New camera!

Ahh, what a happy day it is. Funny story. I went to Kojima (electrical store) with my wife because she wanted to by a new hairdryer and came out having spent the best part of 100,000 Yen on a new video camera.
I bought a Canon ivis HG10, which is Canon's entry into the HDD camera market. It has 40GB of hard drive space and some nifty functions like a 24p Cinema Mode which emulates the look of film and a really nice lens. I had been using my Canon FV300 for a few years now, so I knew it was about time a got a new camera. But, I was glad to stick with Canon as I really trust them.

Happy days with my new HG10.

Al Pacino

Four great clips of my favorite actor. Clips are from Heat, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Devil's Advocate and Donnie Brasco.

Twisted Souls

A long time ago in a country far far away..ahem...well in England, in 1992 actually, I helped a college friend make a Zombie movie called Twisted Souls. It was a quite remarkable effort for a bunch of teenagers. I've recently become re-acquainted with said former college friend, Rupert Millward, through the marvel of the internet and YouTube, and I was delighted to see that he has put a trailer for Twisted souls online.

He is the the process of re-mastering the original from VHS to digital format. I've seen some of the restored footage and it looks good.
It was a long time ago that I took part in this, and I really don't remember doing so much except for a few nicely lit shots in a wooden walled corridor (see below). However, it was one of the first video projects that I got involved in and I'm happy to be associated with it.










Twisted Souls Trailer

YouTube Music Selection

I have been making up a 'favorites' playlist on my YouTube page. This consists of 40 songs and videos that I love by artists that I admire. 40 seems like a good number and it would take you about 160 minutes to watch them all back to back. So, if you have time, then please visit my YouTube page and check the favorites section to enjoy the videos.

These are in the broadest sense (I only chose singles - not album tracks) a representation of my taste in music.

The playlist is:

The Cure - In Between Days
Depeche Mode - Blasphemous Rumors
New Order - Blue Monday
CSS - Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above
The Sisters of Mercy - Walk Away
David Bowie - Life on Mars?
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - Ain't no Mountain High Enough
The Stone Roses - Fool's Gold
Teddybears ft. Iggy Pop - Punkrocker
Garbage - I Think I'm Paranoid
Curve - Fait Accompli
Coldplay - Fix You
Seether and Amy Lee - Broken
Evenessence - Going Under
My Chemical Romance - Helena
Chemical Brothers - Galvanise
Run DMC vs Jason Nevins - It's Like That
Pop Will Eat Itself - R.S.V.P
Soundgarden - Loud Love
Smashing Pumpkins - Ava Adore
My Vitriol - Always : Your Way
Manic Street Preachers - A Design For Life
Mansun - Legacy
Muse - Nights Of Cydonia
Massive Attack - Angel
JJ72 - Oxygen
Death In Vegas - Hands Around My Throat
U2 - The Fly
Editors - Munich
She Wants Revenge - These Things
Battles - Atlas
The Prodigy - Girls
Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees
AFI - Girls Not Grey
Green Day - Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
Interpol - Slow Hands
Hard-Fi - Can't Get Along (Without You)
Orbital - The Box
Nine Inch Nails - Closer
Nirvana - Heart Shaped Box

Log on to my YouTube page to watch and enjoy.

A Socratic Process

I've never been one to make 'life mission' statements. I used to read a blog written by an old co-worker and he was constantly making statements and declarations about his life and his goals. I always thought that it was so laughable to do this as so much of what we do is transient and ever evolving. So it may seem like a strange thing for me do, but I'm going to make a few basic statements.

1. I will no longer try to make music videos for Bands or Artists other than my own band (MJ Ultra) or close friends of. Let's just say that I have got my fingers well and truly burnt and I won't be doing that again.
2. MJ Ultra will become my key focus of 2008. Music and video wise that is. Everything else I choose to do will be a bonus and will depend greatly on the amount of time I have.
3. I love doing live video installation work. I find it immensely satisfying and I will be trying to find avenues that I can pursue this with. Narrative film making is constrictive and time consuming and so I will be doing a lot less of it.

So there you go, 3 simple truths. It's taken me a lot of soul searching and hard thinking, but these are the things that I have decided on. I need to focus my creative talents in a clear direction. I am not ruling out the possibility of making more short films or music videos, or even a feature film one day, but for now its all about my band, my friends, my family and my job (in no particular order).

At the end of the day it's all about having a clear idea about where you want to go and then asking the right kind of questions along the way.

So next time MJ Ultra play live expect to see images, like the one below, playing on screens in and around the stage. This image is from part of my new b/w bubble series.