DATA STORAGE & BACKUPS: strategies for Filmmakers & Photographers

An actionable guide that’s both easy to follow, but also gives enough context to empower people to make their own decisions to suit their own storage and backup needs.

Making bold music choices for videos (Bull Sale 2019)

Context: I’ve always found this such a quintessential staple of rural life growing up in Ratapiko. The Blackwell family always put on a great day, with great hospitality. I had badly put my back out the day before, and could barely drive my car to the event, but I wanted to film it, so IContinue reading “Making bold music choices for videos (Bull Sale 2019)”

THROWBACK THURSDAY: “BlinkLink” – Commercial 2015

This week’s TT is a cautionary tale of overreaching. I had been offered to do a commercial on a budget under $500 usd while living in Budapest. Hungry for work I accepted, and subsequently spent a month shooting and post producing a commercial I never had the budget to pull off. It fell well shortContinue reading “THROWBACK THURSDAY: “BlinkLink” – Commercial 2015″

THROWBACK THURSDAY: “DISAPPEAR” – short film

Released on my 25th birthday, this was my biggest project I’d ever tackled. I’d done very little animation before I started on this, and spent the subsequent two and a half years putting together this four minute stop motion animated film. Although I’d never do it again, this film holds a strong place in myContinue reading “THROWBACK THURSDAY: “DISAPPEAR” – short film”

THROWBACK THURSDAY: Explainer Video for “WhoAPI” (plus a bonus video)

I’ve done a lot explainer videos over the years, although I stopped doing them after the margins got impossibly tight. It was no longer profitable to make them from scratch, and I didn’t want to spend my weeks kit-bashing asset packs and presets. The WhoAPI video was one of the last ones I did. IContinue reading “THROWBACK THURSDAY: Explainer Video for “WhoAPI” (plus a bonus video)”

MUSIC VIDEO “Fin Rah Zel”: how to light on no budget, and my thoughts on the a6400.

Having been out of the industry for some time, I needed a small project to re-calibrate myself, and get a better connection with my new camera. This video was done on essentially zero budget. Shot completely handheld, and lit with some basic household tungsten bulbs. In terms of light modifiers, I had a $2 chinaContinue reading “MUSIC VIDEO “Fin Rah Zel”: how to light on no budget, and my thoughts on the a6400.”

THROWBACK THURSDAY: “Budapest Pride Parade” – 2015

I remember the first year I lived in Budapest I woke up one morning and looked out my window. I lived on the busiest intersection in the city, but on this particular morning the streets were deserted. Thirty minutes later police turned up by the dozen wearing full riot gear. I had no idea whatContinue reading “THROWBACK THURSDAY: “Budapest Pride Parade” – 2015″

THROWBACK THURSDAY: “Rainbow” short film 2011

This was short film I made together with my family members as a means to introduce them to the process of film making. It was brainstormed, shot and edited in 24 hours. I think doing 24 hour short films is an excellent exercise. It’s like a scripted equivalent of vlogging almost. Very liberating. Shot onContinue reading “THROWBACK THURSDAY: “Rainbow” short film 2011″

THROWBACK THURSDAY: My first introductions to Stop Motion Animation

Back in 2009 I worked on a music video project “Turtle Pizza Cadillacs” by my friend Aleks Sakowski. After that I was really itching to do some stopmo of my own. It started with these little tests that I shot on a bookshelf in my 4 square meter room I was renting while I was studyingContinue reading “THROWBACK THURSDAY: My first introductions to Stop Motion Animation”

THROWBACK THURSDAY: “V1Z1” Teaser Trailer (2010)

Going back 9 years to when I got my first video DSLR. I shot this silly fake trailer with a bunch of friends. Lots of After Effects, and lots of fun! Shot on the Canon 550D / t2i, which in my opinion is the camera that democratized filmmaking. It was the first camera that anyoneContinue reading “THROWBACK THURSDAY: “V1Z1” Teaser Trailer (2010)”

Progress. More than one minute into the film.

It has been a while since I have last posted. Lots has been done since then. Late 2012 the newspaper for my region came out and did a story on the film, which was an interesting experience. Still, if there is one thing I have learnt from it, it’s: never trust the media. I hadContinue reading “Progress. More than one minute into the film.”

First shot is in the can! (and a sneak peak)

I finished my first shot for “Disappear” on Thursday night at around 11pm. After being in pre-production on and off for around 12 months, this is a major milestone. I can finally start to see my vision take on a life of its own. ——————————————————————————————————- Stay tuned for some frames pulled right out of theContinue reading “First shot is in the can! (and a sneak peak)”

Character completed, hands, furniture started.

So, it’s been a while since I’ve posted. I’m gonna make it a “first week of every month” thing from now on, unless it’s just a few quick photos. I’ve fabricated some new sculpting tools out of brass, after watching a tutorial excerpt by Marc Spess (very talented sculpter), and sculpted some apoxie sculpt hair onto theContinue reading “Character completed, hands, furniture started.”

Set is built, painted and ready to be dressed. Progress!!!

So it’s been about 3 weeks since I last posted and I have gotten a fair bit done. That big pile of timber…. Turned into over 100 small bits of timber, which I’ve spent some time assembling into a section removable stage. The set sits on top of a timber stage I built (I wentContinue reading “Set is built, painted and ready to be dressed. Progress!!!”