Sunday 29 November 2009

Drew calling Ron 'Foley'

A few days ago I put a call for help out to followers of this blog for help with a score for my mini movie (more to follow on this soon!)

'Conrad' got in touch via the blog asking if I needed help with Foley

A Foley artist is, as Wikipedia says 'the person who creates many of the natural, everyday sound effects in a film, which are recorded during a session with a recording engineer. Before the session, a project will be cued, with notes kept about what sounds need to be created during the foley session. Often, the project will have a sound supervisor who will dictate what sounds need to be covered in a foley session and what needs to be created by special (audio) effects, which is generally left to the sound designer.

My project would benefit greatly from this as you might imagine

I was away for the weekend so we did not get to connect

So Conrad do get in touch via my main email drew@drew.it and we can get cracking!

Thursday 26 November 2009

Can you help score my latest short movie?

I never cease to be amazed by the power of the blog

So, I'm trying it again (previously I asked for help with making a TV programme and I received some very promising leads....)

Last weekend I shot a short self funded 60 second movie

For a joke budget - sub $1000

I will tell you all about it in due course but it is being premiered at Converge.One

If you check the line up it really will be well worthwhile attending if you have any interest in the DSLR HD revolution (and it seems everyone does these days)

Which leads me to my appeal

I shot a vaguely period piece at a cool location and I'm now seeking help with the score

Here are some screen grabs from the project








So, is there a musical genius out there who is willing and able to do this?

There is no budget.

At all

But I could work a ticket out for my collaborator, along with a credit of course.

Come along with me on my next shoot too if you like?

The short will be premiered on the 11th December at the National Film Theatre, so my friends, time is of the essence

UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE! I'M leaving the post up, but I now am receiving help from one of the blog followers! So, no need for anymore help, I do not want to waste anyones time

Thank you

Wednesday 18 November 2009

'Strictly Come Dancing' Made Simple



Regular readers of this blog will by now be aware of one of my 'tricks'

Keeping it simple

I was recently commissioned to photograph Ali Bastion and Brian Fortuna of The hit BBC programme 'Strictly Come Dancing'

You maybe aware there has been quite a lot of speculation regarding them in the press

To be quite honest with you I could not care less if they are or not other than to say they were both absolutely charming, lovely people, when I mentioned to Brian that my daughter Georgie, aged 7, was a big fan he wrote her a message, completely unprompted.

We were, as usual working with very limited time.

So, it was a matter of turning in a simple but impressive shot with the very minimum of fuss

The big danger is trying to be too ambitious and simply 'drowning' in a ton of gear that may or may not be useful in the circumstances.

The biggest single leap forward one can make with your art is to........

STOP BUYING ANYMORE EQUIPMENT UNTIL YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR EXISTING EQUIPMENT DOES AND THEN MASTERING IT!

For this shot I used one light, an Elinchrom 1200 style, but with one killer light modifier an Elinchrom Mini Spot



This is an accessory I seldom use but when I do, it is fantastic

A simple solution, giving me the look and feel of the dance floor with a minimum of fuss, and a ton of showbiz 'sparkle' to boot

I shot this with my Phase One P45+ 80mm lens 125th Sec at F9

So a one light solution to what could have been a fraught scenario

It is always good to have an idea just what you are going to use BEFORE the assignment

I have added the Black and White version which I actually prefer, I think

Saturday 14 November 2009

Jazz Voice - Celebrating a Century of Song


Yes, this is generally a photography blog, but it is actually a pretty accurate reflection of what is happening in my world one way or another.

Last night I went to 'Jazz Voice - Celebrating a Century of song' at London's Barbican

I confess I'm by no means a Jazz aficionado (in fact the first full on Jazz gig I have been to!) the only reason I went was to see Natalie Merchant, the incredibly talented singer song writer , as it was her first appearance in London for 10 years. If you are not familiar with her work and would like to listen to something which takes you to some other magical place, do check out her music ( my favourite album of hers is 'Ophelia' )

Needless to say I, nor the rest of the capacity audience were disappointed

But like so many things in life, you go looking for one thing and you find quite another

The line up included Cibelle, Kirsty Almeida, Kurt Elling( who was amazing and as smooth as you like), Natalie Williams, Roachford, Krystle Warren, Sarah Jane Morris, Sheila Jordan and the London Jazz Festival Orchestra (40 piece!) directed by Guy Barker.

The star of the show if there did have to be one was Sheila Jordan aged 81. She has the most beautiful voice and bursting with such warmth, enthusiasm and passion

Something to aspire to

A perfect Winter warmer on a cold rain lashed November night

It is being broadcast on BBC Radio 3 17/11/09

Stay tuned for more photo stuff soon......



PS Went to see her solo a couple of nights later at the delightful venue the Conway hall in London, which holds around 300 people. A more stunning intimate gig it is hard to imagine. Acoustic and soulful. Her new album is out in March and she will be touring the UK again, check her out if you have not done so already

Thursday 5 November 2009

Blinkbid-Software For Idiots




I can almost hear a collective groan go out from you, a blog which is about Invoicing and bidding software and not some groovy lighting trick or about some photo of a naked woman riding a water buffalo.......

Well guys I'm sharing this with you because it has made such a difference to the thing I'm really bad at- the paperwork

Recently I have started to do my own invoicing

I struggled for a day before remembering I had Blinkbid sitting relatively unloved and alone on my hard drive.

What I had been struggling with for hours I achieved in minutes without resorting to the 'help' menu, well not too much anyhow

It does many ,many things including working your VAT out, telling you when you have not been paid, and it looks SO professional

It is funny , we are all about image, yet we often pay no heed to the way our invoices or bids look, it is in-fact another opportunity to show the client we ARE a little bit better than the competition

It is the brain child of a passionate friendly guy called Lou Lesko who is a pretty bloody handy photographer too (well as he says on his own website 'Always serve chilled, safe with most medications')

So, software by a photographer for his fellow photographers

Blinkbid is as he says himself 'Shockingly easy to use bidding and invoicing software for creative profesionals'

In other words, use this software and your quotes will look way proffesional and your invoices like lightning.

Don't take my word for it, here are a few satisfied customers

Leaving you and I, the bleeding heart creatives, with more time to shoot instead of being buried for wasted hours sorting out our paper work

So ladies and gentleman, this leaves me doing my own bids and invoices, and you know what? I actually enjoy it!

Pass the medication.......