I'm conscious it's been a while since my last self indulgent rant so I thought it would be a good time to make an entry. Part of the reason I've been quiet is because up until last week I have not really had much on other than editing a few Attica related videos to the point where I'm lacking inspiration. The other reason is that I've been going through a bit of a shit time with things at home and my personal life. Without going in to too much detail I've been forced to take a good long look at myself and make an attitude adjustment. This is something I'm struggling with but need to do for my own good. Anyway, up until last week things were pretty shitty.
So what happened last week to change things? Well I got a weeks worth of work on a CBBC show called Ultimate Sports Day. Now there's a little story to go along with this and it started a couple of weeks earlier when I got a phone call from a member of the production office asking if I wanted to come in for an interview about being a runner on a childrens TV show. I didn't know anything about it at this point but it was work and that's all I cared about. So I went to the office later in the day and met with the production manager who explained a bit about the show. It came across as a kids reality TV show. It sounded okay but the production manager explained to me that they were wanting a runner to stay at a youth hostel with the kids 24/7 for 6 days. I wasn't keen on this idea for several reasons but most of all was the money they were offering was woefully inadequate for what they wanted me to do. The way I look at life is that the most valuable thing you have is time. I was not about to stick myself in exile for 6 nights for what more or less slave labour wages. So initially I turned down the job. I really hated doing this but I felt that the production manager saw that I was inexperienced and was looking to take advantage.
So fast forward a week and I got an unexpected call from one of my former colleagues on World War Z. He asked if was available to which I replied, "Sure, what's the job?" He went on to explain the job and guess what... It was the same fucking job. I told him this and explained that I already turned it down. He told me that the person they got walked out on the job and they needed a replacement. The deal I was being offered was much more to my liking. Still not great but definitely worth my time. Plus I knew and respected a couple of people on the project. I also found out that all the locations were withing 15 miles of my home so I wasn't going to get in at ridiculous times. So all of this taken in to account I agreed to do the job and boy am I glad I did.
I had so much fun working on this project and I felt like I learned a lot too. There was a fair amount of down time which was a great opportunity to pick the brains of some of the more experienced crew members. I also got to know a couple of new runners and hit it off with them. Life is so much easier when you get on with the people you work with. The programme was filmed between several locations in Lanarkshire, Ravenscraig Leisure Centre, Strathclyde Park, Wishaw Sports Centre and the Time Capsule. There was a lot of driving around and since my car was handy I was given a bit more responsibility, basically being the last one to leave the locations and making sure all was well. Another thing I liked about it was that I got to meet Barry McGuigan who turned out to be a really nice guy and is still in amazing shape for his age. It's really cool to see guys give the finger to getting old.
Overall, Ultimate Sports Day was well worth doing. It distracted me from my problems and introduced me to some new friends and co-workers. I also got paid which is always a plus. Awesome!
Monday, 31 October 2011
Wednesday, 28 September 2011
Classic Grand Shoot & A Couple of Fannies
So nearly two weeks have passed since Attica Rage's Road Dog live set at Classic Grand and I already have a rough edit in the can. The night came off more or less perfectly and featured the band at their absolute best and unlike Hammerfest it was all about the music. No frills, no skanky dancers smeared in make up and no pyro. The night is what it should have been, a 100% celebration of the music. Quite frankly if you missed this one you missed out.
From a filming perspective it came off perfectly despite the chaotic circumstances. What I mean by this is mainly technical problems, but also one of the two fannies mentioned in the title of this post. First of all the technical problems were annoying more than anything and at least one was of my doing. First of all three of my SD cards didn't work. I later found out that I was mis-sold them (thanks ebay) when I bought them. Since they were not the correct classification for DSLR use they were useless to me during the shoot. Now I could have saved myself a helluva lot of problems if I bloody well checked them when I got them. It's silly little mistakes like this that I obsess over and quite frankly I should be beyond making them at this point. Lesson learned, it won't happen again. The other technical problem is general overheating associated with DSLR use. Only one camera was badly effected so I can't complain too much. It could have been worse and quite frankly the footage captured was fantastic. So major praise has to go to Robb, Michael, Craig and Keith for their efforts. You done me proud lads.
Now on to the other problem. When I started this blog, I did it to keep track of my "career" and also maybe give a little insight, and hopefully encouragement to people thinking of going down a similar path. I'm not claiming to be a success by any means. I am struggling to make a living but I hope that my experiences can be something that people can learn from in some way. However, lately I've been getting more personal which is not really what this blog was intended to be about. I'm a critic of people who air their personal feelings and dirty laundry on Facebook etc. yet lately I find myself doing the same. My only excuse is that I've had a rough year but I it doesn't change the fact I'm a hypocrite. That being said the individual I am talking about here does really deserve to be named and shamed. I won't refer to him by name but his actions at the Classic Grand gig were inexcusable.
Basically during the Attica Rage set this individual thought it would be a good idea to head in and out of the pit area as he pleased, getting in the way of my camera guys, causing them to stop filming. First of all when a crew is filming you leave them the hell alone to get on with it. You wouldn't ask the beeb to stop filming at T in the Park. Why should a club gig be any different? Also when a band is playing you leave them to get on with it. You don't plonk yourself down in front of the lead singer and kick his monitor. I had 5 cameras around the stage and not one of them got in the bands way. That's what professionals do, become invisible. The straw that broke the camels back for me was the individual throwing a drink on stage at one of the band members. My crew had a few thousand pounds worth of equipment in operation at the time and much like Mogwai they don't like getting wet. After the gig, I pulled the individual in question up and explained to him that he was being a hindrance to my crew. He instantly went on the defensive and called my crew "a bunch of wankers" and went on to say, "don't you know who I am?". Let me tell you something if someone ever asks this question we are instantly in douche territory. The conversation concluded with him making over the top and outrageous threats. I left the scene of the crime, offended and ready to explode. Now in hind sight I regret pulling him up while he was drunk. Simply put an arsehole + alcohol = a complete arsehole. I'm sure it's Einstein who came up with this formulae. Does his drunken state absolve him of responsibility? No! If you can't handle it then don't do it. The real disheartening thing here is that all I needed from him was to understand my issue and apologise for his behaviour. If the roles were reversed I would do the same. I've been an arse numerous times to some of the people I care about the most but I'm at least able to acknowledge when I'm wrong and make things right. An apology and a handshake goes a long long way.
So from one fanny to another. And this one I will name and shame since I don't know him on a personal level. The individual in question is Phil Lewis of LA Guns. Why has he pissed me off? Well, he decided it would be a good idea to bully my wee bro and mum. From the beginning of the gig in Ivory Blacks he started eye balling my brother who was standing at the railing with my mum. I was a bit worried at this point but dismissed it as a one off occurrence. Shortly after some groupie skanks decided to come down front and bump and grind next to me. Anyone who knows me well should know that I hate drunk women trying to rub up against my dick. Yeah, I have personal space issues. Anyway I decided to move up the back because that wasn't my idea of a good time. Unfortunately, I left my mum and brother to fend for themselves while this moose continued her drunken jiggling. My mum gave her a telling off as the girl was constantly battering in to her. Then Phil Lewis chimes in. He referred to my mum as "Mrs", when she is only 4 years older than him. Just because his mind and fashion sense is stuck in the 80's it doesn't make him still 25. He said, "quite clearly you're not having fun so why don't you do us a favour and leave," and pointed at the skank and said, "she's cool, she's with us." Well if you want your fans to be out their faces and unable to remember your performance (which was shit by the way) then you are welcome to them. You won't be getting any more of my family's money.
In general it was just a crappy gig. The only highlight was that I had a good chat about wrestling with the guitarist from Komatoze, which was awesome. Man I could talk shite about wrestling for days. Off the strength of that conversation Komatoze will probably be seeing some of my money and support in the near future. They certainly are more deserving of it than a middle aged rocker who never had a prime. Enjoy playing to 40 people per night Phil, I've got a feeling you've got plenty more of it ahead. Now of the couple of Fannies I have to say I have more hate for him. At least fanny number one is successful and has earned his right to be arrogant. Phil on the other hand is just another sad, washed up rocker who is stuck in the past. He seems to forget what his role is. As an entertainer it is his job to provide entertainment for the people paying to see the band. It is that simple. He is not better than the fans. In actual fact he is nothing without them. When you turn round and bully people who are paying customers whether they are enjoying the performance or not you are essentially costing yourself money. And quite frankly if they are not enjoying the gig then it's not them that is at fault, it is YOU. I think that sums everything up. Rant over with... until next time.
From a filming perspective it came off perfectly despite the chaotic circumstances. What I mean by this is mainly technical problems, but also one of the two fannies mentioned in the title of this post. First of all the technical problems were annoying more than anything and at least one was of my doing. First of all three of my SD cards didn't work. I later found out that I was mis-sold them (thanks ebay) when I bought them. Since they were not the correct classification for DSLR use they were useless to me during the shoot. Now I could have saved myself a helluva lot of problems if I bloody well checked them when I got them. It's silly little mistakes like this that I obsess over and quite frankly I should be beyond making them at this point. Lesson learned, it won't happen again. The other technical problem is general overheating associated with DSLR use. Only one camera was badly effected so I can't complain too much. It could have been worse and quite frankly the footage captured was fantastic. So major praise has to go to Robb, Michael, Craig and Keith for their efforts. You done me proud lads.
Now on to the other problem. When I started this blog, I did it to keep track of my "career" and also maybe give a little insight, and hopefully encouragement to people thinking of going down a similar path. I'm not claiming to be a success by any means. I am struggling to make a living but I hope that my experiences can be something that people can learn from in some way. However, lately I've been getting more personal which is not really what this blog was intended to be about. I'm a critic of people who air their personal feelings and dirty laundry on Facebook etc. yet lately I find myself doing the same. My only excuse is that I've had a rough year but I it doesn't change the fact I'm a hypocrite. That being said the individual I am talking about here does really deserve to be named and shamed. I won't refer to him by name but his actions at the Classic Grand gig were inexcusable.
Basically during the Attica Rage set this individual thought it would be a good idea to head in and out of the pit area as he pleased, getting in the way of my camera guys, causing them to stop filming. First of all when a crew is filming you leave them the hell alone to get on with it. You wouldn't ask the beeb to stop filming at T in the Park. Why should a club gig be any different? Also when a band is playing you leave them to get on with it. You don't plonk yourself down in front of the lead singer and kick his monitor. I had 5 cameras around the stage and not one of them got in the bands way. That's what professionals do, become invisible. The straw that broke the camels back for me was the individual throwing a drink on stage at one of the band members. My crew had a few thousand pounds worth of equipment in operation at the time and much like Mogwai they don't like getting wet. After the gig, I pulled the individual in question up and explained to him that he was being a hindrance to my crew. He instantly went on the defensive and called my crew "a bunch of wankers" and went on to say, "don't you know who I am?". Let me tell you something if someone ever asks this question we are instantly in douche territory. The conversation concluded with him making over the top and outrageous threats. I left the scene of the crime, offended and ready to explode. Now in hind sight I regret pulling him up while he was drunk. Simply put an arsehole + alcohol = a complete arsehole. I'm sure it's Einstein who came up with this formulae. Does his drunken state absolve him of responsibility? No! If you can't handle it then don't do it. The real disheartening thing here is that all I needed from him was to understand my issue and apologise for his behaviour. If the roles were reversed I would do the same. I've been an arse numerous times to some of the people I care about the most but I'm at least able to acknowledge when I'm wrong and make things right. An apology and a handshake goes a long long way.
So from one fanny to another. And this one I will name and shame since I don't know him on a personal level. The individual in question is Phil Lewis of LA Guns. Why has he pissed me off? Well, he decided it would be a good idea to bully my wee bro and mum. From the beginning of the gig in Ivory Blacks he started eye balling my brother who was standing at the railing with my mum. I was a bit worried at this point but dismissed it as a one off occurrence. Shortly after some groupie skanks decided to come down front and bump and grind next to me. Anyone who knows me well should know that I hate drunk women trying to rub up against my dick. Yeah, I have personal space issues. Anyway I decided to move up the back because that wasn't my idea of a good time. Unfortunately, I left my mum and brother to fend for themselves while this moose continued her drunken jiggling. My mum gave her a telling off as the girl was constantly battering in to her. Then Phil Lewis chimes in. He referred to my mum as "Mrs", when she is only 4 years older than him. Just because his mind and fashion sense is stuck in the 80's it doesn't make him still 25. He said, "quite clearly you're not having fun so why don't you do us a favour and leave," and pointed at the skank and said, "she's cool, she's with us." Well if you want your fans to be out their faces and unable to remember your performance (which was shit by the way) then you are welcome to them. You won't be getting any more of my family's money.
In general it was just a crappy gig. The only highlight was that I had a good chat about wrestling with the guitarist from Komatoze, which was awesome. Man I could talk shite about wrestling for days. Off the strength of that conversation Komatoze will probably be seeing some of my money and support in the near future. They certainly are more deserving of it than a middle aged rocker who never had a prime. Enjoy playing to 40 people per night Phil, I've got a feeling you've got plenty more of it ahead. Now of the couple of Fannies I have to say I have more hate for him. At least fanny number one is successful and has earned his right to be arrogant. Phil on the other hand is just another sad, washed up rocker who is stuck in the past. He seems to forget what his role is. As an entertainer it is his job to provide entertainment for the people paying to see the band. It is that simple. He is not better than the fans. In actual fact he is nothing without them. When you turn round and bully people who are paying customers whether they are enjoying the performance or not you are essentially costing yourself money. And quite frankly if they are not enjoying the gig then it's not them that is at fault, it is YOU. I think that sums everything up. Rant over with... until next time.
Sunday, 28 August 2011
World War Z shoot thoughts
At the time of writing this I have completed my commitments as a location runner on, "World War Z". Now I'm not really allowed to talk about the filming process in any great detail here which is just as well because I saw the inside of bathrooms more than I saw happenings on set. For the uninitiated the locations unit is to ensure that the the cast and crew are happy little bunnies. So if you work in locations you have to start before everyone else and finish after everyone else. This means very little sleep and a grumpy Colin. So before I go on I'd like to apologise to anyone I may have offended while I was working on this. I pissed a few people off, some even unintentionally due to early morning/mentally exhausted texting. That's what happens when you are getting 3-4 hours of sleep a night though. I'm a creature of habit and I miss the consistency of 8 hour sleeps every night.
Back on topic, so what exciting things did I do? Well my daily responsibility involved going around the businesses and assisting with deliveries and taking out the trash to designated pick up points. This was sold to me as a big responsibility, by the locations heads. I can smell B.S. a mile away and quite frankly would have respected them more if they said, "we know it's pish but someone's got to do it.". I've worked minimum wage most of my life I know the deal by now so don't insult my intelligence. Other duties included litter picks, water runs, lifting tables, chairs, fencing, etc. and my personal favourite... toilet cleaning. The lifting stuff I am fine with. In fact I never expected to actually feel in better shape after this job than before it. I feel great and look the most ripped I've been in years. The toilet cleaning was a real eye opener though. It was everything you'd expect but the real shocker was how fucking disgusting the ladies loos were. Oh my god! Ladies I'm only saying this once, toilets flush for a reason. I suggest you take advantage of that because I don't like fishing out jobby lumps with a toilet brush. Boke!
Anyway I might as well tell everyone what they want to know. Yes I saw Brad Pitt. He looked like the guy in the movies. Was I impressed? Nope. Perhaps I'm just a jaded old man, which I am, but the whole celebrity thing just doesn't do it for me. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Brad personally. I don't even know him. I do however have a real problem how media spin puts so much importance on guys like him. He is no better than me or you and contributes far less to society than our scientists and doctors yet media manipulation convinces us that we should be fascinated by him. Our priorities are totally all wrong. The stories I kept reading on my 30 minutes a day down time were full of inaccuracies and some were downright false. Then there were the paps. These people are the vermin of the photographic world, with their lenses that looked like WMD's and their fucking attitude. The fact that they are paid many times what I made for taking shitty photos of a bloke who pretends for a living is downright offensive to me. That's the world we live in, I guess.
Okay so I think I have bitched enough. Now the good parts of the experience. First of all catering was fucking awesome. I ate so much good shit. Chicken, beef, pork, even shark all tasted amazing. If only I actually had the time to savour the food properly. 20 minute lunches just don't work for me. The craft area (or as I like to call it, the magic grotto) was also awesome. Smoothies, soft drinks, panini's, sweeties. I always made sure that I was in the vicinity of it on a regular basis. The amount of swag I came away with was insane. I even went to the lengths of making trips with a black bin bag to stock up home base for after the final day of filming. I was popular with the boys that day. Unfortunately night shift security got their grubby mitts in and ravaged it over night. Bastards.
A tonne of funny moments happened over the course of the 3 weeks but my favorite had to be my encounter with the italian stallion. I was checking passes at home base when this confused looking balding man tried to casually walk by. He claimed to be an "actor" and said, "I'm in movie". I told him that the building was for extras and that he is in the wrong place. He kept insisting so I went and got one of the AD's to deal with the dude. He kept rambling on about being an "actor" and that he was friends with an actor in the film. They ask him to write down who the actor is because his English was very broken. He wrote down Angelina Jolie. RUMBLED! The AD's told him that she wasn't in the film and asked him to leave. The AD's left and I continued to stand guard, trying not to laugh. The guy stared on, confused, before storming off angry. I then joined the extras who were already buckled over in laughter. It's crazy the lengths some dirty wee men will go to in order to have a perv on a "beautiful person"
The most important positive of the whole experience was the people. The team of runners we had were a great bunch of guys and by the end we were an awesome team. Some of the location assistants and catering folk were also bang on and I'd work with them any time. I'd like to give a shout out to the guys and wish them all the best in the future and I hope that they keep in touch. If you want to hang out in the next couple of weeks there is this gig on the 16th at the Classic Grand with a band I seldom mention, called Attica Rage. Unsurprisingly I'll be filming them. I hope to see as many of you as possible there and hopefully we can catch up at the after party.
As well as the runners and some of the location assistants I also got along with most of the day time security. I'd often grab them a coffee or share my swag that I plundered from the magic grotto. There was one in particular I feel like I hit it off with and took a fancy to. She was the cutest most unlikely looking security guard I've ever seen. A really friendly personality and an interesting person too. Since pretty much any female I am attracted to reduces me to the level of a silly wee boy I pulled out iota of charm I possess and amped up the niceness and brought her stuff from craft whenever I was passing by. I even bought her lunch when she was through on her day off. Unfortunately, I kind of fucked up with some of the fore-mentioned early morning texting and have probably ruined any chance of their being any more than just friendship between us. It's a shame but I never learn to keep my insecurities to myself. You know as cheesy as it sounds the 'italian stallion' and everyone else can have Angelina, I'd rather have my wee security guard. It's a shame I won't.
Life goes on, as they say. Time to move forward and get ready for the Attica gig in under 2 weeks.
Back on topic, so what exciting things did I do? Well my daily responsibility involved going around the businesses and assisting with deliveries and taking out the trash to designated pick up points. This was sold to me as a big responsibility, by the locations heads. I can smell B.S. a mile away and quite frankly would have respected them more if they said, "we know it's pish but someone's got to do it.". I've worked minimum wage most of my life I know the deal by now so don't insult my intelligence. Other duties included litter picks, water runs, lifting tables, chairs, fencing, etc. and my personal favourite... toilet cleaning. The lifting stuff I am fine with. In fact I never expected to actually feel in better shape after this job than before it. I feel great and look the most ripped I've been in years. The toilet cleaning was a real eye opener though. It was everything you'd expect but the real shocker was how fucking disgusting the ladies loos were. Oh my god! Ladies I'm only saying this once, toilets flush for a reason. I suggest you take advantage of that because I don't like fishing out jobby lumps with a toilet brush. Boke!
Anyway I might as well tell everyone what they want to know. Yes I saw Brad Pitt. He looked like the guy in the movies. Was I impressed? Nope. Perhaps I'm just a jaded old man, which I am, but the whole celebrity thing just doesn't do it for me. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Brad personally. I don't even know him. I do however have a real problem how media spin puts so much importance on guys like him. He is no better than me or you and contributes far less to society than our scientists and doctors yet media manipulation convinces us that we should be fascinated by him. Our priorities are totally all wrong. The stories I kept reading on my 30 minutes a day down time were full of inaccuracies and some were downright false. Then there were the paps. These people are the vermin of the photographic world, with their lenses that looked like WMD's and their fucking attitude. The fact that they are paid many times what I made for taking shitty photos of a bloke who pretends for a living is downright offensive to me. That's the world we live in, I guess.
Okay so I think I have bitched enough. Now the good parts of the experience. First of all catering was fucking awesome. I ate so much good shit. Chicken, beef, pork, even shark all tasted amazing. If only I actually had the time to savour the food properly. 20 minute lunches just don't work for me. The craft area (or as I like to call it, the magic grotto) was also awesome. Smoothies, soft drinks, panini's, sweeties. I always made sure that I was in the vicinity of it on a regular basis. The amount of swag I came away with was insane. I even went to the lengths of making trips with a black bin bag to stock up home base for after the final day of filming. I was popular with the boys that day. Unfortunately night shift security got their grubby mitts in and ravaged it over night. Bastards.
A tonne of funny moments happened over the course of the 3 weeks but my favorite had to be my encounter with the italian stallion. I was checking passes at home base when this confused looking balding man tried to casually walk by. He claimed to be an "actor" and said, "I'm in movie". I told him that the building was for extras and that he is in the wrong place. He kept insisting so I went and got one of the AD's to deal with the dude. He kept rambling on about being an "actor" and that he was friends with an actor in the film. They ask him to write down who the actor is because his English was very broken. He wrote down Angelina Jolie. RUMBLED! The AD's told him that she wasn't in the film and asked him to leave. The AD's left and I continued to stand guard, trying not to laugh. The guy stared on, confused, before storming off angry. I then joined the extras who were already buckled over in laughter. It's crazy the lengths some dirty wee men will go to in order to have a perv on a "beautiful person"
The most important positive of the whole experience was the people. The team of runners we had were a great bunch of guys and by the end we were an awesome team. Some of the location assistants and catering folk were also bang on and I'd work with them any time. I'd like to give a shout out to the guys and wish them all the best in the future and I hope that they keep in touch. If you want to hang out in the next couple of weeks there is this gig on the 16th at the Classic Grand with a band I seldom mention, called Attica Rage. Unsurprisingly I'll be filming them. I hope to see as many of you as possible there and hopefully we can catch up at the after party.
As well as the runners and some of the location assistants I also got along with most of the day time security. I'd often grab them a coffee or share my swag that I plundered from the magic grotto. There was one in particular I feel like I hit it off with and took a fancy to. She was the cutest most unlikely looking security guard I've ever seen. A really friendly personality and an interesting person too. Since pretty much any female I am attracted to reduces me to the level of a silly wee boy I pulled out iota of charm I possess and amped up the niceness and brought her stuff from craft whenever I was passing by. I even bought her lunch when she was through on her day off. Unfortunately, I kind of fucked up with some of the fore-mentioned early morning texting and have probably ruined any chance of their being any more than just friendship between us. It's a shame but I never learn to keep my insecurities to myself. You know as cheesy as it sounds the 'italian stallion' and everyone else can have Angelina, I'd rather have my wee security guard. It's a shame I won't.
Life goes on, as they say. Time to move forward and get ready for the Attica gig in under 2 weeks.
Monday, 22 August 2011
Hammerfest 4 promo video
Since the Hammerfest 4 website has now gone live. I guess it's time to talk about the video that I created for the festival. I've included the link to it below but it is also available to view on the official website www.hammerfest.co.uk . This video came about off the back of the video I produced for Hard Rock Hell 5. I was given the theme of Thor to work with and was told to get a little creative with it. So I came up with the plan of having Thor kind of wash up on the beach and walk along the coast until he spots the Hammerfest flag and hoists his hammer and lets out a roar then bridge in to all the cool stuff you'd expect from a festival promo video. In comparison to last years video I think I have done a much better job.
So with my plan in place I went to the festival with the Attica Rage gang and I began work as well as filming for the final piece of the documentary. You see ladies, some of us men can multi-task too. I met with my Thor on the Friday morning, Aiden Vauls from the Area 51 performance group, and went down to the beach. The good news was it wasn't raining. The bad news was it was blindingly sunny. I was using a Canon 550D to film and could hardly see the LCD, and had forgot my viewfinder, so I was filming blind a large part of the time. I got what I needed but there were a lot of shots I felt were un-useable and I was kind of disappointed with the footage.
I was also unhappy with the vox pops. I'm not blaming my friends, Suz and Emy, who were interviewing as they did what I asked. They had to put up with some generally annoying drunks giving shit answers. Emy also had to put up with some drunk silly wee boys sleazily hitting on her and the like. This pissed me off big time. I am old school through and through, and this behavior annoys me. If I've said it once I've said it a million times, alcohol does not absolve you of responsibility for your own behavior. If you have a problem with that, tough, your a dick. I'm right. Returning from that tangent, on the whole all of the good vox pops were used in the video. Usually I'd like more than I need but sometimes you've got to make do. Thanks again to Suz and Emy for sparing their time to help me out and putting up with the odd twat.
The gig footage always takes care of itself at these things. I've filmed bands live long enough now to know what works and what doesn't. I have to say though I feel that the Hard Rock Hell band footage was more entertaining to watch by the sheer fact that the bands were visually more impressive. With the exceptions of Turisas and Sabaton the bands really didn't measure up. I'm amazed Sylosis got the crowd moving the way they did. They showed very little movement and the singer was typical screamo pish. Either I'm old and out of touch or silly drunk little boys are way too easily impressed. They are the metal equivalent of Michael Bay fans.
So I returned home and got editing. I had plenty of time to get this one done so I wanted to really polish it. I got the basic structure down and then got the Hammerfest peeps to send the photoshop file for the poster. I used some of this really great artwork as the basis for producing the opening title and the closing one. I took the bits I wanted and created water, sky, fire and lightning effects and composited them all together. For the opening I tried to make it look like a supernatural vortex kind of thing like Thor travelling from Asgard. For the end, I tried to mimic the poster but also make it animated. These two sections required the most work. Most of what I do in After Effects is from scratch. Luckily there are plenty of great tutorials online.
The final piece of the puzzle was the opening with Thor. I cut all of the beach footage and just concentrated on shots from a grassy hill located near the coast. Boy I'm glad I decided to shoot that. It pays to have a back up. I still had a problem though. The sunny daytime footage didn't go stylistically with the opening and ending compositions. To solve this I decided to break the rules. I did a day to night effect. Now day tonight effects work best in clear, overcast conditions. I wasn't that fortunate. With a bit of tinkering around I noticed a light outline effect happening around scenery and Thor in shots where the sky was visible. It actually looked pretty cool so I decided to make it a feature of the video. Hey, if you can't be good be lucky. All that was left was to add sound effects a lightning strike and some motion blurring to give it that other worldly feel. There was one more touch that was needed. I had to find a decent way to start the video because opening on Thor seemed a bit abrupt. The solution presented itself when John Davis (HRH management) made a request. I think he said something like, "It could use some runes. I love that shit.". Initially I wasn't sure where I could include them without it seeming forced in. With a bit of trial and error I found that if I faded some ruinic up at the beginning along with the date it would ease in the video and set the scene nicely. Incidentally the runic is just the date again. Totally lacking in creativity there. Overall I'm happy with the video, especially after the disappointing source material I had to work from. It seems HRH and Hammerfest crew like it too as I've already been offered to do the promo video for Hard Rock Hell 6. I'm unsure whether I want to do it at this time but being asked right off the bat if I wanted to do it is good for the old confidence. I might make a living out of this video work after all. So I'll leave it at that for this entry. I'll finish off with a little quiz to test the nerdiness of those reading this.
This video contains samples taken from 2 video games from the late 80's/ early 90's. Can you tell me which ones? Here are some clues. 1. They were both on the Commodore Amiga 2. One starts with an S and finishes with a V. The other starts with an M and finishes with an E. 3. One is four letters and one is nine letters. The winner gets the excelent prize of a romantic dinner with me at one of Glasgows finest restaurants. Good luck to all. Personally I'm pulling for Big C.
So with my plan in place I went to the festival with the Attica Rage gang and I began work as well as filming for the final piece of the documentary. You see ladies, some of us men can multi-task too. I met with my Thor on the Friday morning, Aiden Vauls from the Area 51 performance group, and went down to the beach. The good news was it wasn't raining. The bad news was it was blindingly sunny. I was using a Canon 550D to film and could hardly see the LCD, and had forgot my viewfinder, so I was filming blind a large part of the time. I got what I needed but there were a lot of shots I felt were un-useable and I was kind of disappointed with the footage.
I was also unhappy with the vox pops. I'm not blaming my friends, Suz and Emy, who were interviewing as they did what I asked. They had to put up with some generally annoying drunks giving shit answers. Emy also had to put up with some drunk silly wee boys sleazily hitting on her and the like. This pissed me off big time. I am old school through and through, and this behavior annoys me. If I've said it once I've said it a million times, alcohol does not absolve you of responsibility for your own behavior. If you have a problem with that, tough, your a dick. I'm right. Returning from that tangent, on the whole all of the good vox pops were used in the video. Usually I'd like more than I need but sometimes you've got to make do. Thanks again to Suz and Emy for sparing their time to help me out and putting up with the odd twat.
The gig footage always takes care of itself at these things. I've filmed bands live long enough now to know what works and what doesn't. I have to say though I feel that the Hard Rock Hell band footage was more entertaining to watch by the sheer fact that the bands were visually more impressive. With the exceptions of Turisas and Sabaton the bands really didn't measure up. I'm amazed Sylosis got the crowd moving the way they did. They showed very little movement and the singer was typical screamo pish. Either I'm old and out of touch or silly drunk little boys are way too easily impressed. They are the metal equivalent of Michael Bay fans.
So I returned home and got editing. I had plenty of time to get this one done so I wanted to really polish it. I got the basic structure down and then got the Hammerfest peeps to send the photoshop file for the poster. I used some of this really great artwork as the basis for producing the opening title and the closing one. I took the bits I wanted and created water, sky, fire and lightning effects and composited them all together. For the opening I tried to make it look like a supernatural vortex kind of thing like Thor travelling from Asgard. For the end, I tried to mimic the poster but also make it animated. These two sections required the most work. Most of what I do in After Effects is from scratch. Luckily there are plenty of great tutorials online.
The final piece of the puzzle was the opening with Thor. I cut all of the beach footage and just concentrated on shots from a grassy hill located near the coast. Boy I'm glad I decided to shoot that. It pays to have a back up. I still had a problem though. The sunny daytime footage didn't go stylistically with the opening and ending compositions. To solve this I decided to break the rules. I did a day to night effect. Now day tonight effects work best in clear, overcast conditions. I wasn't that fortunate. With a bit of tinkering around I noticed a light outline effect happening around scenery and Thor in shots where the sky was visible. It actually looked pretty cool so I decided to make it a feature of the video. Hey, if you can't be good be lucky. All that was left was to add sound effects a lightning strike and some motion blurring to give it that other worldly feel. There was one more touch that was needed. I had to find a decent way to start the video because opening on Thor seemed a bit abrupt. The solution presented itself when John Davis (HRH management) made a request. I think he said something like, "It could use some runes. I love that shit.". Initially I wasn't sure where I could include them without it seeming forced in. With a bit of trial and error I found that if I faded some ruinic up at the beginning along with the date it would ease in the video and set the scene nicely. Incidentally the runic is just the date again. Totally lacking in creativity there. Overall I'm happy with the video, especially after the disappointing source material I had to work from. It seems HRH and Hammerfest crew like it too as I've already been offered to do the promo video for Hard Rock Hell 6. I'm unsure whether I want to do it at this time but being asked right off the bat if I wanted to do it is good for the old confidence. I might make a living out of this video work after all. So I'll leave it at that for this entry. I'll finish off with a little quiz to test the nerdiness of those reading this.
This video contains samples taken from 2 video games from the late 80's/ early 90's. Can you tell me which ones? Here are some clues. 1. They were both on the Commodore Amiga 2. One starts with an S and finishes with a V. The other starts with an M and finishes with an E. 3. One is four letters and one is nine letters. The winner gets the excelent prize of a romantic dinner with me at one of Glasgows finest restaurants. Good luck to all. Personally I'm pulling for Big C.
Wednesday, 27 July 2011
Healthy Valleys corporate video thoughts
At the time of writing this I have not long returned from handing over my latest project (and invoice). The project involved producing a 5 minute corporate video for a charity called Healthy Valleys. It is a partially government funded institution providing support for individuals dealing with stress and related other related issues. I spent a couple of days down there interviewing clients and staff, and also collecting footage of goings on to help promote their My Way stress management programme. The purpose of the video was to show their value in the community to potential funders. So if it goes down well they'll get their funding renewed/increased. No pressure then!
The deadline was tighter than I would have liked but when I'm being paid good money for a job I have absolutely no right to complain. I say good money because this is probably the first time I've been paid what I feel I'm worth. Hopefully it won't be the last. What I enjoyed about this job was that not only did I help create something that will be used for a good cause but I'm also making a decent profit. Who says you can't have your cake and eat it?... Actually, usually me, but in this instance I'm wrong. Unfortunately I'll be unable to show the video unless Healthy Valleys chooses to display it on their site. This is fair enough, given the nature of the content the call should be their's whether or not to put it online.
Like I said the experience was one of the more pleasant experiences while filming. The fact that the weather was awesome too certainly helped. It was good to see how the staff deal with the clients. They were supportive without being patronising which is something that some doctors and nurses struggle to do. Being around people who have been through a rough spell and came out the other end was also quite inspiring too. It was an interesting experience that certainly beats a "normal" 9 till 5 job.
I was worried about a few things while making this. First and foremost being the the interviews. I'm not famous for my sensitivity in fact I'm famous for being exactly the opposite. Despite this I think I did quite well during the interviews. Getting people to open up and come off as natural is really difficult and is something I am continuously working on. Again, I did good. Once I had enough interview material the pressure was off and all I had to do was collect cut away footage. I managed to get most of what I needed while I was at Healthy Valleys. During the edit I felt I needed some shots of physical activity. Healthy Valleys was off for a week so I was stuck. So what does every boy do when he is stuck? He runs to mummy. I convinced my mum to allow herself to be filmed walking around Millheugh. So I guess I have to thank her now. Errr... thanks mum, I guess. Her ego is going to be out of control after reading this. So from there I had a pretty straight forward edit to get what was required. I think there was around 3 cuts in total. Not bad.
So what's next? Well right now I'm not working on anything other than the Attica film so I think it is a good time to start work on another documentary. It is going to be on the subject of alternative modelling (basically anything that isn't catwalk or fashion). It is going to be another chance for me to be presenting on camera so it's something I'm approaching with excitment and dread in equal doses. I think that is me covered everything. Until next self indulgent blog, cheers.
The deadline was tighter than I would have liked but when I'm being paid good money for a job I have absolutely no right to complain. I say good money because this is probably the first time I've been paid what I feel I'm worth. Hopefully it won't be the last. What I enjoyed about this job was that not only did I help create something that will be used for a good cause but I'm also making a decent profit. Who says you can't have your cake and eat it?... Actually, usually me, but in this instance I'm wrong. Unfortunately I'll be unable to show the video unless Healthy Valleys chooses to display it on their site. This is fair enough, given the nature of the content the call should be their's whether or not to put it online.
Like I said the experience was one of the more pleasant experiences while filming. The fact that the weather was awesome too certainly helped. It was good to see how the staff deal with the clients. They were supportive without being patronising which is something that some doctors and nurses struggle to do. Being around people who have been through a rough spell and came out the other end was also quite inspiring too. It was an interesting experience that certainly beats a "normal" 9 till 5 job.
I was worried about a few things while making this. First and foremost being the the interviews. I'm not famous for my sensitivity in fact I'm famous for being exactly the opposite. Despite this I think I did quite well during the interviews. Getting people to open up and come off as natural is really difficult and is something I am continuously working on. Again, I did good. Once I had enough interview material the pressure was off and all I had to do was collect cut away footage. I managed to get most of what I needed while I was at Healthy Valleys. During the edit I felt I needed some shots of physical activity. Healthy Valleys was off for a week so I was stuck. So what does every boy do when he is stuck? He runs to mummy. I convinced my mum to allow herself to be filmed walking around Millheugh. So I guess I have to thank her now. Errr... thanks mum, I guess. Her ego is going to be out of control after reading this. So from there I had a pretty straight forward edit to get what was required. I think there was around 3 cuts in total. Not bad.
So what's next? Well right now I'm not working on anything other than the Attica film so I think it is a good time to start work on another documentary. It is going to be on the subject of alternative modelling (basically anything that isn't catwalk or fashion). It is going to be another chance for me to be presenting on camera so it's something I'm approaching with excitment and dread in equal doses. I think that is me covered everything. Until next self indulgent blog, cheers.
Wednesday, 13 July 2011
MMA documentary and Happy Valleys
I thought it was about time to finally get my fourth year uni film online. It is a film on the world of mixed martial arts/ cage fighting in Scotland.I chose to make a documentary on this topic because it is sport I'm in to and I knew the owner of The Griphouse gym pretty well. Basically it was easy and convenient enough for me to have plenty of other stuff on the go and still pass my course. I met the Griphouse owner, Guy Ramsay, while filming a segment for the Attica documentary. While there I saw the potential for a possible film and asked Guy if he was interested. I also offered to film a Muay Thai show he was promoting. I liked Guy instantly, basically because he came across as intelligent and could explain the role of combat sports in society. I knew he'd have to be a large part in the film and in my opinion he's the best thing about it.
The film is the first time I've ever presented on camera. I think it shows especially early on. What do you expect from someone who is really camera shy? I've never liked being the center of attention hence why in the past I've gravitated towards being behind the camera. It's a hold over from being very shy as a child which is something that lessens with age but I think there'll always be a wee bit of it in there. For me making this films was the first step in over coming camera shyness. In that regard I think it worked. By the end of filming I was less self conscious and felt more relaxed. Hopefully I will be better in my next time around. Click below if you want to witness and have a laugh at my complete unfitness.
For the next couple of weeks I am working on a corporate video for Healthy Valleys http://www.healthyvalleys.org.uk. They are a charity in rural South Lanarkshire trying to improve the physical and metal health of people who need help. I've already filmed several interviews with some of their clients and have also shot a fair bit of activity footage. This is another great opportunity and is a different kind of video than what I'm used to. The biggest challenge is the tight deadline. It has to be done in 2 weeks. Difficult but do-able.
The film is the first time I've ever presented on camera. I think it shows especially early on. What do you expect from someone who is really camera shy? I've never liked being the center of attention hence why in the past I've gravitated towards being behind the camera. It's a hold over from being very shy as a child which is something that lessens with age but I think there'll always be a wee bit of it in there. For me making this films was the first step in over coming camera shyness. In that regard I think it worked. By the end of filming I was less self conscious and felt more relaxed. Hopefully I will be better in my next time around. Click below if you want to witness and have a laugh at my complete unfitness.
For the next couple of weeks I am working on a corporate video for Healthy Valleys http://www.healthyvalleys.org.uk. They are a charity in rural South Lanarkshire trying to improve the physical and metal health of people who need help. I've already filmed several interviews with some of their clients and have also shot a fair bit of activity footage. This is another great opportunity and is a different kind of video than what I'm used to. The biggest challenge is the tight deadline. It has to be done in 2 weeks. Difficult but do-able.
Friday, 1 July 2011
MEGA RANT TIME
I apologise for this post as it is in no way related to my film and video work. However, I really need to vent because I have just witnessed something that has really pissed me off. I make no bones about it I am an angry man a good 75% of the time and it is not because of any one thing in particular but a combination of things that get my blood boiling. One of these things is UK politics and this little video pretty much sums up what I mean. So please have a watch as Ed Miliband some how manages to say nothing in 2 and a half minutes.
Okay lets cut through the crap. Basically Ed Miliband does not support the strikes and he believes that the government has acted in a "provocative manner". His solution is to enter in to talks. Okay! I tell you what would be nice. How about the leader of the Labour movement actually doing some leading like the interviewer asks. Labour is still in part funded by trade unions and is supposed to represent the working class. Therefore surely Ed should be trying to come up with an alternative solution besides saying, "can't we all just get along?". I'm not saying he should be supporting day strikes but at least have the conviction to suggest how to progress. Instead, Ed rambles on bumbling and repeating himself like a Hugh Grant character. This is the best the Labour Party has to offer. Really? REALLY? Good luck next election.
My stance on the whole thing is that the public sector workers are well within their right to strike. In fact I don't think they are doing enough. If they want to take on the government they need to strike properly. None of this day strike nonsense. Hell a days strike at the end of the school term. Everyone knows the last couple of weeks of the school term are complete balls. My last week of every term usually involved me going on holiday a couple of days early. At Christmas as soon as the word church was mentioned I was out of there. I'm sorry guys if you're going to have me mime hymns and tell me fairy stories instead of educate me then I'm outta there. Sorry I got side tracked. My point is that their strike at this time means very little. Most kids are already playing truant anyway. If the teachers wanted the governments attention they need longer term strikes. I'm sure Cameron and Loki...er...I mean Clegg would take notice then. It's certainly better than Miliband's do nothing and hope everything works itself out approach.
The bigger issue here is the state of British politics. Labour the Conservatives and the Liberal Hypocrites are all virtually identical. To use a soft drinks metaphor (made famous by Jesse Ventura) what we have is a choice between Pepsi, and Cola, and ASDA's own brand. They are all virtually the same but which one you prefer depends on your tastes. It is a sad realization that in my life time our nation has become a democracy with no choice. What a complete contradiction. Having said that unlike the peeps south of the border I have a choice. With the SNP in Hollyrood there is a very real opportunity that an independence referendum will be held. This is an issue that I've flip flopped about over the years but now I'm 100% for it. At least the SNP have a leader with an ounce of leadership skills and charisma.
For my friends south of the border, I feel for ya. Having said that we had a chance to make UK politics more democratic and guess what we didn't take it. I'm talking about the voting reform that took place on the same day as the Scottish elections. I voted for it so I'm not taking any of the blame for that one. I'm kind of left scratching my head about who to vote for next election. I can't vote for any of the main parties or the three headed monster as I like to call them. Minority and extremist parties tend to be single minded in their policies. The other choice is an independent should one run in my constituency but that is not guaranteed. The only other viable option is for me to spoil my paper. Contrary to what candidates would have you believe, spoiling your paper is not a wasted vote. They are counted therefore it is a valid statement by the individual. You are basically saying there is no one who represents me on this list. I happen to agree with those who think it is a good idea to actually a box for none of above. This means that by ticking the box you are formally declaring that you are not represented by any of the candidates. If enough people vote this way then it identifies a deficiency in the electoral system that will have to be addressed. It's the Brewster's Millions approach to politics (video below). I know it is a comedy but in all great comedy you can find truth. If you don't believe me Youtube Bill Hicks or George Carlin.
This clip from Brewster's Millions is so on the money it is scary. It really highlights that when you vote for a politician you're not voting for policies, you are voting for a carefully created image. Wouldn't it be cool to see a guy running who dressed in casual clothes though. Someone who cut through all the bullshit and told you the truth? I wouldn't even care about their policies. They'd have my vote by virtue of them going out there and putting themselves on the line. It's certainly more exciting than the Ed Miliband 2000. Hmmm... Actually now that I think about it maybe that interviewer sent him in to an infinite loop. Whatever they do don't send them to Microsoft for repairs. They can't even make console that works beyond 6 months. Thats me for now. Hopefully next time I'll actually have some filming to discuss.
Okay lets cut through the crap. Basically Ed Miliband does not support the strikes and he believes that the government has acted in a "provocative manner". His solution is to enter in to talks. Okay! I tell you what would be nice. How about the leader of the Labour movement actually doing some leading like the interviewer asks. Labour is still in part funded by trade unions and is supposed to represent the working class. Therefore surely Ed should be trying to come up with an alternative solution besides saying, "can't we all just get along?". I'm not saying he should be supporting day strikes but at least have the conviction to suggest how to progress. Instead, Ed rambles on bumbling and repeating himself like a Hugh Grant character. This is the best the Labour Party has to offer. Really? REALLY? Good luck next election.
My stance on the whole thing is that the public sector workers are well within their right to strike. In fact I don't think they are doing enough. If they want to take on the government they need to strike properly. None of this day strike nonsense. Hell a days strike at the end of the school term. Everyone knows the last couple of weeks of the school term are complete balls. My last week of every term usually involved me going on holiday a couple of days early. At Christmas as soon as the word church was mentioned I was out of there. I'm sorry guys if you're going to have me mime hymns and tell me fairy stories instead of educate me then I'm outta there. Sorry I got side tracked. My point is that their strike at this time means very little. Most kids are already playing truant anyway. If the teachers wanted the governments attention they need longer term strikes. I'm sure Cameron and Loki...er...I mean Clegg would take notice then. It's certainly better than Miliband's do nothing and hope everything works itself out approach.
The bigger issue here is the state of British politics. Labour the Conservatives and the Liberal Hypocrites are all virtually identical. To use a soft drinks metaphor (made famous by Jesse Ventura) what we have is a choice between Pepsi, and Cola, and ASDA's own brand. They are all virtually the same but which one you prefer depends on your tastes. It is a sad realization that in my life time our nation has become a democracy with no choice. What a complete contradiction. Having said that unlike the peeps south of the border I have a choice. With the SNP in Hollyrood there is a very real opportunity that an independence referendum will be held. This is an issue that I've flip flopped about over the years but now I'm 100% for it. At least the SNP have a leader with an ounce of leadership skills and charisma.
For my friends south of the border, I feel for ya. Having said that we had a chance to make UK politics more democratic and guess what we didn't take it. I'm talking about the voting reform that took place on the same day as the Scottish elections. I voted for it so I'm not taking any of the blame for that one. I'm kind of left scratching my head about who to vote for next election. I can't vote for any of the main parties or the three headed monster as I like to call them. Minority and extremist parties tend to be single minded in their policies. The other choice is an independent should one run in my constituency but that is not guaranteed. The only other viable option is for me to spoil my paper. Contrary to what candidates would have you believe, spoiling your paper is not a wasted vote. They are counted therefore it is a valid statement by the individual. You are basically saying there is no one who represents me on this list. I happen to agree with those who think it is a good idea to actually a box for none of above. This means that by ticking the box you are formally declaring that you are not represented by any of the candidates. If enough people vote this way then it identifies a deficiency in the electoral system that will have to be addressed. It's the Brewster's Millions approach to politics (video below). I know it is a comedy but in all great comedy you can find truth. If you don't believe me Youtube Bill Hicks or George Carlin.
This clip from Brewster's Millions is so on the money it is scary. It really highlights that when you vote for a politician you're not voting for policies, you are voting for a carefully created image. Wouldn't it be cool to see a guy running who dressed in casual clothes though. Someone who cut through all the bullshit and told you the truth? I wouldn't even care about their policies. They'd have my vote by virtue of them going out there and putting themselves on the line. It's certainly more exciting than the Ed Miliband 2000. Hmmm... Actually now that I think about it maybe that interviewer sent him in to an infinite loop. Whatever they do don't send them to Microsoft for repairs. They can't even make console that works beyond 6 months. Thats me for now. Hopefully next time I'll actually have some filming to discuss.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
