Mine and Roger Shafi's spin on Danny Boyle's '127 Hours' for the Film4 Scene Stealers competition. See the post below for behind the scenes pictures!
Thursday, 2 August 2012
Film4 Scene Stealers competition - Behind the scenes!
After finally deciding to do a recreation of the scene in '127 Hours' over a Saturday afternoon coffee, we went about sourcing materials and props. The cakes you see in the video are actually all fake. We spotted them in Livs Stil Cookshop and although they weren't for sale, the lady very kindly let us borrow them. The rest of the day was spent trying to model the perfect gingerbread man. No easy task! Initially the over ambitious plan was to use clay and coat it crushed gingernuts. This failed miserably as the PVA created a sticky gum like texture that would slip off along with numerous crumbs. (He also looked a bit like a fish finger!) We had the same problem when it came to icing facial features onto our gingerbread man so in the end we stuck with just the modelling clay, some white tack for eyes and a bit of pen and nail varnish!
We filmed all day Sunday round a friend's house, blacking out the windows on one of the nicest days of the year so that we could have consistent lighting. :( Being amateur filmmakers, you have to do your best to make do with a small budget. Rog made a very good DIY softbox using cardboard and paper and I have to say I was very impressed it didn't catch on fire! We used a Canon 5D and a demo of iStopmotion to capture photographs. Unfortunately we didn't realise until after that it only allowed us to capture SD images. But hey ho, it didn't look toooo bad.
Filming took around 8 HOURS for roughly 25 seconds of stopmotion. Countless gingerbread changes and touch ups as well as lens changes and camera angles. (Clay dries out very quickly under hot lights.) Editing was done in Final Cut Pro and music was made by Steven Beeston on his iphone! Rog and Ste also recorded some extra sound effects into a mic by breaking sticks (arm break) and munching biscuits (gingerbread man death). I had clay stuck in my teeth for ages when I ate him at the end!
There are definitely a few bits I'd like to improve on but for a week effort, from conception to final edit, I think we did a pretty good job!
We filmed all day Sunday round a friend's house, blacking out the windows on one of the nicest days of the year so that we could have consistent lighting. :( Being amateur filmmakers, you have to do your best to make do with a small budget. Rog made a very good DIY softbox using cardboard and paper and I have to say I was very impressed it didn't catch on fire! We used a Canon 5D and a demo of iStopmotion to capture photographs. Unfortunately we didn't realise until after that it only allowed us to capture SD images. But hey ho, it didn't look toooo bad.
Filming took around 8 HOURS for roughly 25 seconds of stopmotion. Countless gingerbread changes and touch ups as well as lens changes and camera angles. (Clay dries out very quickly under hot lights.) Editing was done in Final Cut Pro and music was made by Steven Beeston on his iphone! Rog and Ste also recorded some extra sound effects into a mic by breaking sticks (arm break) and munching biscuits (gingerbread man death). I had clay stuck in my teeth for ages when I ate him at the end!
There are definitely a few bits I'd like to improve on but for a week effort, from conception to final edit, I think we did a pretty good job!
Monday, 30 July 2012
Friday, 27 July 2012
Papa Hennessy Birthday
Today it is my Dad's birthday as well as Dario's AND Dario's dad's birthday. Every year my mum and dad demand a hand made card off me and my brothers. What I didn't know was that my mum keeps every single one of them. I discovered these box of wonders and thought I'd share a few lol pics with you...
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| Definitely my best card to date. |
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| Even Eggy made one one year! |
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| Wow, this one went downhill... |
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| inside |
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| Mallorca '07. |
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| Made by Sam |
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| Great inside message |
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| LOL! We've changed lots.. |
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| A love this shit attempt off Sam... |
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| When you try and open it..well...you can't open it. It's loads of tatty paper superglued together. |
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| Back message. |
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| For some reason Ben decided to draw a portrait of Sam one year |
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| words fail me |
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| Good one Ben. ROFL. |
Friday, 20 July 2012
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Monday, 16 July 2012
What's in a name?
Coffee And Cakes For Funerals may sound like the name for a shit emo band and I'm sure this won't be the first or last time I judge a book by its cover. That said, I was blown away by these guys.
The element of surprise certainly goes in favour of this Liverpudlian four-piece, who, on first impressions taking the stage look like a bunch of scallies adorned in all black with their tracksuit tops on and hoods up. One of them might have even been wearing joggers. But then they start playing. And your heart melts a little bit and you realise it IS possible to fall in love with chavs (metaphorically speaking). The singer's voice has an ultra smooth RnB vibe complimented by the band's laid back beats and melodic riffs. I've read similarities to Plan B, Eminem, Justin Timberlake and Radiohead. I'm gonna snub all of these because I don't like any of them. All I can say is they have a distinct sound I can't quite put my finger on (which is what we're after right?) but can only be witnessed live and in the flesh.
After a quick google I read a review which said '...they seem to reel off song after song with a justified arrogance, basking in the audience's adoration as though they've been doing it for years.'
Perhaps the poor turnout humbled them slightly but I don't think they came across cocky at all. In fact, they were rather endearing and I'm not the only one to say that night that I felt myself wishing there was a bigger audience to give them the applause they really deserved.
By the end of it the barely legal barmaid looks besotted and my brother, who's been searching for a vocal for his next track shouts to me 'FUCK HOUSE....I just wanna make stuff like this!' The rest of the night at The Adam & Eve was thoroughly enjoyable with headline act Esco Williams (another scouser) giving it his all and the after DJ dropping some bangers.
I'm Fine by CoffeeAndCakesForFunerals
The element of surprise certainly goes in favour of this Liverpudlian four-piece, who, on first impressions taking the stage look like a bunch of scallies adorned in all black with their tracksuit tops on and hoods up. One of them might have even been wearing joggers. But then they start playing. And your heart melts a little bit and you realise it IS possible to fall in love with chavs (metaphorically speaking). The singer's voice has an ultra smooth RnB vibe complimented by the band's laid back beats and melodic riffs. I've read similarities to Plan B, Eminem, Justin Timberlake and Radiohead. I'm gonna snub all of these because I don't like any of them. All I can say is they have a distinct sound I can't quite put my finger on (which is what we're after right?) but can only be witnessed live and in the flesh.
After a quick google I read a review which said '...they seem to reel off song after song with a justified arrogance, basking in the audience's adoration as though they've been doing it for years.'
Perhaps the poor turnout humbled them slightly but I don't think they came across cocky at all. In fact, they were rather endearing and I'm not the only one to say that night that I felt myself wishing there was a bigger audience to give them the applause they really deserved.
By the end of it the barely legal barmaid looks besotted and my brother, who's been searching for a vocal for his next track shouts to me 'FUCK HOUSE....I just wanna make stuff like this!' The rest of the night at The Adam & Eve was thoroughly enjoyable with headline act Esco Williams (another scouser) giving it his all and the after DJ dropping some bangers.
I'm Fine by CoffeeAndCakesForFunerals
Thursday, 12 July 2012
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