This is a video I took yesterday when we all woke up to find our city smothered in red dust.
Rhythm and observation .
Or research and juxtaposition???
This is a chance to put into practise stuff I've been learning at film school.
I went down to the Bondi kite fest, to shoot some 'observational' footage, and cut it up into two videos.
One focus's on the kite professionals who cordoned off a section of beach, and filled the air with an amazing variety of land tethered flying machines.
The second video is all about the amateurs. those folks who filled the grassy area behind the beach and throwing caution and canvas into the air.
Decided after extracting a series of short narratives (peoples kite flying adventures) to try interleaving a lot of the action.
Lots of storms and rainbows in this one.
Libraries tend to have a more interesting collection of titles then the local video shop.
This weeks rentals….
This is a stream of consciousness vid featuring Syn city.
Last week the Pope visited Syn city.
So much racket and inconvenience, just so a few Catholics can have a party.
The choppers were buzzing around till ten o’clock Saturday night.
The noise from the racecourse where the gig was being staged on the other side of the hill from my place, flooded the area for miles around.
Nice little demonstration of power and influence by the Catholics.
A huge area of the city was held captive for a week.
When I walked down to the racecourse on Saturday afternoon, I found roads closed off and fences erected.
Imagine how unlikely it would be, for the Scientologists or Buddhists to get permission and support of the government, if they wanted to stage this sort of an event.
Reminded me of the American ‘Spring Breck’ where hoards of teenagers take over a town, party hard, and then bugger off leaving the locals with the bill.
Dig was one of my favourite local groups.
Recently they played at the Darling Harbour Jazz and Blues festival in Sydney.
This is a video of them performing Dreamtime.
I remember this song being a lot more 'pumped' ;-)
The ‘all encompassingly’ christened Australian Film Television and Radio School had their Open day on Saturday.
I went down and had a stickybeak.
This is ‘the’ school for anything audio-visual in Oz.
They recently decamped from the creative wasteland of Sydney’s ‘bible belt,’ and moved the whole shebang down into the middle of Syn city.
This school has government funding so they have the best of everything.
The building was built by a bank at no cost to the tax payer. WEIRD! I wonder how many souls are required to burn in hell to repay that curtesy???
The facilities are bloody amazing! Latest gear, full wardrobe and props departments, offices for student productions to camp in, industry standard Post and CGI.
I had discounted this school as in the past they have only taken students from the industry, who wish to hone or add to their skills.
Next year the school starts something new called a foundation diploma, which covers everything from story development to video games, and is available to anyone who has the chops to be accepted (subject to a portfolio submitting process.)
So now I have two options.
One school I need to prove to the facility that I’m good enough, and the other I can buy my way in.
So why have I been posting strange little YouTube videos for the last couple of years?
I’ve been practising.
I’m planning on ‘chucking’ full time employ, and doing a film coarse next year.
The mid-year intake Open Days are currently being run so last weekend I attended the Sydney Film School Open Day to check out a potential option.
The school fills out a converted old ware house in the middle of the city.
I could see students cutting up strips of film on editing desks as I entered the common area.
The building didn’t seem overbearing or pretentious and I instantly felt comfortable.
Documentary and drama production are taught. The school has the belief that good films are made by good teams
Drama students start with film, and then move them onto digital. The school reckons that learning with (old fashion :-) film builds good discipline.
Doco students are digital all the way through.
It’s a private school, and the only entrance criteria are that students pay the tuition and that their personalities ‘fit’ with the place. That entails and interview with the staff.
Last year a hundred student short films were produced, and in four years forty three films have screened in film festivals round the world.
They believe in a broad training in a variety of disciplines rather then train specialist directors or sound guys.
Strong affiliations with international schools.
I liked the vibe of the place. Vibes are important. It’s your sub-conscious elbowing you in the ribs and wiggling its eyebrows.
I really liked their emphasis on collaboration, and they are actively trying to build a larger film community in Oz. This is important to me as unlike a doctor or a teacher, I don’t NEED to go to school to get in the industry, but I’m looking to find a community to slot into.
If there is one thing I’ve learnt in life, it’s that connections are more important then qualifications or talent.
A video of bugs shot mostly in Australia with macro.
I’ve been collecting these little clips of insects for a while now. Suddenly had enough to string together into a short video with a bit of music to keep the pace up.
Mostly glitch with a bit of Hiphop (all done with Acid.)
Featured are a lady bug, a Weta from New Zealand, two beetles (one green and the other iridescent,) and my finger.
Bit of live video, bit of time-lapse. Lot’s of lightning.
More sensitive viewers will appreciate my editing efforts. While I was cutting up the footage, I discovered that at one point I heard my voice exclaim ‘fuck that was close!’ on the soundtrack, so I cut the sound and overlaid thunder.
Some more music for you folks.
Last year I had a clip taken of the Whitlam’s, this year it’s Dan Kelly. Lots of shot’s of Australians sprinkled throughout, and some sky divers.
You’ve seen the stills. Now experience the colour, movement, and sounds of the Oz Day Antique Car Show (wish I could bring you the smells too.)
Lot’s of people, and music, and there was a fly past by one of Australia’s three jet fighters (I think that only one can fly at any one time.)
Music clip to follow in a couple of days.
This is just for the 'Wildlife' group.
This little fella landed next to me while I was on holiday in New Zealand.
The game we will play is 'what the hell is the name of this birdy?'
Hiya folks,
Wishing you all ‘a good one’ in 08.
I’ve just got back from spending two weeks in New Zealand and there will be further posts.
This is going to be an interesting year for me. I intend to quit my job at some point. The company is relocating into an area of the city which is stupidly hard to travel to. It doesn’t help that that part of town is also a bit of a soulless desert.
I curious to see where I end up this time next year.
I’ve got a few bits and pieces left over from last year and I’ll post them now.
For those who found that the YouTube videos of the ‘Bondi to Bronte Swim’ to be chewed up beyond comprehension by the compression artefacts (Click here for entry,) I’ve compiled a series of VEOH videos.
There are also some photos of the Christmas party…
