Will it snow?

Autumn has been around for a while and I'm off to Australia with my wife to visit her family for a month in December. So it is unlikely to snow there but will it snow here? Maybe. Its been a busy few months with various edit jobs; some directing and some filming. The highlights being in August I was asked to film 5 documentaries with the director Caswell Coggins who I have known for a while. He's a music video and commercials director and has just made the recent BBC Radio App commercial. Anyway we made 5 10 minute films for a company called Dance United (http://www.dance-united.com/) They basically use dance to help young people from varied backgrounds to help develop themselves. The one film I have put below follows Junaid and Addisu from Ethiopia. I shot it on the C300 using Zeiss primes and all natural light.




Also mentioned in my last post was the film we made for Random Acts called Scat. and I've now posted it to vimeo. I made it with Katy Hall and incredibly talented crew. All lit by nautral light with Marc Covington on camera and Steadicam. Thomas Lee on Focus pulling. Sound recorded and mixed by Nikos Nikolalaios. Produced by Matt Cummins for Red Lion Films. Camera (Red Scarlet) and lenses supplied by Ben Scott.



Also the 3 Pronged Attack (myself and Mr Andy Hui) have been busy. The Rifles video has been finished which can be seen below. Also we were commissioned to make a video for a new band called Major involving a blow up male sex doll. Thats in the final stages of post as we speak and has turned out pretty well. Will put up in the next post.



This month I have been working on a short film for Vicky Garner from the group The Birth I Want (http://www.thebirthiwant.org.uk/). We interviewed 9 Mums about their births ranging from great births to the down right horrific. The film is going to help awareness about the many different standards across the hospital wards; how this should be addressed and how Mums should expect the birth they want. 

Also this week I have been working with Emily who has invented a new bike torch which projects the image of a bike 10m in front of the cyclist warning lorry drivers e.t.c. of the bikes presence. http://www.blazecomponents.com/ We've made a 3 minute promotional film and from this I'm trying to create 3x 30sec edits as well. Will post films up in January. Have a great Christmas and New Year!!

Random Acts

Well the summer is nearly over. Its been a busy four months since I last wrote here. I have had my first child and have been working on various projects. We did a film for the University of East Anglia which went down well online and they decided to use it for a cinema ad around the country. Here's the cinema version. The audio got mixed in Dolby 5.1



We have shot a music video or two. We are currently working on the edit of a Rifles video which is coming along nicely. Its for their track Long Walk Back and the actors Vicky McClure and Jonny Owen. I'll put it up here when we're finished.

Also worked as 2nd Unit and editor on a recent Kallo commercial and edited a recent Harveys TV commercial. A few viral films for Go On UK a campaign group pushing for the whole of the UK population to be online by 2020. Also made two viral films for Forevermark Diamonds with the designers Stephen Webster and Shaun Leane.



I also edited 84 films for We Are Social for Adidas. The footage was shot on a variety of cameras and different formats which made it a difficult. However they were pleased with the final films.

Also I collaborated with Katy Hall at Channel 4 to create a random act film. It stars the Jazz artists Liane Carrol and Ian Shaw.  Its going to be broadcast next week at 11pm on Tuesday 11th September. So please watch it!! We are also working on another as we speak.

Over August I have been working on 5 short contemproary Dance films to be screened at The Place in London for Dance United. The films show how through dance young people who have troubled backgrounds have overcome some of their difficulties.

Here are some photos I took recently that I like.

Long time...

Well its been a very long time since I put anything up here. I made a small internet 'viral' campaign video for a group of yorkshire colleges in January. We travelled around yorkshire for two weeks filming various colleges singing live a pre-written track as part of a Capital FM campaign. It was difficult becuase we had to include every college giving them equal time and some colleges were a lot better than others.





February was cold from what I remember, various shoots with Adjust Your Set and others for Liz Earle and Marks & Spencer. I did some photos as well which are posted below.

March we (Andy Hui & myself aka 3PA) pitched for a small internet commercial for University of East Anglia which we got. We spent a few days up there filming the campus to produce a hip hop montage. Its lots of clips edited together using the sounds to create a rhythm. Thats just been approved so its not up yet but when it is I shall post up here.

April has been busy had a quick trip Istanbul for Absolut  with Suzy from Create. It was a whirlwind tour, filming the launch of new bottle called Istanbul. The film turned out well.

Currently I'm pitching with Andy for various jobs; editing on some Adidas work and trying to raise some money for a short experimental film exploring the tides at the Minquiere reef near Jersey.

Summer Memories!

Just thought I'd post this up. Its a montage of clips from the summer in Jersey! It feels like years ago, its so cold now. It was shot on the 5D and GoPro cameras.

Blue November

Anyway been interesting month or so since I last wrote a blog. I dread this, writing blogs, its just so well, who cares? Anyway onwards and upwards.


The Bluewater commercial has been finished, which I suppose is my first full commercial for TV. It is cheesy but it worked which I'm happy about. My concept for their pitch was to shoot the video in one shot shot so there are no cuts. It constantly flows, especially as we only have 20 seconds. The video was produced by Suzy Goodall of Create and she did a great job. There were some hairy moments on the shoot as always (wrong coloured skate shoes, a not very dexterous Santa and other problems) which she pulled us through. The client is really happy with it and so is the agency; so hopefully there's to some more.





Other than that I have finished off a music video for a heavy rock band called Obsessive Compulsive. Its not really scary enough but thats my fault, but pretty pleased since I shot it for no money. The band are great people really friendly so hopefully I'll be doing some more.







I went to Iceland with my wife Gilly for a week. It was beautiful and bleak. One day I will film something there!! A script writer friend is starting to develop an idea which we're going to make together I hope! Also have some ideas for a script too.  So as 2011 nears the end I'm very much looking forwards to 2012.

Autumn Times

So have been very busy over the last few months. Well ok I've managed to go back to Jersey a few times for some surfing and trips to the Minquieres reef. Work wise have been doing various jobs; have been to the Isle of Wight now twice for filming firstly for Liz Earle and secondly for a band called Dog is Dead on Atlantic with Dan Curiwn commissioning.


The job for Liz Earle was to help direct some internet films for their website. We spent 4 days with Adjust Your Set in an amazing hotel in Seaview in the North east corner. I went swimming every morning and evening. The films are yet to go live but they look good so far.

The Dog is Dead video for Hands Down is live on youtube, its posted below. The concept being the band work at an amusement park, when they finish work they sneak back in to have fun on the rides. Exec.Produced by Phil Tidy, Produced by Matt Cummins; co-directed with Andy Hui and myself; Seb Lamb as Gaffer and Edoardo doing basically everything under the sun to make the video happen. We shot on the 5D with Zeiss primes and also a gopro which was used for the roller coaster shots, looked great.




Recently just finished a couple of films for Debenhams as well using a super slow motion camera. We tried to make 3 40sec commercial/virals in a day but shooting in super slow motion is quite an ordeal. You have to set up your shot using a lot of light; then if you like a shot say 5 secs long you have to spend 5-10mins downloading. Anyway below is on the films.

Summer what summer!!

Well we are in summer and its been busy so far. The John Wilson Orchestra films for EMI were finally finished and you can see one of the promos below. Been busy pitching on various jobs still watiing to hear back from them. Been doing some corporate jobs with Ted Baybutt, yes crazy Ted Baybutt. A job for Celebrus which again you can see below somewhere.

It was my birthday the other day and had a great evening with supper with my wife. She's cool. Anyway also went surfing back in Jersey and to the Minquiere reef 8 miles south of Jersey, we had a beautiful day there have a look at the timelpase. Also here's my new showreel montage: