and following us on tour throughout next year, starting off with next week's Cathouse headliner and Hard Rock Hell weekend!

It's all early days still, but we'll keep you posted as things develop."

Christmas 2010, yikes, no pressure then.

Break The Skyline videos

I've just recently finished editing a gig I recorded on the 28th October for local band Break The Skyline. Three songs from the set can be seen below. I got to know the band through the guitarist (Chris) who I just happen to work beside and insult continuously.

I had my brother along with me to film another angle. This allowed me some editing options in post. This was a good bit of practice before the 2nd of December where I will be doing a multi-camera recording of a gig for a band who at this time shall remain annonymous. If you look really hard you should be able to guess who they are.

Thanks to Ivory Blacks for letting me film, Break The Skyline for letting me film them and my bro for coming along for the shoot.

Previous Projects Part 2

Here are two of my first documentary style videos. The first is the Black Lady of Broomhill. It is a look at the best known ghost story from my home town. I was helped on this by a colleague from University, Alyson, putting her through an unimaginable amount of takes during erratic Scottish weather. Sorry Alyson.

With over a year passing since I filmed it, I can think of many ways it could have been better. It gets the story across straight forward enough, though.



The second project was basically the result of shooting on the Royal Mile at the Fringe Festival. I shot several days and this was the only thing I could chuck together. A combination of the weather, the presenters availability, and a lack of planning resulted in very slim pickings. The Fringe would be excellent if it were a month or two earlier, I didn't even go this year because the weather was so god awful.

Anyway, not the greatest video but at least I got some experience out of it.