Falmouth Filming Pics

jackashtoncollins — Tue, 04 May 2010 20:17:06 +0000

Cornish Cherry

jackashtoncollins — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 19:17:56 +0000

So we’re back from a great couple of days filming in Falmouth. It was my first time in Cornwall and I can safely say it’s a stunning place (at least the parts I visited). As predicted the weather was brilliant and we managed to capture some really beautiful footage. We had an early start on Thursday, leaving Bournemouth at 6, getting in to Falmouth at around half 9. This early start allowed us to make the most of the time we had there; we had only two days to film. When we arrived we met Adrian, the owner of Rustler and he showed us around the factory. At this point we were already coming up with ideas for angles we wanted to capture, there was a huge variety of boats, machinery and people to film. After a mandatory tea break we started filming in the factory. The plan was to film there until the afternoon, when we would then go out on water to film the boat.

As planned, in the afternoon we went out to in Falmouth harbour on a RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) and filmed the Rustler 24, pictured in my last post. By the time the wind had settled and we made it out onto water we we’re in the ‘golden hour’; the sun was starting to come down which really increased the aesthetic impact of our footage. We decided to concentrate on filming with the 5D, then on Friday we would use the GoPro HD to get the ariel shots we wanted. By the time we’d eaten and made our way to our flowery B&B, Ali and I were shattered! We were out like lights, though not after a quick update on the election debate aired that evening!

Friday morning then, and we were up bright and early again to start filming with the GoPro HD. We used the camera on the end of a carbon fibre pole -as we tested in Poole harbour- to get ariel shots of the boat. The testing in Poole harbour really paid off as we knew exactly which angle to place the camera at and how to keep the pole steady 15ft in the air! Richard, Ali and I all took turns manning the camera, and from looking at the footage we managed to get some fairly impressive stuff. In addition to the ariel shots we placed the camera right down next to the water to get a shot following the boat from directly infront. Again, we tested this angle in Poole but with the light conditions and design of the boat, I think this shot exceeded peoples expectations. Adrian and Nick (co partner of Rustler & sailor for the day) had to get back to the office in the afternoon, so we had to call it a day then, thankfully though we really pulled it together and worked well to achieve a great amount in a relatively short amount of time.

I think everyone involved thought the shoot went well, and we’re all looking forward to getting down to editing the wealth of footage we acquired. I am confident that we will be able to get at least a rough cut done by the critique, and hopefully our tutors will take into consideration the slightly erratic nature of this project! I like Cornwall.

GoPro HD Test

jackashtoncollins — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:00:07 +0000

Here are a number of pictures from our test of the GoPro HD camera in Poole harbour;

Click to view slideshow.

Grounded

jackashtoncollins — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:15:39 +0000

As you will know, we had planned to make our final film for our Pro Project with Nacra Sailing in La Lavandou, France. Unfortunately, due to the huge but invisible cloud of volcanic ash this has been cancelled as the sailors and boat are grounded in Dubai. So in response to this, Richard, Ali and I have had an emergency meeting to figure out where and when can make our sailing film. Always with a plan, Richard suggested we use one of his clients based in Falmouth, Cornwall called Rustlers Yachts. Rustler make high end ‘gentlemen’s’ yachts, much slower than the Catamarans we were to be filming in France, so consequently the film will have a much different feel. Two upsides of this though, first, we will be able to film inside the factory where they make the yachts, giving us an interesting new angle to approach from. I love the concept of combining the purity of the creation of the boats with imagery of the boats in their finished state on water. Second, Rich has said that these boats really are beautiful, and Rustler are renowned for their design and finishes, and this will compliment the first point I made well. Here you can view a picture of the boat we will be filming – Rustler 24 -

We’ve realised that because of the impending unit deadline, we have to get things moving quickly. Richard spoke to the management from Rustler and has organised for us to shoot in Falmouth on 22nd and 23rd. Thankfully the weather is due to be perfect that day so that will give us greater scope to get some really beautiful images. More soon.

CV 2010

jackashtoncollins — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 21:12:34 +0000

Here you can find the latest copy of my CV; Jack Collins CV 2010

WAYF 3rd Birthday

jackashtoncollins — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 17:44:53 +0000

Just before I left for easter I filmed a promo video for We Are Your Friends’ 3rd Birthday (for those of you who don’t know WAYF is a big monthly electro, dubstep, indie kinda night in Bournemouth). All great fun and many thanks to Richard for entrusting me with his 5D and lenses. Here you can see the video;

In Association With…

jackashtoncollins — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 17:22:37 +0000

After the min brief -H2O- that Richard gave Ali and I, we split up an headed back home for easter. There were however some interesting developments with the final film we’ll be making and I’d be glad to share them with you!

1) CLIENTS – Originally were we going to make the sailing film with Skandia Team GBR but now due to logistical reasons we will be filming with NACRA SAILING. Nacra makes ‘sports and fun Catamarans’ and are a big player in the global sailing industry. They have agreed to a 4 day shoot, where Richard will be taking stills a usual, but we will all contribute to making the film. So now the film will be a joint venture between Ocean Images, Nacra Sailing and The Arts University College Bournemouth. It has been agreed that everyone is to be able to use the final product for promotion, so win, win, win!

2) LOCATION – The location for filming was from the start going to be a bit last minute, as the sailing industry is heavily influenced by weather conditions. Now a location, or rather locations have been found, we will most likely be filming in the South of France, around Le Lavandou or Hyeres, or alternatively on the Southern Bretton coast at Carnac. The date for filming has been set for a week, from the 23rd – 30th April. Filming in these locations will allow us, touch wood, to capture more impressive and dramatic footage, due to the Mediterranean conditions.

3) STABILIZER – We were intending on building a SteadiCam but due to reasons mentioned in an eariler post, we decided it would best to purchase one from a company called Hague. We went for this model, and you will find out more about it in my next post.

Things are progressing very nicely, albiet now at a fast pace. Ali and I are naturally excited about filming in France, and we’re determined to make the best film we can, given this great opportunity. In my next post you can find out about our first filming session in Poole harbour, and the first attempts at getting a camera to stabilize.

Year 2 Report

jackashtoncollins — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 20:45:45 +0000

Throughout this past year there has for me personally, and for the class as a whole I feel, been a big change in course interaction and participation. The main focus for this year has been in developing upon the broad range of skills we acquired in year one, but at the same time working to build on our chosen specialism’s. Since starting this course, I have maintained my ambition to work in the film and television postproduction industry, specifically in the area of editing. As you will see in this report, this year I have worked on projects with this ambition in mind, with the goal of having high quality content to use on a show reel when I leave University. In addition to developing our specialisms, we have been pushed much further in terms of creativity and independent thought. Of course, due to the nature of Foundation Degrees, the ultimate aim of the course is employment after graduation, thus providing interesting juxtapositions, found in many areas of the course.

The first unit of the year was Future Cinema. The aim of this being to explore new technologies, concepts and techniques within cinematic production, and for us to create our own work demonstrating our understanding of this. I worked with Mike Wakefield on this project, and we decided to develop an idea we had in the first year based around video emersion. We wanted to be able to place viewers in abstract environments, through the use of multiple video screens. Originally we were going to create four projection screens and have near 360-degree views of changing scenarios, with the viewer being able to walk freely in the middle. We planned on having these scenarios juxtaposing with each other, for example we were going to show an office, then a nightclub, then a hilltop and so on. After researching more about video artists and installations, I felt that I wanted to purify our concept. This led me to the idea of using associated imagery of the four ancient Greek elements as a way of triggering people’s own memories and perceptions. By creating these pure, natural ‘springboards’, we were able to create a piece of work identifiable to almost everyone, and one that could leave space for individual interpretation. Mike and I worked hard to capture the footage we wanted to project onto these four screens, and also to create accompanying wild tracks. In addition to this, we actually built our own rear projection screens though due to the circumstances, we were to never use them. Although the work was never shown, which was of course a great shame, I still feel I learnt a lot in this unit. I certainly built upon my understanding of the importance of conceptualisation, and also I furthered my ability to effectively execute my own ideas.

Second then, was the unit Performance Video. I’m sure this will have been the most talked about unit in these reports, due to what I felt was simply poor management on the tutor’s behalf. Essentially, we had to create a performance, to be performed at the launch evening of the previous unit’s exhibition. I must mention now as not to create confusion, that for the unit Future Cinema we were told that we would be displaying our works as a collective exhibition in the centre of Poole for a week. Unfortunately this did not happen, leaving a bitter taste within the class and a feeling perhaps of contempt towards the unit Performance Video. After all, we were being told to work towards an event that wasn’t going to happen, so of course levels of enthusiasm were going to be low. I joined Ali and Adam’s group midway through the unit due to my commitments with Future Cinema. They had been working on an audio visual performance, where two people would play instruments, guitar and drums, and visuals would be projected behind them, corresponding to where on their instruments they were playing. Within the group, I worked to help create the visuals and also provided my guitar playing abilities, which also helped to define exactly how this system would work. I can’t say that I enjoyed this unit, nor that I had a particular dislike for it. Really, I see it as a footnote to the course, a unit that could have been far better if there was the proper support from our leaders.

After Christmas we embarked on our two remaining units of the year. First, I will talk about New Perspectives for New Contexts. This was a research and analytical based unit ‘designed to help clarify our approach to research, …an essential practical component of the design process’. We had to write a 2500 word essay on a subject of our choice, obviously relevant to our areas of interest and expertise. I chose to write a comparative essay examining film and television’s ability to manipulate and persuade audiences, drawing links mainly between Soviet Cinema and reality television. Most of this unit was spent researching various authors and practitioners, with the last two weeks dedicated to writing the actual essay. I found this to be a great way to work and led to what I felt was my most concise and professional piece of writing in my academic career. This personal fulfilment was matched by my grade; I received 71% that equates to a first. In addition to the essay, throughout the course of the unit there were weekly debates on topics such as ‘Girls Can’t Play Video Games’, ‘Books are a Dead Media’ and ‘Privacy is History’. I get the impression that the class thoroughly enjoyed these debates, as did I, and I saw a side of the class I’d never seen before. People seemed to be really engaged, and also passionate about their views. On top of these debates, each week we read and discussed a variety of analytical and philosophical texts to aid us with our own work and to expand our academic knowledge. I thoroughly enjoyed this unit as I learnt a huge amount, not only about my topic of research, but also about academic conventions i.e. the Harvard referencing system.

Last is the Professional Project. For this our class split into groups and each were given a brief, broadly relating to individual preferences. I am working with Alastair on this, with the professional sailing and sporting photographer Richard Langdon. We will be working together to create professional quality video content, utilizing a combination of his skills, knowledge and equipment and our expertise in the field of video. So far he has kindly leant us his equipment – Canon 5D MkII and multiple high grade lenses- and we have created multiple test videos to get used to working with the camera. We have also used the equipment to great success in our own personal projects. This unit has by far been the most enjoyable of the year as I’ve had the opportunity to work in a highly professional manor and put a wide variety of my skills to good use. I anticipate the finished work we produce will be well received and hopefully this will again be reflected in a high grade.

In summation this year has, much like last year, been a rollercoaster of a ride. The big let down of the year was the failure of the exhibition; I feel this had a highly negative impact on the morale of our class. This was made up with the Professional Project. I feel our tutors really ‘pulled it out of the bag’ so to speak, by finding briefs somewhat tailored towards individual interests and intended career paths. I’m feeling very positive about creating a new wealth of content that can be used on a show reel; what’s more, I’m feeling proud now about my work, and excited to start showing it to prospective employers. That said, I’m nearly sure I will be studying here next year on the 3^rd year of this course, where I will have more time to further my skills and ideas.

Built To Be Tasty

jackashtoncollins — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 19:52:44 +0000

Alongside filming the ‘mini brief’ as part of Ali and I’s project with Richard Langdon we conceptualized, planned, shot and submitted an advert for the Dorito’s ‘King of Ads’ competition. The idea, loosely based on a suggestion by one of Ali’s friends, was to have a single tracking shot along a table, showing 4 people in a row, in a rather sterile environment, creating things out of Doritos. Then, as the camera comes to the end of the table, we see a 5th person scoffing his way thorough an unprecedented amount of Doritos. We established that in order to make this work we would need to organize a number of things.

1) ACTORS – Jamie, Josh, Steph, Jamie W and a friend of Ali’s all helped us out by participating in our advert. What people will do for some free Doritos!

2) LOCATION – After consulting Jason, we decided to use our own base room to shoot. I was hesitant as this idea at first, but it soon became clear that using our own room would solve a number of logistical problems i.e access and availability. Thankfully our room is wide enough to accomodate the tables we needed to set up, we also managed to clear everything behind the tables to create the sterile, uniform looking we envisioned.

3) EQUIPMENT – Richard lent us his 5D kit so we were able to use that to shoot on. In addition we used 2 red head kits and Elliott kindly let us use his home made track to get that all important tracking shot.

4) DORITOS MODELS – Ali and I spent a number of evenings experimenting with different combinations of Doritos and glue and came up with a number of different models. We made a pyramid, a crown, a pair of glasses and a huge tower! For the tower Ali picked up some wire mesh which we glued paper onto and then Doritos, make it much easier. We also used the mesh to create the cylindrical shape for the crown.

5) TAGLINE – When creating the concept for our advert, we knew that we wanted the Doritos logo to be shown at the end and a tagline to go with it. We spent much time deliberating over this as we also knew that the tagline would define our advert and perhaps be it’s success or it’s downfall. Examples of failed tagline’s include – ‘Snack, not Science’, ‘You Can Eat Them You Know?’ and ‘Mmmmmmm….. Doritos!’. Ultimately we settled on ‘Built To Be Tasty’, as we felt it really captured the spirit of, and concept behind our advert.

6) MUSIC – Doritos have provided contestants with a huge selection of royalty free music to use in the advert, again we deliberated a great deal over this as music is another hugely defining feature. We chose the song ‘Captain Cranky’.

With all this in place we shot the advert in around 30 mins due to the late closing of uni clashing with when we scheduled for filming. Everyone really pulled together and we managed to get some great footage, very similar to what we had both envisaged. Here you can see the culmination of 2 weeks planning and of course munching;

H2O

jackashtoncollins — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 18:33:54 +0000

As you may know, before Richard went off to Spain he set Ali and I a ‘mini brief’ for us to do whilst he was away. He asked us to make a short promotional video about either Christchurch or H2O, and we chose H2O. The purpose of this brief was to familiarize ourselves further with the 5D Mk2, and to test our creativity. After a quick brainstorm, Ali and I decided to go to the local village of Throop, where we had heard that there was a picturesque weir and old flour mill. We wanted to expand further on the idea of water, so we decided on capturing the surroundings of the river, bushes, trees, animals etc; in a sense broadening the context of our topic. We were surprised when we arrived at Throop that such beautiful landscapes could be found only a stones throw away from Bournemouth. We spent 2 hours wandering along the river and weirs, capturing as much high quality footage as possible. We filmed mostly with a really wide apature -f1.8-f3- to give the footage a nice shallow DOF; a technique that Richard, Ali and I have decided will be great to use in our final sailing video.

To save from rambling on, I’ll let the video speak for itself, here’s the edit I did with music from Fleet Foxes;