Arts

The Greeting Committee and Positive Mental Attitude

After weeks of preparation and days and nights of shooting I was so proud and relieved to have finished my third music video for the Greeting Committee’s new single Show Me the Lights of Home released on End of the Trail Records

It was great to see our ideas which we discussed in their practice room, actually evolve into this music video. I am especially happy to include cakes and cricket in this video

I am a big fan of Jesse Malin and love his take on P.M.A., we really needed positive thinking to complete the location shoots for the video. We had to endure heavy rain on both days which scuppered our original plans for many of the scenes, but the band and everyone involved  had a totally positive attitude and will to get things done – even if it meant filming into the early hours of the morning.

It was great to work with such talented people from whom I can learn  – Dan Horn was especially helpful as he has experience in filming, and had a load of helpful suggestions.

A big thank you also to the actors,Dan Horn, Olwyn Currie, Rebecca Currie , Chris Hardy, as well as the extras that came along in the rain and mud to help make this happen.

Also a big thank you to Paul Burgess for helping out in so many ways – he is also the genius behind the single artwork and many other things – you can find his work here. It was above and beyond that Karen and Alex Burgess also came down to the shoot, and even supplied the scary doll on Steve’s turntable

The Greeting Committee Show Me The Lights of Home Artwork by Paul Burgess Graphic Design.

 

This was to me an ambitious project, but I am pleased we did not play it safe and here are the results. I hope you like it:

 

 

 

Natasha Haws Stepping Stone Video

I was very pleased to get an opportunity to shoot the debut video of the local musical wunderkind*  Natasha Haws, and only my second promo  music video.
We discussed possible locations and style for the performance footage. Initially I was thinking of doing it in my studio where we could have complete control of the lighting and it would have been warm.The only place I was sure I did not want to film was on stepping stones. Eventually, we decided on shooting at the top of a fire  escape in the center of Newcastle, on a cold and cloudy February day – it would have been great to have some sunshine but  we are not in California. We filmed all afternoon, Natasha was super patient and we managed to get all the footage we needed. One of the highlights of the day was the  improvisational skills used making a substitute guitar strap from some plastic fishing wire which was used on a previous photo shoot to tie balloons

The dancing was Natasha’s idea I had not filmed anything like that before. I did some research, and we done a some run throughs on the day of the shoot so we could all warm up.  It took all day to get the footage we needed. On a separate note the video was filmed opposite ( on the other side of the river)  the Music Box studios where the music was recorded – a nice piece of symmetry. The time and effort spent rehearsing was evident on the day – the dancers done a phenomenal job, and were an absolute pleasure to work with. The choreography and thought in matching the dance to the song works incredibly well.
The editing took hours and hours,  special thanks to Natasha and Scott who came to my studio and helped out by  selecting the dance footage ( without ever complaining about my coffee making skills).
Making a video is all about teamwork, I also must thank  Daniel Robson, and Martin Emery for help on the shoot – they are always enthusiastic about getting the right results without ever complaining – thank you !
I know I made mistakes ( we all do), I am real fan of reflective writing and have made notes about everything that I done right and wrong – overall I am happy with the result, although I have to say I felt nervous about other people’s opinion. So far people have been very kind and positive about the video. Overall I hope we done this beautiful song justice – thank you Natasha.
The video is here:
We have also done a live session in my studio – here is Constant Fairytale
* I hope I am not being pretentious – I just seen an episode of Mad Men where Peggy Olsen is described the same way

Bridie Jackson and the Arbour Album Launch at Gateshead Sage Live Video

Back in January I filmed the Bridie Jackson and the Arbour gig to launch their debut album Bitter Lullabies. This was a sold out gig at Gateshead Sage

It was a real challenge there was four of us filming the gig with  five cameras. This was first big live shoot that I have done, but I feel our research and preparation helped give us some excellent footage. We also came down early and filmed some of the soundcheck.

Some of the results can be found here:

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For my first attempt at filming an entire gig I am happy with the results – but know I can keep improving.

As with any video shoot, it is the editing that can take up your time. However there is one advantage when I saw Bridie play at The Central Bar in Gateshead I know all the songs word for word.

Posters and Publicity for Instamatic for the People

Paul Burgess has helped me out with some design work for the forthcoming exhibition – I love the posters that he designed. Could not recommend him more highly. If you get a chance check out Paul Burgess Graphic Design  website

Instamatic for the People Gig Poster

I am also pleased with the article in the May issue of Narc magazine they really understand what this project is about

Narc May 2011 Article