So I was asked to play at a live music event here in Chorlton, Manchester UK. I’ve spent the past few weeks working on some songs with my best mate and it’s been a pretty productive experience.
We had no name but the curator of the night we were playing at needed one so for promo shtuff. For the time being, we’ll be known as Books.
The creative process for coming up with the name was, erm, lazy…our friend combined Crooks with Bottomley and hey presto – Books!
We’ll be recording some songs – new and old as soon as… we get round to it. It is Summer and with half a dozen bars and beer gardens within 200M of my bed, it’s going to be tough going. It may take most of the summer to figure out a suitable work/ale/music/sun balance.
Looking for wares on ourselves To cover up our skin To bring a person outside From what we feel like within It brings a comfort to you Puts a smile on our face It’s like a subject we agree In a difficult place
As we travel beyond What our bodies can see All the buttons engaged Feel the power run free And if we can trickle through gates We could march on the street What a difference it could make Different things could be
The mind conceives what the mind believes What the ears can hear. What the eyes can see.
I wrote this one a little while ago. I’ve been working on a new song and using this poem for the lyrics. I’ll be honest… I have a terrible memory and I’m not entirely sure what the key message was for this poem – it’s always a pleasant experience to explore old work as it opens up a fresh interpretation.
The general message for this piece relates to how people connect and relate to one another. If we’re all able to agree on one thing, it’s a sign that we can all relate to the ‘big things’ too.
When we understand the power we have when we band together we’re able to make amazing things happen. I don’t think we encourage each other enough about the power we really hold. We are collectively in control of so much of the world but we’re disconnected from each other, we’re disconnected from what really matters.
The film fest was recommended to me through LinkedIn, so I sent them my short-film and they agreed to enter it in their competition. Although I did not receive as many views or votes as I would have liked, it was nice to know that my little film was being watched by people from different parts of the world.
Some of the other films are fantastic and the creativity and humble approach to mobile film making really shines through on this website. Have a browse around, watch some of the other entries and don’t forget to watch my mobile-short ‘SHEET‘.
So I have managed to survive another year of University. It has been an interesting year and I have learnt a lot about myself.
Having my laptop stolen from right under my nose in my own home and still managing to complete a number of personal projects as well as my university modules, has left me feeling pretty good.
My employers have been awesome giving me time off work to get my life outside the office in order and what’s even better, they offered me a job at the Isle Of Wight Festival!
I’ve got a number of projects to work on over the summer as well as polishing off a few edits for some old films I worked on.
The girl in the film is watching time spinning away, she is approached by a snake-like bed sheet and eventually engulfed by it. This mobile short is a dream/nightmare sequence.
Throughout 2014, I have been experimenting with a number of different film and photo applications on my phone. I decided to make a piece of film using the iPhone 4, with an adapted wide-angle lens for some shots.
I used the following applications to make this piece of film.
Filmic Pro – To lock focus and light balance and to adjust these settings manually during shot for pole focus effect etc.
iMotion HD – To create stop-motion footage and make us of the onion-skin feature.
Premier Pro – To edit the footage together and to add an audio track.
Sound Recorder – To record audio using the iPhone 4
I shortlisted a number of concepts which could potentially work with Stop-motion. I decided on this particular idea as it sounded a little bit dark and creepy which, after experimenting with stop-motion, would suit the narrative well.
Stop-motion proved to be a tricky style to work with on big scale items such as this blanket. It was difficult to create life in something so large. I used the onion skin feature on iMotion HD to match each new shot with the next but given the 400+ shots I had to take, it was tough create fluid/ natural movement consistently.
I mounted the phone a microphone stand to keep the camera in place and used the iMotion Remote app feature to take each shot. This provided another screen to monitor and reduced the movement of the camera taking the images between shots.
The editing in Premiere pro took very little time. I made the film black and white, added some credits and titles and a few fades and dips. The audio recorded on the iPhone4 needed normalising and that was it!
This was a fun film to make and I look forward to creating more stop-motion movies in the future.
I am working on a short stop-motion film and before I set out to make a start on the shoot, I have been trying out a few techniques.
This test was shot on the iPhone 4 using the iMotionHD application. The remove jitter from the scene caused by touching the phone to take an image, I have switched on the noise activation tool in the application. This allowed me to snap my fingers to take an image.
As you can see in the film, the threshold for activation needs to be adjusted as other noises in the room occasionally took an image. Although it is easily edited out in the edit, as this was just a test, I have left the mistakes as they are.
I won’t go in to detail about it’s meaning, but I hope you guys like it and check out the recording or video too.
Faded Son
The figure stood in the room that day
Possessions spread, on the bed they lay and this
Trail of crumbs, led through the door
‘Cause we’ll never know when you just might go, when this
New place too far from home
Was less than what you, were hoping for
Would you leave with no regrets
You had the power to forget
The people you once loved
And they still loved you, they still loved
They still loved you, they still loved
They still loved you, they still loved you
Well, I can’t see why no it made no sense how my
Own blood played ignorence to those
Young hearts, those hearts that stayed
‘Cause you packed your things in a moody haze, you had Grown tired of your broody faze, you left your First Born, and first Son to Fade
But I feel this everyday
No, the pain won’t Fade away
And I fear of what will come
Of any love from anyone, of any love from anyone
Of any love from anyone, of any love from any…
Now I can’t love when I think of this, I’ve got
No cover from a single kiss, to…
Wake and witness, my lovers flight
‘Cause I remember days when confusion spread
The questions reigned, letters went unread, but you
Still smiled, when we unite
But now you’re smile don’t shine so bright
In fact your eyes are dark as night
And I fear them to this day
Until this day, Until this day
And the people said, that you lied to them
And you’d lie to me, if I called you my friend
You would, you would
You would…
This is a rough version recorded not long after I wrote the song.
I will be filming The Wretched Pearls, an awesome band of beauties who have been booked to entertain the crowds between races and I have been asked to record their live performance.
I will be travelling light so I am simply using the Sony EX-3 HD, mounted to a tri-pod; I opted against hand held shoots as only one camera will be filming. To capture the audio, I’ve kept the kit simple, with ZOOM H4 stereo recorder. Looking at the set-up they have there I’ll be keeping the gain low because it is gonna be loud!
I will upload the footage to this blog, so keep posted guys, share and follow!
Yes, there will probably be plenty more awful ID cards pics in the future too.
Although I am always writing new songs, sometimes it is nice to rewind and tidy up an old track.
It has been a while since I recorded Sorry Place, and the equipment I used (a plastic sennheiser condenser microphone from the 70’s and a Roland BR-600) was a bit dated in comparison to what I own now. I think it’s high time I put my new equipment and recording knowledge to good use. I’m sure I will put a smile on my girls face too.
Keep an eye on this blog for updates on my progress. Check out the original recording if you haven’t already!
danbeeott 