Interiors Redux Part 2

To view the new version of INTERIORS REDUX click here. It is no longer on YouTube.

Watch Interiors Redux

Interiors Redux

If you visited this site yesterday or this morning you will have noticed that I have made a new version of INTERIORS (REDUX), the short visual-poem I made this spring but unfortunately I am having some technical problems with the 'rendering' process. So it has a little bug in it. I'm not sure why...

Anyway, you can still view it on YouTube (see links) but there is a little glitch at the start. I will try to get to the bottom of the issue and get the link/flash player back on the site.

Girl Alone : Update 13

I'm pleased to say that GIRL ALONE is almost completed. There's just the small matter of adding the song 'Let's Go To Hell' by Scorpion Death Rock, which Richard Slater is currently remixing for me.

Everything else is done. I mean the whole lot. Final running time is 14:44:60. Just right.

I spent today just mixing music and clipping a few bugs in the sound. Also, I recorded a new track using only keyboards and 'a rattle' that will appear on the end titles. It's a very simple little tune and it's called Dust.

Girl Alone : Update 12

I've had a bit of luck with the music for GIRL ALONE this week. I've managed to record and mix all the music for the film. I discovered a nice bit of software called 'Audacity' will allows you to reduce noise and generally mess around with things. It's sounding pretty nice now. I just have to add the remixed Scorpion Death Rock song and finally add the subtitles.

Here's another still from the film. this shot was inspired by Japanese horror movies (think Ringu). I like the way her long hair is falling in front of a face, obscuring her.

Tengu 天狗 : Update 6

I made a little trip into Tokyo today. I went to Asakusa because I thought that would be the perfect place to pick up a Tengu mask. I was right. Picked up a paper mask for about 2K. Nice and miserable it is too. I'm meeting Seiko on the 22nd for a costume fitting so she'll get to try it on then.

TPJ : Summer, Autumn and Winter

You have to know the answer to this question! If you died right now, how would you feel about your life?

Well everyone, with summer in full swing it's a good moment to look ahead to what's going to happening with TPJ over the next few months into Autumn and then into Winter.

* I have decided to upgrade all my equipment by the end of this year. This will mean I will be 'going Mac' so that I can use Final Cut Pro to edit and buying a new camera, probably a Sony.

* I hope TPJ will continue to grow as a communications company. Tribal English Garden will provide an extra source of revenue for my filmmaking and broaden my company's communications and media base. Sign up for English lessons today!

* I will be interviewed by a budding writer/journalist Marcus McLelland over the next few weeks. This interview will be published on this site. So look out for that.

* I will release GIRL ALONE and TENGU in September. GIRL ALONE is just missing the music score, which I will try to get done soon. TENGU will be a much easier task to finish and I've decided that I will enter TENGU to Design Festa this December.

* My next project (from Oct/Nov) will be called BLOODTYPE. It will be a short film about a man's obsession and kidnapping of a young woman set against a conversation on the nature of fatalism.

Finally, on a personal note, I'd like to thank all the visitors to this site. Without you I would have had no reason to write for the last 9 months. So I would love to hear from more of you, my family, my students, my friends. Drop me a line. Thanks.

Tengu 天狗 : Update 5

I met with Seiko Sugimura tonight and went through the rehearsal and shooting schedule for TENGU.

We will shoot at two locations in Yokohama and one in Kozu, on the beach. I chose Kozu not because it's a good beach but because it's a surfers beach and usually deserted.

Anyway, filming will take place on September 10th and I will have it edited by the middle of the month.

First line of the script:
"Tengu is curled up like a fetus on an empty mattress"
Last line:
"...the waves lap against the mask"

Girl Alone : Music...Frustrations

AAAH! I had an extremely frustrating afternoon trying to mix a music track for GIRL ALONE. Just can't get the sound the way I want it. If anybody out there wants to help me with the music then mail me, please. I'm in need of assistance.

Girl Alone : "Let's go to Hell"

My brother in law plays in a Japanese punk rock band called Scorpion Death Rock and they kindly allowed me to use a song called 'Let's go to Hell'. The song was given to me on a lovely old cassette tape (I didn't know people still used these things) which is about 30% hisssssssssss. So I have asked my pal Richard Slater to tidy it up for me.

I hope he will do me a similar service with the original music I'm writing. Once all the music is produced I will stick it on one of the those shiny CD thingies and make it available to buy on tribalpicturesjapan.com.

Battle of the Planets : Influences Pt3

Thought it was about time I added a new entry to my influences series. This is something from my childhood. A Japanese Anime, that just blew my mind at the time (I was 6 or 7 years old). It just felt so different to the other cartoons on TV. I loved the movement and style. It was the first thing in my life that I thought was 'cool'. Battle Of The Planets was probably the sole reason I became interested in Japanese Animation and Manga and perhaps, in hindsight, a real big reason why I'm currently residing in Japan. I still hold a dream of making a movie out of this one day...who knows?

Battle of the Planets