Jack Lord Album Launch

Jack Lord, a singer-songwriter, presented his album as part of the 2012 Degree Show at Coventry University. This was the final project for Jack and Catalin, the drummer in the band.
You can find out more about Jack and listen to more songs from the album on his website, jacklord.co.uk

This has certainly been one of my favourite projects so far. I am a big fan of acoustic music and live concerts, and I was really eager to try my camera skills filming at a live event. I was joined by Jenny Sheen to help with recording clear sound and to assist at the initial stage of the editing.

The night was brilliant, and I think the guys should be really proud of what they’ve achieved. I tried to show that atmosphere through a little video I edited together.

NUFilm Productions – How we scrapped our big project and made a new (and good) short film in three days | For Assessment | Process and Development

After screening the rough cut of The Actor, it became clear that our tutors weren’t happy with the film. While the other groups had given us some positive and supportive feedback, and had commented on things that didn’t work but could (relatively easily) be fixed and improved, the tutors didn’t share this opinion. I was the only person in the group that didn’t quite agree with the tutors – I insisted The Actor was good enough and could be fixed. Now I realise the film may have been good enough technically, but it lacks something very important – a soul.

So while we were in our group–tutor meeting, the main suggestion was to keep the same concept for the film, but change the location and cast, and maybe rewrite some of the story. Work with one character, use the location as a character, and make a simple but effective film. I was initially resisting – I couldn’t see ‘a guy in a pub’ (an idea Ross Varney suggested) as a legitimate concept, I couldn’t see how we could make it in such a short time (less than a week), and I absolutely couldn’t see how it may be better than the result of our 8-week efforts.

Thankfully, the group stepped up after the meeting. We initiated a big discussion on our Facebook group, talking honestly about what was good and bad in the group, what had gone wrong with the production of The Actor, and what we really wanted out of this short film project… After the big argument, two things became clear: we had disappointed ourselves, and it was time to make NUFilm Productions proud.

Help a cute bouncing sheep go to BAA

The 2012 British Animation Awards ceremony may be featuring Dimitar Petrov‘s awesome animation sting – if we all Like the video on VIMEO and help him win

The more ‘Likes’ the video receives on VIMEO, the better – so I urge you to spare a few seconds, watch the animation, and Like it on Vimeo.

Let’s get this cute bouncing sheep on the big screen!

Directing for Drama and Working with Actors – A Few Notes | For Assessment | Analysis

We just finished the Directing Actors workshop, run by Film Nation. It was an intense day, running from 10 am till 4 pm. We had the chance to work with a professional camera operator and two actors, taking us through the process and giving us tips and advise.

The workshop started with a few icebreaking games which I thought was a brilliant idea – it really improved the energy in the room, and made everyone feel more relaxed and open. We were then given the script for our exercise – a three page scene called ‘The Double Blind Date’, about a girl and a guy meeting each other on a blind date, but both expecting someone else. First the actors just read through the script, but of course there was no real performance – they needed more. So we started inventing the back story of this scene, thinking about their ‘wants’, ‘needs’, their ‘objectives’ and ‘obstacles’.

Tricking perception using marketing and advertising. Can it be used to do good?

This week we looked at advertising and the way it is used to alter our mental environment. We saw what it does to our senses, how it tricks us into believing and perceiving value, and especially how it is used to trick us into consumerism. Our workshop group even chose to work on a case study about McDonald’s – and the way they use advertising to trick children into buying and eating their unhealthy foods, into creating happy memories and inducing positive emotions when they even think about the brand.

Now, don’t get me wrong, but with all this knowledge about how the human mind works and how it perceives things, we don’t just have a crisis – I think there is also an opportunity. We know how powerful these tools are when used to do ‘bad’ – when used to trick us into buying stuff, making the rich and powerful even richer and more powerful. But isn’t there an equal amount of possibilities to use these techniques and mechanisms to do ‘good’? I think there is an enormous opportunity in using the persuasive practices developed by the likes of Freud and Bernays, and turning them on their heads to do something better for ourselves. Because, as Rory Sutherland argues in this 16-minute TED talk,

All value is perceived value.

It’s not about what something costs, it’s about what it is worth to us.