First I was 'Letting Go', now I'm 'Moving On'...

A year ad a half on from my first film making effort, 'Letting Go', comes the companion piece 'Moving On'.

The project had been languishing inside me for a fee weeks when I saw a reminder for another 90-second film competition from writers block, the theme: ghost stories.

The story follows a man who struggles to accept that his girlfriend has left him - but has she really gone for good?

I wrote the first draft in a few hours on Wednesday evening and shared it with students on the Thursday - with a view to shooting this weekend.

Hurried phone calls and emails landed me a tight cast and crew, comprising of graduates of film and tv and a couple of first timers.

The script has seen four revisions and today we shoot what we've got - kick off is in around two hours!

This is my first film for months, a very cathartic piece for me, one that I could only have conceived at this very point in my life.
I think I'll call my next film 'Falling In Love Again'..!

Here's a link to the competition:

http://www.facebook.com/notes/writers-block-north-east/90-second-ghost-story-filmmaking-competition/259851604053510

And here's a link to the first. Film, Letting Go:

http://vimeo.com/m/16980470

Pics and stories tomorrow - it's gonna be a long day!

Thanks Dad, you're Super (8)

Were back at film school now and the projects are beginning to take shape.

The one we're most excited by is the Straight 8 film competition, the winners of which are premiered at the Cannes film festival.

The college has one super-8 camera but no user guide.
Enter my father.
Although my request was to use the projector that's been in the loft for twenty years, he offered me the use if his camera too, and get this: it's the same make and model AND CONES WITH FULL INSTRUCTIONS!!!

We now have the capability to film films and play them back, old school, rather than having them telecinied onto a DVD.

Time will tell how well we do as a competition entry but one things for sure, it's not the technology that'll hold us back.

It's Early Days but...

I'm entering a piece of work into the RTS Awards!

As silly as it sounds, as my personal interests and pursuits do not generally align with awards assessment criteria, however, it seems my Regent Cinema promotional film has been deemed worthy of the 'free, undergraduate' entry ticket, available to the Film and TV Production course students - we qualified because we are entering sufficient paid for projects from our recent graduates.

As I say, early days... It's not even been posted yet, it's just a really good feeling to be asked to represent the college.

I must confess, I quite fancy winning; there's nothing like taking the stage to receive an award before your peers - thanks to Writer's Block for giving me the first experience of this!

I hope the next blog on this subject says I've been accepted, shortlisted and I can round it off with an 'I've Won It!!!'

Thanks to Di Scott and Mike Boyle, our lecturers on the course, for just considering me at this stage, even this much makes the numerous sleepless nights feel worth it...


Best of luck to all involved and may the best films win!


Links to RTS Awards here:
http://rtsstudentawards.co.uk/events

Links to Regent Cinema promotional film here:
http://vimeo.com/search/videos/search:john%20noble%20regent/st/58ad9158

Two Steps Back

Impatience is a curse of mine.

A few months ago, whilst feeling disheartened about a lack of access to camcorders out of hours fromthe CCAD stores, I purchased one from eBay.
From Malta!

It arrived safely but had a couple of tiny faults. I out it down to transit and acclimatisation and used the camera happily on a couple of occasions.

Last time out I realised that the xlr inputs didn't work...
Everything else seemed fine, just those inputs, meaning j was limited to use the onboard mics to capture sound.

Ho-hum. At the start of my summer holidays, I decided to have the problem looked at. I sent my camcorder off to a recommended repair centre ad waited.
Quite quickly they got back to me: "we fixed 'the xlr problem with a bit of soldering", "great, thanks, when can j have it back?"
"oh no, we're afraid there was another problem, we can't fix it, it needs to go back to panasonic themselves for investigation".

That was a month ago.

Tomorrow, I was due to film part of an instructional film for a world class blacksmith.

I don't have my camera.

I can't get one from college.

There is no budget so I'm not going to hire one.


As it happens, it appears this enforced postponement is for the best.

I'll try again next month. If the museum is still operational.

In the mean time, does anyone know where my camcorder is?!!

Costume Catwalk Show

Last Tuesday was the FdA costume construction and BA Ents catwalk event and I'd Bern asked to film it.
The brief was 'just set up a camera and film it' but, as a tv and film student, that was never going to happen.

I enlisted the help of Jess Shaw, Laura glendenan and Charlotte Mitchell, although Sophie Crawford replaced her at the last minute.

It was a three camera set up; two set up for wide-to-mid-to-close shots and one permanently on wide, taken from the dj booth. Thus last camera was only intended to capture the voices of the compares, Tim Vine and John Archer, buy it was such a good vantage point that it was decided to use it too.

I had been asked to model two outfits on the night; a cowboy shirt and a martial arts costume.
The sense if occasion overwhelmed me and I was soon line dancing and Kai-calling my way up and down the catwalk, luckily my camera ops were doing the actual filming in my absence.

The while evening took the best part if three hours - that's nine hours if footage to log and edit. There'll be no shortcuts either.
I've just got to knuckle down and do it.

Another breakthrough!

My Regent cinema project is shaping up on the edit suite now and, although I only seem to work on it in 3-4 hour bursts, there is a definite end in sight... Lucky that, being as the deadline is not far off either!
The breakthrough of the week was in finding a way to record a musical score and VoiceOver track.
I have looked around online for ready made music; I have considered adding a popular 60's track, but I've felt blocked at each turn.
On Saturday night I found enough cables to connect a synthesiser keyboard to the edit suite and, although there's a full seconds time delay, I can play semi-live into the machine.
I was also able to use this new-found knowledge to hook up a microphone and perform an early morning VoiceOver.
Bingo!
I'm still up against it with everything else I have on but j feel like I can at least control every aspect now and the work I hand in will be the truest representation of my abilities.

Bottle neck passed!

I handed in a large body of work yesterday and slept for twelve hours straight!
Makes a change from the 2 1/2 I managed the nite before.

Over the past few weeks I've had a three day film shoot at the Regent Cinema, a three day beginners blacksmith course and a coursework deadline all on top of a five day working week! Well big thanks to CCAD who allowed me to flex my time and be elsewhere the last two Fridays.
I've got a lot of footage to edit and another project to produce AND another few little bits of coursework to ace.

I'm at the blood donors right now. In case my tutors don't believe me, I really am trying to make the world a better place!
See you on the other side..!