"Charlie In The Middle" is the title of my new film project. Filming takes place in February and will be released in June.
Synopsis:
"Charlie In The Middle" follows three university friends, the happy go lucky friendly Charlie, and the romantic couple Craig and Lisa. But when Craig and Lisa break up, Charlie is left to pick up the pieces between this new conflict.
For the whole of November I got the chance to work with some amazing people as a sound recordist for a 20/30 minute romantic comedy called "Z-Lister".
Big thanks to Kris Smith, Martin Ballantyne, Katie Shearing, Janan Chopra, Molly Anna MaQuirl, Max Bohlen, Chris Clayton, Aran Ravan, Eduard Micu and John Atkins for an amazing time on a great film project.
For behind the scenes photos and other info about the film, check out the official Facebook page here.
So in the last month I have been creating a DVD menu for Aim Higher. A 30 second music ad for BBC Norfolk Music Video Festival, and helping a fine art student create a film based portfolio. But now I can finally relax because my latest short film is finished. Check out the poster below and the official Facebook page.
Cyber-Space is the name of my new upcoming film/pilot which will be filming in early May and will be released in June.
Series Synopsis:
In the near future, 8 out of 10 households will own a device that lets people wire their brain into the internet. Making the information highway a new digital world that can be explored, with no pain and no limits. Each episode will feature a different character, and will tell the story of their own digital world.
Pilot: "Digital Echo"
Adrian Haigan is a recently widowed husband who finds a way to enter a digital limbo, where he relives and rewinds through the most important moments in his life to enter eternal bliss with his deceased wife Claire.
I was lucky enough to get an opportunity to have a go at using a live TV studio. For me this involved live camera transitions and using the TV studio cameras. At a later date, I'll have to upload the video me and some other students created of a morning show practice run. At the moment we're also creating a mock panel game show. It's basically just some students messing around, playing three games from some popular panel game shows such as Whose Line Is It Anyway and Never Mind The Buzzcocks. But it should showcase that we know how to use a TV Studio. I have to admit I had a fun day, and I learned quite a bit about live TV show broadcasting and hope to learn more in the future. Here is a link to some photos of this session.
When I went back to my hometown of Bath in Somerset during summer 2010, my college lecturer asked me very kindly if I would be interested in helping film a cinema advert for the Love Bath Film competition to be shown at the Little Theatre Cinema. It was just to help carry equipment, but I did get to be an extra.
Below is the finished advertisement.
Drive Tech Ltd were another company who asked me if I would be interested in making a video for their Youtube page. Drive Tech Ltd are based in Chippenham on the Castle Combe race course, and provide the experience of Skid Pan control course, Karting and an 4x4 off road course. I created two videos for the company, one advertising the Skid Pan and another advertising the 4x4 course. I filmed everything solo and edited the final videos.
The filming was intentionally only going to be used for the CFS company day out, which I also edited. But I managed to get a job offer out of it for creating viral videos for the company's Youtube page. Something I'm proud of.
Below are the Skid Pan and 4x4 course viral videos.
Unfortunately I cannot upload the projects I'm about to talk about because they're not mine. However the people I was working with did allow me to take clips and put them in a showreel video. I have three showreels, 2008, 2009 and 2010.
2008
I was given the opportunity to create tutorial videos and a promotional video for the CFS (Critical Flow Systems) trip to the WWEM (Water & Waste Environmental Management) exhibition in Shropshire. This was a big deal to me because it was my first project working for a company in which I was also being paid for my services. CFS wanted a documentary style video that presented what the company do while they are outside working in the field. This video would then be presented in the background of their stall at the exhibition.
The tutorial videos are a series of small clips that are shown to trainees joining CFS. It was a great experience because of the challenges presented to me. The main one being shooting enough coverage and being able to stay one step ahead of CFS doing their work.
This opportunity gave me an insight into what it's like working for a company when I finish my education, and also the chance to develop my camera and editing skills.
My college lecturer needed help with creating a Human Resources video advertising City Of Bath College. I was the camera operator when interviewing the principal. Again more experience with developing my camera skills whilst at college.
The performing arts students at City Of Bath College were presenting the stage production of Alice: The Musical. I was given two projects, one was to create a video projection sequence of Alice falling down the rabbit hole, the other was to direct the camera crew covering the performance in which I was also a camera operator. More camera skill development for me.
The rabbit hole sequence was developed in talks with the director of the stage performance. I was told to present my ideas for the aesthetic look of the video piece. I got my idea from looking at the poster of the stage performance which was a rainbow coloured whirlpool. It was my intention to use the rainbow coloured whirlpool as the rabbit hole and Alice would spin and fall from the outside to the centre. The director liked my idea and said that it also had to be thirty seconds long.
The challenge of this production was that it was going to be done in green screen. I had already been given a lecture in blue screen production so I felt confident I could produce this piece of work. The rainbow coloured whirlpool was easy enough to produce with Photoshop. However the green screen work was a bit tricky. It was my intention to have the actress lying down when acting the falling, because when standing it always looks false. We lay the green screen on the floor with the actress on top and lit the scene so that I was able to remove the blue in post. The actress would then kick and scream, and we filmed using a crane rig from above. It was my first time using a crane rig and I was surprised by how easy it was to operate. The green was removed in post, but there were some problems with the actress' costume. I managed to overcome the problems by adjusting a glow effect which was unnoticeable because of the bright colours of the whirlpool.
I was given the project of directing the camera crew coverage of the stage production, because my lecturer knew I had been working closely with the performing arts students. I knew what was going to happen in the stage production, so it was easy for me as a camera operator. I placed one camera at the top of the second floor seats and told the operator to cover everything with one static shot. I placed two cameras at opposite sides of the front row seats. The left camera would cover the actions of the right of the stage, and the right camera would cover the left. No problems arose and enough coverage was filmed for the editor to create a final video of the stage production. I felt confident that this was something I could do outside of my education.
2009
My lecturer gave me another opportunity to help film a music promo of a college band, Circa 89. This shoot involved a dolly rig. I got the opportunity to push the dolly rig and also sit on it and film some footage. Again more camera skill development and experience with a dolly rig. Here is a link to the behind the scenes photos.
Another music student at City Of Bath College needed a music video for a song he produced. The challenge was that it had to be produced in two days (one day filming, one day editing). He had the idea of what he wanted to do, he just needed someone help produce. Seeing as I had two days, I decided to help. Because of my experience with past projects, I felt I was able to handle everything at this point. All actions were arranged by the artist, I directed the photography and edited the video in how I saw fit. The artist was happy with what I produced. I felt that I had progressed to a level where I was skillfully using what I had learned in terms of camera and editing skills, and that my skills were still progressing and I could take on more projects and challenges.
A performing arts student who I had worked with on the Alice musical production wanted me to help produce another video projection piece for a stage production he was directing. Because of the schedule, we could only film during the day, but needed the shots to look like it was night. I showed the director that I could create an effect that makes the actress look like she's under a street lamp at night. The director liked what he saw and I continued to work with him in the editing process to create a video that was timed so that it was in correct synchronicity with the stage actions.
Below are some photos of the final stage production with the video projection which I was also in charge of during the stage production.
2010
A university friend of mine was producing a fashion show walk "La Mode A Mess" for a university project. She wanted me to film and edit a film documentation of this event for her support work. I presented to her the idea of filming it with a slow shutter speed and slowing the video in post, as a way of exaggerating the movements of the models and creating a sensual aesthetic. She liked the idea. I always enjoy taking on outside projects, especially if people are open to my ideas. But I also enjoy it when someone asks me for a certain aesthetic style in the filming process, especially if it's a style I haven't used or know of.
Another friend of mine also wanted me to film the close-up shots in a film documentation project she was producing in which Fine Art students from NUCA (Norwich University & College of the Arts) collaborated in a free painting session. This time it was her direction but she gave me freedom over the shots I chose to create, as long as they were close-ups.
Just to finish off by saying that at this point I have been filming using a Sony Z1E for nearly four years, and I have been editing with Final Cut Studio Pro for nearly five years. I feel proud of the work I have helped people with and hope to continue to produce other projects outside my education. I'm always progressing with my camera and editing skills, and feel that I can still use my current skills with more outside projects and work.
In December 2010 I got the chance to crew for the new Bearsuit music video. Bearsuit are a punk/indie band from Norwich. They are featured in the March 2011 issue (117) of Outline magazine. Their new album "The Phantom Forest" is out on the 14th of March. Check out the new music video "When Will I Be Queen".
The Man Who Almost Cycled The World is a pilot for an online web series. It's the amusing and sweet story of Marvin Strongarm, a simple man from California in Yarmouth. He decides to follow in his fathers footsteps and take up cycling in an attempt to journey around the world.
