I’ve been sketching and doodling a lot since I’ve been back at work, it’s been useful and has taken my mind off a lot of things. I decided I would create a little short film of y drawing my next piece, a Japanese restaurant with a side street.
Although I didn’t like how the final drawing looked, I really enjoyed the video creation side of it, which is why I think from now on I am going to create a lot more of this style of video in the future. It just satisfies me a lot more than heading to a remote road and shooting just b-roll. I still like shooting b-roll, but now I feel like it should actually link to something that I’m creating, and fit into a ‘story’.
25th August 2020
This Frankenstein adaptation, created for my Level 4 college course last year, turned out (in my opinion) really well. I was so happy with how it turned out, even though I do say so myself!! It was a blend of the style of Wes Anderson and german expressionism, which comes to think of it, the two styles really contradict each other!! German expressionism having lots of dark shadows and mind-bending sets, whereas Wes Anderson’s signature style being very bright and very straight and exact. I kept everything central in frame and symmetrical, to link back to Wes Anderson’s style, and chose very dark and contrasting tones, mainly white, grey and black.
When I showed this to my lecturers, they loved it. It was at this time I realised that maybe, just maybe, I could actually do this sort of thing as a career because people seem to like what I do - which was a really nice feeling.
29th February 2020
‘One Lane Challenge’ was a little challenge I set myself and a friend; we had one hour to film a 1.30 video from a small stretch of muddy, country lane, nestled in the North Cotswolds. It was a fun experience, it taught me in particular, that you shouldn’t waste time with finding the perfect shot - just shoot, shoot, shoot! You can make you’re decisions about footage you need and discard in the editing process. It also helped me, and I still do this to this day, to always shoot, no matter if its a bad shot or piece of footage, because there might be a time that you could end up using it, for something completely different - it could be for a fantasy composite compiled of lots of different images.
More recently in 2020, I haven’t really wanted to shoot this type of video - I find it much more satisfying to actually create something in the video, like a drawing of a Japanese restaurant, or a lino print.
1st November 2018
Recently I had a few days off from work, and I thought I’d head deep into the Cotswolds armed with my Canon and my 18-55mm lens. I originally wanted to photograph the area, but when I got there I had the sudden urge to shoot some b-roll, after being inspired by Peter Mckinnon’s filmmaking on Youtube. So I chose this path winding through the forest, where I found an old, abandoned armchair, along with a few metal buckets and some other strange finds.
The Cotswolds will always be a special place for me, but I do feel like the area is getting a bit ‘samey’ now for me. Maybe I just need to try new things?
1st February 2018
Ah Norway, what a truly fantastic country… A country that ranked fifth (out of 195) as the happiest country in the world, and ranked the ‘best country’ to live in - and I agree! Ever since I visited back in 2017, I knew that at some point, I’d like to live there. Filled to the brim with fantastic fjords, mighty mountains and remote villages, it is definitely a place I would like to settle down in. I made this video as a tribute to my visit in this fantastic country.
26th September 2017
Yes it was time of year again, time for one of my favourite events of the year - Goodwood Festival of Speed! Getting up early on the morning is one of my favourite aspects of the day; racing down the A34 towards the West Sussex countryside, and turning the radio on whilst waiting in the huge queues to find out whats happening out on track. It’s bliss!
Surrounded by exotic, classic and famous cars all day is paradise for a photographer, but this time I thought I’d create a short film showing a few things I saw that day. If anything the short film is for me as a reminder, a journal, of what I did that day.
Goodwood is one of the many things I look forward to every year, and next year, I’m sure I’ll be just as excited to go again!
7th July 2017