Ibiza & current stuff

Its been a while since I've written on this thing. I've had a lazy time of it since returning. I'm currently in the process of trying to get a company founded to operate under and have been generally keeping pretty chilled.

Ibiza was warm and an interesting experience. The weather was beautiful and so were the women (a lot of boobies everywhere). There was an amazing amount of orange people walking around. I stuck out like a sore thumb in comparison. I actually think I came back whiter than when I left. Here's a picture of me in action over there.



Not too exciting, I know. As for what the band got up to over there, well, I'll be saving that for the film.

Since returning I did some sit down interviews with Roddy MacAudio about the album for some studio blogs I am throwing together for him. They will start appearing in the not too distant future. I was also out shooting mountain biking out near Lanark with my colleague Calum MacPhail. In the process of being eaten alive by midgies and trying to not fall on our backsides we managed to collect some decent footage which Calum edited together in the below video.



Next on the agenda is to continue moving forward with my business plans, getting my self back in to shape, and filming introductions to the band members for the film. I will be posting the 15 Times Dead set (from the Catty last year) soon. Other than that I think it will be a pretty uneventful summer in terms of filming work. So until next time, laters.

Attica Rage - Making the Album & stuff

I've not long put up Attica Rage - Making the Album on Youtube and Vimeo (vastly superior in my opinion). If you watch them can you please click the 'like' button. It will increase its chance of being found in searches. Here are the links:

Attica Rage - Making the Album from Colin Wood on Vimeo.

Unfortunately the film didn't win any prizes at the UWS student showcase. Heavy metal bands don't exactly appeal to stuffy lecturer types. Oh well! I guess I'll have to make the feature length film so undeniably good that they have no choice to give me an award.

This week saw me get my first paid job on an actual set. It was an STV produced dramadocumentary on Scottish murderers. It was pretty cool seeing an experienced cast and crew work. I only wish I could have gotten my hands on the camera. I suppose you've got to start at the bottom, right? Anyway, I think I learned a lot and everyone involved was nice and more than willing to answer questions. I'd definately like to do more of this in the future.

Just over a week away is my Hard Rock Hell - Road Trip adventure in Ibiza with Attica Rage. It should be an experience and a half.

Attica Rage - Making of Album complete

I have just finished and submitted my first Attica Rage related film. "Making the Album" is not the most imaginately titled but like most things I film it does exactly what it says on the tin. Early feedback has been good so far. My uni lecturers seemed marginally impressed. I showed it to Jonny and Roddy while they were recording the acoustic guitar for the album. They seemed quite chuffed. It is going forward in to the UWS students showcase on the 18th of May which I am kind of looking forward to. Unfortunately my last exam is earlier that day. Thanks UWS.

I'm unsure what I will be doing with the video at this point (probably youtube) so it may be a wee while till everyone gets to see it. I'm definately not sticking it online until after the showcase. Until then here is Attica Rage playing the Motorhead classic "Overkill".



Over the next few weeks I will be doing more studio filming, filming part of a corporate video, and hopefully editing Secret Wars:- Glasgow vs Bristol. Then it is off to the Hard Rock Hell Road Trip in Ibiza (thats if that bloody volcano behaves).

Secret Wars:- Glasgow vs Malmo & Hammerfest

I've thrown together the latest Secret Wars video in about 3 hours. This was filmed towards the end of February by myself, my annoying sidekick Calum MacPhail, and Michael Sherrington. Pretty much your standard Secret Wars event. Two teams paint one team wins. The music I had to work with was terrible in my opinion but it works overall. I'm hopefully going to get a bit more ambitious with the next one. All the Secret Wars (by me and others) are getting a bit samey. Here is the link for you to check out.



Hammerfest II was a hugely successful main stage debut for the Attica Rage boys. Between a 1000 and 1500 fans turned up to watch the band take its biggest step up the ladder to date. The other antics I'll leave for the release of the film which I have started editing by the way. Below is a video taken from the set. The working title for the song is "March" and will feature in their new album which is in the works.



In other news I'm about to start work on a corporate video in Prestwick. I'll go in to more detail once it is complete. April also sees me shooting Attica Rage headlining Mosh 4 Dosh in Newcastle and Secret Wars Glasgow vs Bristol at the Sub Club.

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.