A New Wave

I've recently bought a Canon EOS 550D, which shoots video in full 1080p HD. I'm still waiting for my lens to arrive, but when it does I'm going to start shooting some stuff, and join the new wave of DSLR filmmakers.

In other news, I've managed to upload the first three parts of the Gang Show that I shot over Easter. There's plenty more parts to come as it's a two and a half hour show, but I can only upload one part per week on Vimeo as the files take up most of my 500MB weekly upload capacity and I can only upload one HD video per week as well.

Here are the first three parts though:


Click Here To View HD Version


Click Here To View HD Version


Click Here To View HD Version

You will be able to find the rest of the videos here as they get uploaded.

On to music now and I've been coming up with a few tunes here and there and playing around with different sounds on Logic Express. I've come up with quite a few, but my aim is to finish one a month, so here is the first.

Running by aaronbuckley

I could probably do a lot more to the piece, however, I'm happy with it and see it as finished. I was going for a Run Lola Run feel with it, which I'm happy I achieved when I played it for a group of friends and one of them compared it to Run Lola Run. It might not be the best electronic piece ever, but I'm more of a film music person myself, and in terms of that I feel I've succeeded.

The End Is Nigh

I've finished my 2nd year now at university which means I've only got one year left until I have to venture out into the big bad world. Yes, I'm scared, but I'm hoping opportunities will open up for me.

I've finished work on Forgotten now, which has been renamed Felix. I did get to do the music in the end as well which was a fun experience for me and as a result I've now got a MacBook Pro with Logic Express. So I'll be getting to grips with that over the summer. I've not yet got a copy of Felix, but I'm pleased with how it turned out, and will post it here when I get a hold of one.

I've also brushed my hands clean of the Gang Show. Burning the DVDs was a much more length process then I expected it to be as we had a lot of problems exporting the project from Final Cut, and ended up having to put the show on two discs. But thankfully we managed to sort everything in the end and the client was pleased with what we did. Plus I got paid. I'll try and upload the show for next month.

If you read my last months post then you'll know I started a little project called Film365. After creating a film a day for all of May I've decided that it is too much work to be able to carry it on for the whole year and so have brought the project to a close. However, I'm glad that I did it as I discovered some interesting things and did enjoy doing it. You can view all the videos I did for the project here: Film365 Project - May 2010.

But here are some of my favourites:

As for future projects, we make two films next year at uni. Hopefully one of my ideas will get picked. We pitch to a group of professional writers next year, and I'm hoping to wow them with a non-narrative idea, something I imagine will be quite hard since I'm guessing what they will be looking for is stories.

Other than writing some scripts this summer I don't really have a lot going on apart from one other project, Dance Experiment II.

I emailed a lady yesterday, that is setting up a dance studio in Cornwall, about the possibility of making a dance film with her and her studio. Well she's emailed back and seems very interested so I'm hoping this will go ahead. However, I won't be starting any work on it until near Christmas at the earliest. Otherwise it could be next year before I start on it. But at least it's in the pipeline.

I'm currently thinking about getting a Canon 550D. If I end up getting one then I'll hopefully have some more projects to work on through the summer.

New Horizons

Things seem to be back on track. Forgotten is going well, and I'm proud of what me and my team have done with filming the live Gang Show.

First off Forgotten. Filming is 98% done and there are just a few exterior shots to get of some buildings. The edit is still being played with a little but it should be done by the end of next week. Here is some footage with a rough edit if you want to know what it looks like. I did all of the cinematography and lighting in all of these shots.

I also had ago at doing some music for the film, and as a result I'm being allowed to have ago at scoring the film. As it happens, I'm not sure my director has 100% faith in me as she's said she still wants to look for some music students to score the film, however, lucky for me no one has expressed any interest so it seems I've got the job by default. I've put the demo I did, with the clip above, and you can view and listen to it below.

I start scoring it properly on Tuesday. I used to play the cornet and got to grade 6 in practical and theory, I could have gone further, but I'd lost interest in the grades system and so just wanted to plan. However, since I've started university I've not played. Which I think has actually helped me to come up with melodies. Before when I did play I couldn't come up with a tune to save my life. Now they fly at me left right and centre. Which is why I want to get a MacBook Pro over the summer with Logic Pro Studio so I can write some music.

I've also finished editing the live Gang Show which me and my crew filmed over Easter. It's come in at 2 hours and 35 minutes. All that is left to do is export the film from Final Cut Pro and then create a DVD of it.

I have to say that filming a live show with separate cameras is very hard. We had a number of exposure issues, which you can see in the final piece. But I've definitely learnt a lot from doing the project, and will be quite glad when it is over.

That's it in terms of my filming projects at the moment. Although I'm also starting today a little project I'm calling Film365. It's inspired by the Photo365 projects I've seen where people have to take a photo everyday for a year. Well I've decided to do the same with video. However, since an interesting video a day, which is what I am aiming for, is harder than taking a photo a day I'm testing it out this month, and then if I enjoy it I'm going to continue it for a year. You can view my films from the project at http://vimeo.com/channels/film365.

Progress

Things have picked up a bit since my last post. However, I still seem to be being stalked by bad luck.

First off I've managed to finish uploading the production photos from Distant Donors, so now I'm completely done with it.

Distant Donors Production Photos

I've also finished work on Jessie Dyer's Documentary/Music Video. It's the first documentary I've done and I only had two shoots to do it. It's by no means perfect, but I feel I did the best with what I had and I'm pleased with it. If I had more time, then I would have preferred to shoot some more stuff and follow up on some of the stuff they talk about in the interviews. But to be honest I'm glad it's finished now.

I had to make 30 DVDs which proved to be the most impossible task in the world. I literally had 20 separate problems one after the other and it took my all day and some cookies and milkshake to get through it. The live event where the DVDs were sold for charity was on Tuesday 30th March at Pitcheroak School. Since the event has been and gone now I've uploaded the film, and you can watch it below.

If you wish to know more about the charity "Everybody Let's Sing!" then click here.

I've finished university for the Easter Holidays now and so have finished work on Forgotten for now. It's been going okay so far, there have been a lot of problems but we've been combating them and working through them. When we come back after Easter we have 2 scenes left to shoot and 2 scenes that we need to re-shoot. Then my job will be done and it will just be the editing that is left. Below are a couple of still shots from the film.

In the mean time I'll be filming a live Gang Show on the 6th April and 10th April, with help from Jessica Taylor (who helped me out with the Jessie Dyer project, and who also wrote and is now directing Forgotten) and Clarissa Hall. Since I've not filmed a live event before it'll be very interesting. Once it's been filmed then it will be up to me to make a DVD of it, which will be sold to the cast, crew, family and anyone else that wants one. The money made from the DVDs is then given to me and my crew. Therefore making this my first paid job. I'll have about a month to edit it, and by that time my projects will all be coming to a close and I'll have to start on some new ones.

Failure Versus Success

I had a lot of failure last month. My script for the 2:30 minute narrative film didn't get chosen and the one I did co-direct turned out quite shit. Then I pitched my 10 minute narrative film which also didn't get chosen. It seems my year group don't like experimental films, something I find quite irritating. Next year we have to pitch our ideas to some people from HBO. Being from a television company I'm guessing they are going to be looking for commercial ideas, not experimental niche market stuff. So it seems I'm screwed next year too and won't actually get to make one of my own ideas/scripts whilst being at university.

The only outside the box thing I've managed to do is Dance Experiment I, which I go more into below. What I would call a success, but only just.

Following up from last months post, here is the soundtrack to Distant Donors composed by my friend Tom Law:

Distant Donors (Soundtrack) - Tom Law

I've finished shooting for Jessie Dyer's short documentary/music video, and am going to start editing it soon, so I can finish it for the end of the month.

I finished work on Waiting Room, which to be honest I've very disappointed with. But you learn from you mistakes so I feel I've learnt a lot.

On the other hand, I am quite proud with how my dance film has turned out. I experimented with camera movement and camera choreography within a screendance in an attempt to make a unique screendance that can not be seen live. Whilst my film could be seen live, you couldn't experience it in the same way, and I feel that the way I have shot the dance definitely improves on it. I did over do it a bit in terms of dancer/camera eye contact, but otherwise I think I've done quite well with the equipment/facilities/dancers available.

The music is actually twice as fast as it should be, because I wanted to slow the film down by 50%. However, since I didn't shoot the film at a higher frame rate, when slowed down by this amount it looked quite horrid. But also in terms of the dance itself, it just lost all its energy. I think they would have to dance twice as fast again and I would have to move the camera twice as fast in order for it to still keep it's energy when slowed down.

I've called the film Dance Experiment I because I'm hoping to make more dance experiments. My next one I am hoping to do after Easter and am thinking about playing with editing for this experiment, and filming a dance that is a cross between tap and flamenco. Seeing as my ideas never seem to get picked, I guess it's up to me to go and do something about it. The only trouble is making an experimental narrative film will take money, something that people on my course won't want to be spending since they will have already spent it on their 10 minute narrative films. Plus after we finish the 10 minute films, everyone will be going home for the summer, so no one will really want to hang around. And people is what I will need in order to create a set for the world my 10 minute experimental narrative film is set in. This is why I want to make Dance Experiment II, because the only people I need to make this film are dancers, who have all expressed a keen interest in doing more dance films.

The 10 minute film I am working on is called Forgotten. Since my idea did not get picked after what I thought was quite a successful pitch I am not directing this film, which has put me on a bit of a downer. But I have taken on the role of cinematographer and been given free reign with how the film is shot. Therefore, I'm going to stamp my mark on this film with my amazing shooting. Or at least that's the plan.

But whilst my 10 minute script, Masque, didn't get chosen I am still hoping to make it one day. Just like all my other ideas I guess. One day success will find me, or rather, I'll find success.