PAINthemovie Gets Green Light

The spiritual successor to GAINthemovie will be shooting in summer 2016. The corridors of power in Hollywood are describing it as 'They Live' meets 'The Wizard Of Oz'.

GAINthemovie (Ghostly Apparition Investigation & Neutralisation the movie) pioneered the modern airninja movie method in 2012 and went on to win multiple awards internationally, including the esteemed Wingnut's Choice at the BUFI organised #FrugalWave Power Awards.

Whereas GAIN was directed by Evil C vs britmic, PAIN will be directed solo by britmic (does this mean we can look forward to a solo project by Evil C in future? Let's hope so).

Scant clues to the storyline exist, although rumour has it that 'PAIN' is an acronym for Personal Area Interurban Navigator', inspired by the 'PANIC' - Personal Area Network Internet Computer' - which was cut from britmic vs Evil C flick 'The Fix:'

Although the leads of PAIN have been cast, we are left to guess as to which parts they are playing. Actors include newcomer Suzy Weatherall through to industry veterans Patrick Olliver and Phil Lyndon.

Full listing of known cast below.

Jackson Batchelor

Phil Lyndon

Suzy Weatherall

Chris Mills

Patrick Olliver

Thomas J. Davenport

Sam Mason Bell

The iPhone SE has Apple Mojo

So I've had my 64GB iPhone SE a week now.  During the two-week shipping time I re-acclimatised myself with the smaller form-factor by the using my old iPhone 5S before committing myself to selling my 128GB iPhone 6 Plus.

Boxing up my "old" iPhone 6S Plus, filmed with the iPhone 5S whilst my SE was being made at the factory (settle in with headphones for the full ASMR experience):



Whilst using the iPhone 5S I realised I'd only really been chasing the camera and battery tech on the newer iPhone releases. The big screen was nice to have whilst discovering new games but frankly now all the iOS arcade racers and first-person-shooters are the same old tired genres and bore me to tedium. I continue to enjoy classic puzzlers like Scrabble and Words and 10,000,000 and You Must Build a Boat - which play just as well on the SE screen as its larger siblings.

Play a lot of big-name games? Use a console. Categories diverge, always have. For my casual puzzle gaming though, the SE is just fine.

To boot I also sold the 6S Plus at a price that easily covered the cost of the 64GB iPhone SE. The SE is the cheapest iPhone model (if you go for the 16GB model which most people wanting to shoot video probably should avoid) and yet for me it has more mojo than its bigger siblings, it's understated, discrete, just plain stealth.

Unboxing my new favourite iPhone, again filmed with the 5S (and again recorded in a way to maximise any ASMR trigger potential so wear headphones for best effect):



Now obviously the iPhone SE isn't for everyone since Apple will no doubt continue to sell gobs of larger screened phones. I really hope they keep a smaller form-factor in their line-up and this isn't some sort of "one of" Special Edition phone as part of Apple's 40th year.

Right now, for long as 1080P remains a viable consumption format (and I'm sure it will be for another 10 or 20 years or longer) then I don't really have any compelling reason to ever upgrade from the iPhone SE (it can shoot 4K if I can really be bothered) - unless it becomes completely obsolete - which will happen eventually as happens to everything including entire civilisations. (In other words, I'm not going to let that worry me!)

And, did you notice the video above shot with the 5S were 720P@60fps? An ancient phone in technology years.

The iPhone SE shows Apple found some mojo, it didn't wimp out entirely on components and build materials, you could even say iPhone SE is da BOM.

Don't listen to me make up your own mind and exercise your own powers of critical thought. Fink different.

☴ Trendspotting and Avoiding Media Fads

I'm pretty bored of hearing about VR (virtual reality) that I decided to check why it was everywhere in my feeds and streams. It definitely seemed like it was all rooted in some astroturfing PR campaign.

Well I was not surprised to see this trend line:


It's clearly a campaign push media idiot feedback loop bound for a deep deep trough of disillusionment.

Compare that with more steady interest in Deep Learning:


Heck, even the humble old staycation is a safer bet for sustainable growth (which itself may have arisen from a campaign push media idiot feedback loop):


Proof, if any were needed, VR is in a bubble and it's very likely about to come down the other side of its spike. I won't be wasting my time or money on it just yet. I'll see you on the other side.

Smartphones Are Legit Production Tools

Just as pencils and the public's ability to write diminished the scribe's monopoly of skill, today's smartphones are media production power houses that the establishment do not ignore.

If you think smartphones are only good for making home movies, think again... #mojoconhttps://t.co/D50XSr2M7A

— RTÉ Mojocon (@MojoConIRL) April 2, 2016

iPhone SE - A Lot To Like

So the 4" screen iPhone SE is here, retailing in the UK for £439 with 64GB storage onboard.

The real kicker? It has the guts of the latest iPhone 6S inside in terms of A9 processor and 12MP iSight camera with focus pixels.

For an airninja like me that is very very tempting. Why? Apart from the fact it is simply light and powerful and strips away a lot of the flimflam.

Over the years my iPhone usage has matured, much like my iPad usage - which has fallen away completely. I'm old, I'm boring, I don't play games (at least, I have played my favourite genres to the point of boredom) - the idea of having an understated - yet powerful - iPhone appeals.

And I've had extensive use of all the public iPhone form factors at this point.

I started using big screen phones with the Dell Streak, believing that I would soon be able to get real meaty work done with the occasional attachment of a keyboard. It's never really happened though - my usage pattern has basically reverted to iPhone for comms/navigation/camcorder and any heavy lifting done on my 2013 13" MacBook Air - if that computer is tied up doing a heavy render I reach for a ChromeBook to do stuff.

I think this is a result of failed mobile UX paradigms as much as my own brain calcification. Which ever way you look at it, editing a video is fiddly on a small screen (I attach my 13" MBA to a 24" display for proper narrative video editing sessions - though I did edit my first feature film on the 12" screen of a PowerBook).

There are a couple, and only a couple, of reasons I will resist pulling the trigger on a 64GB iPhone SE purchase:

1. My current 128GB iPhone 6S Plus has 61GB storage free - this tells me that 64GB max storage just isn't going to cut it for me without additional admin/habits.

2. The size of the iPhone 6(S) Plus means it has a huge battery relative to smaller models. I am just not concerned about shooting video all day whilst powering a microphone on the lightning port. Take that battery away and it becomes a choice of lightning microphone or an external battery pack - and, that's right, potentially a whole bunch of admin.

It's a case of iPhone SE at £439 (still a significant chunk of change) vs my iPhone 6S Plus at £789 though - and the airninja movie method has always been about grasping value propositions early on. For my actual usage, I suspect the iPhone SE with 64GB would do just fine (after all, I have made feature films using iPhone 4S - albeit with onboard mics and an external battery pack).

Remember, zig when they zag. Avoid the mushy middle. It is tempting.

Economics of Filmmaking & Finding Your Audience

Hands up if your film has made a net or gross profit.

OK, anyone with their hands up, they can leave the room. You have nothing to learn here (although you are welcome to stay and gloat).

If you want to give up the day job and earn a living through the business of show, you have to have your content make money, right? I mean sure, "do what you love and the money will follow" is something people say to the aspirational but at what point can you make a profit from passion?

I'm not sure I have any answers, but I do have research. Data. 18 months worth of data.

I present to you, Exhibit A - an award winning short film made by a team of dedicated filmmakers with much care and attention - and a passion for storytelling. It was shot over a few nights in November 2014 and cut into its final form and uploaded to the public in January 2016. The film has been marketed to festivals across the world (as well as a lot of admin time this costs real money in terms of entry fees - arguably tax deductible as part of the marketing budget). It's now on Youtube with appropriate metadata tags for SEO.

208 views at time of writing.

Here I present to you Exhibit B - a genre and brand exploiting short video made in a few minutes by a single hack of a filmmaker with a focus on delivering an experience for a defined audience - and a passion for stereo sound. It was shot realtime and uploaded with no editing. Tagged in Youtube within minutes. The film has had no active marketing; only passive metadata tagging for SEO. Arguably someone had to buy the product in this video which is a negative cost - however, it is a tax deductible line item from the marketing budget, right?

423 views at time of writing.

I said I don't have any real answers. I don't. There can be no absolutes when markets are fluid.

Which movie would you rather watch, and why?

Which movie would you rather make, and why?

What I will say at this point is that both of these movies have generated revenue on Youtube - and at time of writing one of them has generated almost 400% more revenue than the other.

UPDATE: Murphy's Lore

The development of my documentary around the late prolific Portsmouth filmmaker Michael J. Murphy takes another turn as the Merlin/Murlin/Murlyn portfolio becomes officially available on the internet.




It's made me realise that to truly do justice to his story I need to be more familiar with his body of work. Basically, that means watching it!

Before I interviewed Murphy I had watched bootleg copies of Death Run and Bloodstream and seen a few trailers. He'd also invited me over for a private screening of his last film entitled The Return of Alan Strange which I duly attended.

After he passed away I discovered that as well as a cult horror following some of his work has a peplum following too.

Whereas his horror stuff that I've seen to date reveals themes of cannibalism, satanic rituals and general low budget gore, the peplum productions are another side of his character I need to become better acquainted with.

The MURLYN INTERNATIONAL Youtube channel is being populated with Murphy's back catalogue.

So having said that, I have resolved to watch the remainder of his surviving filmography as it becomes available on his youtube channel over the coming weeks. I suspect I may start reviewing his work here on my blog, too. All in an effort to inform the sensitivity of the documentary I produce, which you may have guessed is consequently not going to get completed any time soon!

Top 5 Things I Learned Directing for TrashArts

Tuesday evening during a live film screening event an episode of "Making Of" being produced by TrashArts was shot before, during, and after. Directed by me.

DSLR and stereo X/Y mic atop for POV experience

Fortunately the actors knew their characters really well so it was more a case of AD'ing myself and being continuity person (fuck continuity) to ensure enough coverage for the edit.

What a luxury to just turn up, direct, and go home!

The current cut of "Episode 2" is a shade under 20 minutes. We shot it all in one location in just over four hours.

Anyhow, what did I actually learn?


1. Microphone technology, and audience tastes, have shifted to the point where the camera can truly become a character (indeed this was part of the brief).
Despite shooting at a noisy event in a pub screening the football and a short film night the Røde Stereo Videomic picked up a fine stereo soundstage and intelligible dialogue (at my direction, natch - move closer!)

2. The film clips of the late Michael J Murphy went down a storm.
Part of the script called for reactions to local low budget films. I opted to show excerpts from Murphy's Avalon (German release) and his commercially unreleased super8 Bloodstream.


Boy did those clips get reactions! Secretly, I think MJM would be proud even from the afterlife.

3. Let go but keep time.
This was shot from a five page treatment (by the time I'd added my notes) and then completely performed improv. In the chaos of the venue it was pointless to have done too much planning - but doing just enough to, well, provide direction (as the director, see?)

Antagonists

4. Texan four bean soup sure does look like puke.
I wasn't sure whether to go for the brown realism or the camera friendly yellow-y GAIN style demonic possession vomit. The brown stuff worked out just swell in context.

5. Great actors can appear from nowhere.
I don't know where Sam Mason Bell finds them, but the casting really works. Like I say it probably helps that the majority have already been through the award winning "Episode 1" experience. Those that hadn't were well prepared and researched - leading to some great ad-hoc exchanges between the protagonists and antagonists.


So despite the football running into extra time (I have no idea what the final score was) and a room full of local film nerds watching what film nerds watch at these events I brought a 20 minute episode in on time and under budget (the Texan four bean soup is a tax deductible line item I assured them).

All in all, 21st Century Fat Fox movie magic.

Relax. You're Quite Safe Here.

How new interest in VR could re-ignite the music video and album sales.

Not wearing headphones.

There's been a lot of chatter recently about VR (and AR) from the usual suspects. Apparently the tech is a lot better looking now, you know, realistic and immersive.

The immersive part always makes me laugh. I can be immersive with a pair of headphones and a decent binaural recording. I can be immersed reading a book. Imagine! I digress.

The point was, the narrative goes, VR failed in the 80s/90s because it was clunky low resolution shit.

True dat.

VR - then.

VR - now.

It was also true that gaming in the 80s/90s was clunky low resolution shit. It fucking rocked and a new industry was born - well documented in crowdfunded Bedrooms To Billions for one (I particularly like the founder of U.S. Gold admitting that he had no idea what he was doing).

So VR failed, 8-bit gaming skyrocketed through to the consolidated industry we know today. Stay with me.

Sitting passively wearing headphones. And that other thing.

I believe that VR may continue to fail whist it is physically non-passive. It will appeal to paintballers and lots of other people but who will actually prance around all day in that get up? I don't see it being as big as console gaming (famous last words of course). You can sit playing games at a console all day. VR all day? Be my guest.

Gaming, in common with watching movies, or watching a hybrid of the two - a Twitch stream - is largely passive, hypnotic.

Contemporary VR you must be awake standing up looking around bending reaching tripping over your furniture.

So even though today VR may look amazing it's is not a medium to be frolicking in for hours on end around staircases.

So, by my reckoning, VR must become a more passive activity to succeed - whatever success is nowadays.

VR reminds me of 3D in the cinema - it's going to be rolled out every generation to see if it sticks.

Anyway.

Passive VR. Immersive. Remember what I said about headphones and binaural? This has lead to a boom in Youtube videos promoting ASMR - sounds that make you feel good - and discussions around frisson - music that makes you feel good.

Strikes me that ASMR and frisson typically occur when the subject is passive rather than running around having all senses abused and bruised.

Still no headphones.

So if VR is to become a household medium, how could we shoehorn VR with sounds that make you feel good? Music, of course. Ambient soundscapes. More. No doubt over time a grammar would develop more akin to cinema than gaming (but Twitch is evidence that lots of people enjoy watching games passively and this goes right back to the days when computer games were in the arcade at the seafront - I remember watching that guy beat Space Harrier, awesome!).

Music video can be a great experimental landscape, as indeed can music itself.

VR is so fixated on the vision it forgets the wave.

Ignore the tech companies, ask an anthropologist.

Or, of course, not.

Persuading anyone that they need a helmet to listen to the latest album by the current big thing won't be easy. That's why a new category needs to be invented, and a progressive company needs to be first in it. Which is where it all falls apart. No smart money here! (unless the helmet plugs into a lightning port).

'EyePhone' VR, 1989. Note single cup headphone, d'oh.

Problem Solved: If Apple Ditch The Headphone Jack

The sky is falling as Apple is rumoured to be ditching the headphone jack in iPhone 7. Aside from the fact it is merely conjecture at this point, the entire planet seems to have forgotten that Apple are unlikely to ditch Bluetooth and, that being the case, instead of lining Apple's pockets you can buy a third party Bluetooth receiver to use with your old headphones.




Sure, this is not perfect - if you are able, use a cable - because of course the Bluetooth receiver costs money and is another battery to charge, another device to pair, another complication in your life (simplicity at Apple died with Steve Jobs?) - but it does make Apple's decision easier to deal with if they do indeed ditch the headphone jack and you really want to keep hold of your old headphones (I'm quite attached to my iGrado pair for example).

Actually, it's a TRRS jack, and I'm kind of more annoyed that it will render my Røde Smartlav+ microphone obsolete without some Lightning adapter or improved Bluetooth protocol inclusion.

There's always Android!

Taking Stock

No, not some euphemism for my Little Shop work on Hayling Island, this is more to remind me what the Deer Studios production slate is at this moment.

Whilst the world must wait for the Provincial's chilling horror short Dark Is A Long Way (coming 2016 ... we hope!), the Airninja movie method has been persistently seeing acquisition and edits through to final production.



1. After successfully collaborating with Mark Handley for Pompey Princess, we are now discussing potential for a video for his Christmas single. If it happens it will happen fast and within a couple of weeks.

2. On the theme of Christmas, I shot the interview with Graham Stansfield (famous keyboardist of Rare Bird fame amongst other fascinating things) to support the upcoming release of his new Christmas album release.

3. Earlier this month we had the first production meeting for another Mark Handley video, this one called Bella Ballerina - expected to shoot Jan/Feb 2016. We have great talent and crew lined up, technically elevating the production away from pure airninja-ry but remaining true to the spirit!

4. The next short film by award winning director Chris Jupp. Currently in pre-prod/development. I expect to be recording production sound and edit producing on this show. Likely shooting Q1 2016.

5. A dementia related project, or two. I have one ambitious project in development and another more practical, smaller, project slated to shoot over-night some time this winter. The one may lead to the other.

6. Longer term, the making of a feature length documentary on the work of prolific low-budget film director Michael J. Murphy. I have gathered several new interviews to augment the FilmRaker interview with the late director. This is an ambitious project in terms of cataloguing the material and assembling it into a coherent, comprehensive narrative without alienating Murphy's fanbase - but also allowing it to be accessible to anyone else.

Below is a small tribute video assembled from this last ever recorded interview with Murphy, and screened at his funeral earlier in 2015:



7. Recently completed edit of found-footage for the video to Owen Troman's single Winter Child (presumably another Christmas release). I worked on Owen's previous single in a similar fashion - finding footage and mashing it up into something symbolic for the track.


There are many other side-projects I am involved with but I am on the periphery or only providing services on-demand. Two most notable are both for Trash Arts, schedules TBA.

A busy season!

Never Mind (Here's Boba Fett)

As part of the British Underground Feature Initiative and their educational Motion Picture Arts Academy (not be be confused with that MPAA or this Academy!) this short documentary on Boba Fett was created to take people back to the era of the Original Trilogy.




Some of the most fascinating footage is the "home video" shot in George Lucas' back garden, and the film of an early Boba Fett prototype walking around to promote the upcoming movie The Empire Strikes Back - which was not guaranteed to be a hit at that time.

What really takes me back is the shots of the toyshop (the Cowplain Model Shop was local) and the racks-and-racks of carded action figures for sale (although they were never that well stocked in Cowplain Models!).

As a child I often wondered what the Palitoy factory looked like, and there is also a brief peek inside the UK plant at Coalville, Leicester.

It could be anywhere between 1978 - 1982 once more.

The Switch From iPhone 6 Plus to Sony Xperia Z3+ (iOS to Android)

The airninja switch is complete. As I'm sure you know I am platform agnostic, being primarily interested in the best tools for a given job.

For the last five years I've been an iPhone user, upgrading most years with unlocked devices and running on Three UK PAYG (great unlimited data plans).

Each year I've been waiting for Apple to release an iPhone that is capable of recording stereo sound using its onboard mics when taking video (modern iPhone has three mics). Whilst iPhone mono recordings do sound good, I've always preferred the 'reality' of a stereo sound-stage - and I don't always carry a stereo microphone with me because extra gear is not the way of the airninja.

For various reasons (job redundancy being a huge one) I have been re-evaluating the "things" in my life and when Apple came under the microscope it just didn't hold up. The competition promised to deliver far more value into my life (including the stereo audio video recording).

I bought a refurbished Sony Xperia Z2 for a shade over £200 to see how I'd get on. This phone model is about a year old, records 4K video, has 3GB RAM, expandable storage to 128GB and is made by the company and culture that Steve Jobs himself had great admiration for.

An Apple designer, Shin Nishibori, was asked to create “Sony-like” concepts of phones that carried the name “SONY” and “JONY”. The pictures were created around a year before the iPhone first appeared.

Based on my success with the Z2 (and the release of the Z5) I upgraded to the Z3+ which has an improved camera over the Z2 and a reduced price due to the release of the Z5. They all record stereo audio video and have 4K capability.


I did wonder if Apple's iPhone 6S might offer stereo audio recoding with video, but as far as I know it does not (the iPhone 6 which I owned definitely did not). So, for my airninja purposes, it looks like I made a good choice with the Z3+

Now if you google anything about the Z3+ you'll probably come across reports of how this phone runs hot and overheats. In my experience this is not accurate on the current firmware. Although when taking video it does run warmer than the iPhone ever did. I think it's fair to say that whatever problems may have existed with the Z3+ original firmware has been addressed by Sony in recent updates. HOWEVER a mild annoyance remains with the Z3+ in that the native camera app will report "overheating" and shutdown to cool off. It only does this on looong takes (30 minutes or more continuous) which most normal people rarely do. The workaround is to use an alternative app, such as Google's own camera app (also shoots video).

BTW, I have no compelling reason to ditch OS X or FCPX so I remain an Apple customer.

Competition between vendors is a good thing in general, and who knows I may return to a future iPhone iteration. Yesterday's Apple keynote only confirmed my thoughts on the direction Apple is now taking, and it's not a direction I want to travel when Sony already provides the sufficient destination today.

Hush Hush New Star Wars Project

Well I can't let July go by without a blog entry. Things have been moving thick-and-fast for me, Deer Studios, and I.

If it's not FilmRaker it's SongRaker and if it's neither of those it's the miker smelting pot of lowest common denoms.

So imagine my excitement when me - Star Wars fan since it's UK screening Christmas 1977 - gets a draft of a hush hush Star Wars project through his letterbox.

Hush hush.

FilmRaker pops-up in London for a LIVE summer session

Anyone interested in the future of the British film industry (pounds not dollars) could do a lot worse than check out the free seminars on 25th June in London.

More info in the trail vid:



FilmRaker is the UK's première forbidden filmmaking magazine - live in London.

Star Wars

Thanks to my own subjectivity, modern Star Wars can never be what I thought it is - my childhood, encapsulated along with memories of a very different time here on Earth.

Thanks to some real fans with the technical know-how and access to the required materials, it is possible for me to dip into that time in the present - but not with any substandard GOUT offering, but a lovingly created restoration of what Star Wars was when I saw it at the cinema. It's certainly not whatever is coming to iTunes this Friday which in my mind will just be another abomination to my tastes. Tastes defined by the art and craft behind 70s Star Wars. Similar dedication to art and craft demonstrated in the process of the Harmy restoration:


This video and the "Despecialized Edition" fan edits of the Star Wars original trilogy were made by the user known as "Harmy" on the OriginalTrilogy.com forums. You may download this video featurette in its highest quality.

Star Wars Despecialized Edition is a work in progress, and is distributed at no cost to legal owners of the Star Wars Blu-ray Disks. Here's how to get Harmy's HD de-specialised Star Wars if the thought of the modernised version leaves you cold.

AirNinja and the Apple Watch

It's a curious product for Apple - it's an add-on feature for an iPhone and Apple avoid all talk of the product's thickness. Does this portly product embarrass Apple into not believing their own bullshit?

Is the Apple Watch a product or a feature?

Apple have well and truly put away the playbook created by Steve Jobs who wanted products not features, and would drop features in order to get a form factor he wanted.

Or have they?

It's a well known fact that to make money, you have to make products for the rich, or, make products that are so compelling those with less money do all they can to purchase it. "Something is worth what people will pay" to paraphrase a well known someone.

The Apple Watch is unashamedly for the rich. I mean, come on, even the cheapest one is $350 and you need to already have an iPhone. So the person who has scrimped and saved to buy into the iPhone is unlikely to mindlessly purchase a $350 optional feature.

The Apple Watch is an expensive and optional feature of iPhone. It's not the watch 'for the rest of us' but then who under the age of 40 bothers to wear watches today?

The Apple Watch is an expensive and optional feature of iPhone and for old people. Old people, generally, have money. But over 40s tend to be immune to marketing hype.

The Apple Watch is an expensive and optional feature of iPhone and for old people who are immune to hype.

The Apple Watch is not very zen either, is it. I mean it just sounds plain irritating to me to have a second Apple device strapped to my body notifying me of mediocre things in other people's lives. Even checking the time - clock watching - is admission that you have broken your concentration.

The Apple Watch is an expensive and optional feature of iPhone for old people who are immune to hype and have nothing better to do than check the time.

Plainly, the Apple Watch is not for me. Primarily because I am by my own admission not in the market for a new wrist device nor in the market for another piece of technology that needs to be religiously charged daily.

But then what do I know? I don't understand society's sheeplike fixation on status symbols, I know my psychology, I shun phone contracts in favour of owning the phone and choosing the carrier that gives me the best deal contract-less on PAYG. Maybe people on iPhone contracts will be upsold on the Apple Watch and succumb to peer pressure and celebrity endorsement?

No, currently the Apple Watch does not interest this airninja because it is a duplication of existing functionality I have on me already all day. It's plainly a gratuitous product for the rich and the stupid lazy in its current iteration.

I just don't need a wristwatch whether it be smart or dumb when I already have a highly capable and more powerful and versatile device in my pocket.

And if I was rich? If I was rich would I be fucking blogging about the Apple Watch?!

Don't listen to me. Do your own research, make up your own mind. No two airninjas are exactly the same.

Big News For Sexton Lovecraft

Sexton before and after: colour grading at Deadbolt facilities, Farnham.

After a very successful screening of the 'short short' Sexton Lovecraft in Pompeywood, work has begun on a longer episode.

We will be joining Sexton Lovecraft in webisode 69,105 within the next few weeks.

Sexton Lovecraft has previously defeated the Zargs in animated adventures designed by Kevin Turrell, MND.

Character creator Mike Peter Reed has been pursuing a live action version for some time.

To date the character of Sexton Lovecraft has been portrayed by the same actor in both animated and live action forms.

Reed calls his character "a mash up" of everything from Sexton Blake, James Bond, Indiana Jones, Men In Black, Ghostbusters, Austin Powers, Sapphire and Steel, and of course H.P. Lovecraft.

The episode is being directed by Gav C. Steel, whose previous credits include the splatterfest that is The Shadow Of Death.

Can't wait!

Chris Jupp talks about his new short Scissor Happy

Fat Finger Films are working with Deer Studios (amongst others) to bring Scissor Happy to screen. This interview was produced completely using the Airninja Movie Method.

What's This? I am totally sold on Rotolight RL48-B

It seems like only yesterday I was using a featherweight LED panel for my iPhone reportage. Then I saw a recommendation for this thing called a Rotolight, looks like a ringlight, what's the big deal? Ringlights are hefty juice-sucking encumbrances when you are running-and-gunning, right? Er, wrong. In fact I couldn't find anyone with a bad word to say about this particular Rotolight product. Well ... where to start.

How about starting by showing you the contents of the ~£100 package I bought from Amazon (reduced from £170):



And what's this? They are a British company?! Yaaaay!

My opinion based on a day's play?

THE GOOD
It's lightweight. Not featherweight but definitely no heavyweight. Mere grams.
It takes AA batteries. A boon if you are like me and keep zillions of the things around.
It only takes three AA batteries.
It's rated last for three hours continuous use on common alkaline, or four hours Energiser Lithium.
It's surprising bright (I'm not really sure why this would be a surprise, perhaps I was skeptical of all the positive reviews).
The kit includes basic filters and a bunch of other creative filters (gels).
The filters are stored in the light housing. Genius!
The filters are Lee filters. Hurrah!
I think I read somewhere it's weatherproof. There's certainly a decent seal, I would easily take this out  in the Great British weather without thinking twice about it.
Decent build quality.
High quality LED, you can tell they are the pricier type just by looking (without it switched on).
The kit comes with a carry pouch that is actually useful and well considered. Hurrah!
It's highly mobile and versatile, it's just what I have been looking for.

THE BAD
There's no electronic dimmer, so that is accomplished by adding in the included ND. Can't help thinking if only it had a dimmer then those AA batteries might chug along for an hour or two longer at dimmer settings. It's not really 'bad' and it does keep things simple and presumably reliable. I just have to complain about something, right?!
Adding in the gels is a bit faffy. Though I expect to get better at this the more I use it. So this is more a reflection on me rather than the Rotolight, hmmmm.

THE UGLY
There is just nothing ugly about this light. I've loved ringlights forever (since I first had to hold one up for Spidercom on an early music video - D:REAM was it, I forget?!) - this is the first one I've owned. Which is rather capitalist. Is capitalism ugly? Maybe. You can tell I'm struggling to find fault here.


Really looking forward to using this on a forthcoming Tagsta (working title) shoot.



Click the Amazon link above, save £70 while stocks last.