Daring to step out of the comfort zone…
..Can take some considerable bottle. Especially when that step is one that plays with image and (stereo)type. Good then, that Jason Kyrone had no qualms or inhibitions. This photo is in the tradition of many a rock photo, edgy, playing with image and twisting it a little. More to come from Mr.Kyrone in the next post. And I love my £50 Canon 50mm 1.8! Lit with a 50W bulb!
Don’t Leave Me / Tasha Blackmore – Video Production Notes
Here’s a very sweet and beautiful song by Tasha Blackmore – “Don’t Leave Me”. This was filmed in November last year and from what I seem to remember a lot of chocolate was consumed on the day of the shoot. It helps relax the vocal cords so I understand. One day I’ll have to treat everyone to my John Cooper-Clarke impression. It’s like he’s in the room. No, really.
The original idea of the shoot was just to do a simple one camera, live take of Tasha performing the song, but then it seemed like a good idea to get some different angles and shots but sync’d up to the vocal take we had already in the bag. I think it worked quite well.
Production Notes:
Camera : BlackMagic Cinema Camera (EF Mount)
Format/Codec: ProRes 422 HQ
Lenses : Canon F2.8 24-70L & Canon TS-E 24L
Lighting : Dedo Lights
Mics : SE Electronics 2200 (Vox) & Rode NTG-4 (Guitar)
Sound Capture : Via a Canon XF100 (didn’t use the video)
Mix : Not my expertise at all but I think I added a little bit of compression & reverb
Playback : Through the living room hi-fi
NLE : FCP 7 & graded in MB Looks
Dust : M-Dust plugin
All in all it came out very nicely and for once no-one got wet feet, hypothermia or dysentry. Result!
Hyperspace / gasmask platforms and eggtimer / @JasonKyrone
Hyperspace may refer to:
In fiction:
- Hyperspace (science fiction), a concept that makes faster-than-light travel possible
- In the video game Spacewar!, “entering hyperspace” instantaneously moves the spaceship to a random place on the screen
In technology:
- Internet, the World Wide Web
In mathematics:
- Hyperspace (topology), a topological space whose elements are subsets of another topological space
- higher dimensions including Kaluza-Klein‘s 4-dimensional space and Superstring theory‘s 9-dimensional space and Supergravity‘s 10-dimensional space
- n-dimensional space, the original meaning of the word hyperspace, common in late nineteenth century British books
- Non-Euclidean space; see non-Euclidean geometry
In music:
- An exciting song from an exciting musician – featuring a gas mask, some very nice shoes and yes, an egg timer. Such are the tools we need. Production notes to follow shortly, but in the meantime, enjoy and play loud.
IC-double me and you / production notes / @joeshendry @topclasskennedy
Shortly before Christmas we were engaged by two fellows – “Local Hero” Joe Hendry & “Agent to the Stars” James R. Kennedy to produce a music video for a song about Insane Championship Wrestling called “IC double-me and you”. Having a lifelong fear of burly men I can’t say it was top of the list of my priorities given it was a few days before Christmas (when buying M&S discounted Prosecco obviously is) however…When the song was sent over the night before the shoot it was plain that it was a hit and it was important to be involved. I can truthfully say there was no threat of legal action from Mr Kennedy. The shoot itself was quite easy – although keeping back the hordes of inquisitive onlookers & autograph hunters did prove troublesome – still that’s the price of fame I guess.
Production Notes:
– Storyboard & Shot list : Prepared at Starbucks 20 minutes before the shoot
– Shooting time : Around three hours
– Cameras : Blackmagic Cinema Camera, GoPro Hero 3 (slo-mo) & Canon 5DII (wide-angle)
– Lens : Canon 24-70, 70-200 & 17-40
– Edited in : Final cut Pro (around 3 hours)
– Graded : Magic Bullet Looks
– VFX : Dust ‘n’ snow by M-Dust
– Locations : Edinburgh, Calton Hill, Waverley Station & a bar at the back of the station
– Titles & compositing (as in above) : Motion 4
All in all the video came out rather well. Here it is – enjoy!
“Last December” the video / By Tasha Blackmore – Now released! @Tashabmusic @BlackMagic_Cine
As promised, here’s the latest video from Tasha Blackmore : “Last December”. Shot on a remarkably cold day in just over three hours, in a somewhat inaccessible place within the legendary kingdom of Northumbria….It turned out rather nice! Mixing and sound magic from Iain Petrie, great performance, song and vocals from Tasha. Thanks to Colleen for make-up and hair curling (Tasha’s, not mine) and the lovely folk over at Blackmagic Design in Australia who developed, delivered and produced the quite incredible Blackmagic Cinema Camera. Gentlemen…You have opened my eyes.
Other stuff: The light leak effect is nothing more than me waving a sparkler in front of the lens, while the odd bits of subtle movement were created using a Glidetrack Shooter. As always everything was edited in Final Cut Pro 7, graded in Magic Bullet looks with a tiny bit in DaVinci Resolve. Anything else? Oh a top handle for the BMCC from Zacuto and a Tiffen variable ND. In some ways we didn’t get all the footage I originally intended as A) It was freezing and B) Some eagles with their own paparazzi arrived! Not to worry though – we pulled it off. So here we go:
“Last December” / Tasha Blackmore – Only a few days to wait!
The video for “Last December”, Tasha Blackmores latest single is finished, saved, uploaded and is a bit alright really. It’s the first video we’ve done that has been entirely shot on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, so there has been a bit of a learning curve, mainly around me being able to force myself to expose to the right – but aside from that, it’s been a joy to use and the ProRes footage is about a million times more forgiving than that from a DSLR. Once the full video is released on the 25th November, full production notes will be posted here, but in the meantime here’s a little sneak preview.
Exit stage left (for a change of dress) / Electric Penelope
Another shot from the Electric Penelope gig held last weekend at The Maltings in Berwick. During the concert, when the sense of mellowness had enveloped the entire audience like a perfumed fog of luxury gorgeousness, I felt the need to wear a cravat and have a small dose of Laudanum to relax me even further. Such is the transport that music can induce. Here is Ms P about to change into another frock.
Glamour & romance in Berwick-upon-Tweed // @elec_penelope
Reality suspended and held in amber: For a moment, I could imagine going to the bar and ordering a Martini, then expecting to see a yellow cab upon leaving the speakeasy. But, no, it was Berwick-upon-Tweed, The Maltings and instead I lost my footing on a chip.
Electric Penelope, The Scottish Romance Orchestra and the evocation of a place that most definitely wasn’t the northernmost town in England. Here’s a glimpse.
Then I found you / @JasonKyrone / Musical Oxygen
We picked up the wandering troubadour of Edinburgh and Leith from the station, then exactly one hour later had him installed in a slightly draughty castle, mic’d up and ready to go. “What are you gonna play?” said I. And Mr Kyrone replied, “Well, I’ve got a new one you might like”. Then. He went and did this. Might like? Erm, this is quite possibly one of the most gorgeous songs I’ve heard. And I heard it first hand, watched it happen and now need to listen to it each day, as though it were musical oxygen to ward off imminent asphyxiation. If there’s a crowd-funding kinda dude out there – if this song isn’t worth £1000 of recording time, a few string players and some mastering….Then I don’t what is. Somebody, somewhere, needs to get behind this.
Anyway. Here is Jason Kyrone and “Then I found you”
Just this minute finished the final cut : @Tashabmusic // 25.11.13
Having just completed the final cut and edit of Tasha Blackmore’s latest video, aside from reaching for a glass of wine and a small biscuit…I prophesy tears of emotion and a flood of marriage proposals….It’s a great performance from Tasha, full of character, full of genuine charm and very…beguiling. And the wife likes it, which can’t be bad.
It’s out on the 25th November. More details on Tasha’s FB page here, but in the meantime, here’s a little still. In other news, if Marquez doesn’t win the MotoGP Championship on Sunday, I shall be very sad.
