Exit Calm video shoot

After meeting the other people on the shoot en-route to the location we arrived and began setting up. I duly helped out where I could, moving furniture and holding things whilst the Director and irector of Photography sorted out finer details and the lighting. Part of the setup including mounting a dvd player, projector and speakers onto the camera rig, after a bit of tooing and froing we were ready to go.

Camera rig at the Exit Calm video shoot

The band arrived and we made our introductions before lunch arrived and we all took a break. Once the food was wolfed down Annette got to grips with the make-up for the band. I would like to point out for fear of a beating from the band that they didn’t have much make-up.

And so the real work began, working to a recording of the upcoming single and pre recorded visuals we began the shoot, projecting film across the band and capturing their performance. Things went pretty smootly and the takes went quickly, I snuck round the camera and crawled across the floor, i knelt, I ducked, I got pulled out of the way and by the end of the shoot my legs were aching. I had taken over a thousand photos in that time.

For the few hours we worked together I felt drawn to the band, they had a brotherly spirit between them, they were a family. During the post shoot drinks this tie between them was evident in the recalling of stories from the road and how they met. When I met up with them at their gig at the Barfly in Camden this weekend I saw this bond on stage.

I’ve managed to get the number of shots down to around 300 however I’ve uploaded a few already as a sneak peak for any Exit Calm fans that might stumble across this blog

Exit Calm - Video shoot for next single

The rest of the photos can be found here:

Exit Calm - We’re On Our Own - Behind the scenes on the video shoot

I’ll be updating the set with more photos as I process them.

The film shows the growing friendship of two young out of town boys bought together through odd circumstances in the Somers Town area of London.

Beautifully filmed in black and white the story of Tommo and Marek flips from farce to farce via affection for a particular female and the gritty London some of us love and hate. With Tommo crashing at Mareks without the knowledge of the laters father and the boys earning cash from a neighbour their friendship expands as the boys get to know each other. Shane Meadows does extremely well to show how differing personalities and cultures form part of the heart of not just friendships, relationships and parental love but the places around us.

The young actors playing the two lead roles are brilliant, the dialogue is delivered beautifully like a real conversation between teenage boys and not an overly scripted attempt to make people think that it is what kids talk like that seems to be in mainstream media

Despite a slightly sentimental ending that doesn’t really take away anything from the film this is definitely worth a watch

rating: 4 stars

Watching installations at the camden arts centre

quick feet on steps

1. (Love Is Like A) Heatwave - Martha Reeves And The Vandellas

2. May This Be Love - Jimi Hendrix

3. (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay - Otis Redding

4. Voodoo Juju - The Voodoo Trombone Quartet

5. Something In The Air - Thunderclap Newman

6. Surf Wax America - Weezer

7. Midnight In A Perfect World - DJ Shadow

8. Stars - Dubstar

9. Steal My Sunshine - Len

10. Whole Lotta Amore - Senor Senor Click on track in player

11. Happiness (Ashley Beedle Mix) - Shawn Lee

12. Singing Winds, Crying Beasts - Santana

13. Electricity - Spiritualized

14. The Impression That I Get - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

15. Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy - Queens Of The Stone Age

16. Mr Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra

17. One Day Like This - Elbow

18. Lower Your Eye Lids To Die With The Sun - M83

With a swirling beat and building noise Pendulum took to the stage and for an hour or so had Koko literally shaking. From my view in the balconies all I could see was an endless swaying, sweating, jumping, pushing, bouncing orgy of fans. The floor at Koko was a giant mosh pit and it didn’t stop throughout the entire set.

The floor shook constantly throughout the set and it wasn’t just the bass blasting through but also the sheer number of people moshing and dancing was causing the balcony to shake.

Now Pendulum wasn’t the kind of thing I would normally listen to however a friend is in the band so thought I’d go and see what all the fuss is about. The show was superb, hugely sweaty, fun and noisy and everyone seemed to love it. I loved the live show. However it’s not really my thing for listening to at home. If you get the chance see them live, it’s a proper rockout to Drum and Bass show!

Anyway. The came was a simple jam sponge cake covered in White icing and a couple of iced circles and some bows. I removed the bows and went at the icing with a small knife removing a shape in the middle if it. After thy I melted some chocolate then popped of in the fridge to chill an thicken it. Once that was done the gap was filled with the chocolate ad then put in the fridge to harden it.

Here is the finished article

Until now.

Charlie Brooker on Tonsillitis!

This is why I love Charlie Brooker

I got two boxes, each box is 100 cards and I went for 50 designs. I made use of the free delivery and pick up at the patry. Moo were also giving out little packs of stickers to everyone there.

When I got home the order I’d placed for the proper business card sized cards had arrived as well, so it was a real Moo evening.

I also got the chance to chat to some really interesting people at the party, from some moo staff to other tech, web, mobile, start-up and business related areas.

Now I just need to find people to give my moo-cards to.