DIGITAL FILMMAKER MAGAZINE

My latest short film, Unto Death, has a six page feature in the latest issue of Digital FilmMaker Magazine. It includes an interview with myself (I'm wonderfully interesting don't you know?), where I talk all things Unto Death and indie filmmaking. Check out the sneak peek below and buy the magazine for the whole article.

TELEPHOTO SUNSET

I finished shooting the main bulk of my latest short film, Unto Death, a few months ago now, but there was one shot that kept eluding me. I desperately wanted a telephoto shot of the setting sun, specifically the sun disappearing below the horizon. I tried various locations all around South London but was constantly foiled by weather, on one occasion the only cloud in the sky was exactly in front of the sun. Sod's Law! Also, it sounds stupid, but I really underestimated just how bright the sun is even when it's at its least powerful and beginning to fade. Stopping down my lens to f/32 was nowhere near enough so I bought some ND filters for my Cokin filter holder. Finally after two months of attempts the weather was perfect and I had the correct equipment for the job. It only lasts a few seconds in the film but the effort was totally worth it. Big thanks to Helen Miles for all her help. For any techies it was shot on Blackmagic Pocket in RAW with a Tokina 60-300mm at f/22 and ND16.

UNTO DEATH - POSTER

"In the beginning was the word, and the word was made flesh."
www.imdb.com/title/tt5587564

I'm now in the very final stages of post production on my latest short film, Unto Death. Low/no budget filmmaking is tough and takes time but I'm really happy with how the film is looking and sounding. I'll soon be doing the colour grade with a talented colourist, and Helen Miles is working on the sound design as well as the score, which is being created in a pretty unique way. I'll probably do a separate post on that at some point.

In the meantime I made another poster. I wanted to make something that was more modern looking than the retro teaser poster I made. Check it out below.

Here's some other tasty stuff relating to the film. Trailer 1 - Trailer 2 - Lobby Cards

STRANGER THINGS

Like most of the planet, I devoured Stranger Things in a few days. Being an eighties child it ticked all the right boxes for me. I particularly loved the opening titles, so being a massive narcissist I decided to recreate them for myself. I like to do stuff like this to further my knowledge of After Effects as it's always good to have another filmmaking skill I can use. For any font junkies the font is Benguiat. Enjoy!

UNTO DEATH - TRAILER 2

"In the beginning was the word, and the word was made flesh."
www.imdb.com/title/tt5587564

I'm in the final stages of post-production on my latest short film, Unto Death, but in the meantime I made another trailer. Big thanks to my amazing cast and crew, Tim Blackwell, Nathan Dean Williams, Gabriella Montrose, Helen Miles, Frances Darvell White, Leon Ancliffe and Samuel Dore. I hope you enjoy it.

Here's some other tasty stuff relating to the film. Trailer 1 - Teaser Poster - Lobby Cards

SUGAR & VICE - SS16

Here's a promo I made for the Spring/Summer 2016 collection from Sugar & Vice, featuring a select few of the tropical inspired pieces.

For any tech/camera people I shot it entirely on my iPhone 5s, even the underwater stuff (with my phone inside a sandwich bag). I've been a proponent of phones as filmmaking tools for years and have filmed numerous videos with my 5s, including holidays in Nerja and Venice. Like most people I use my phone for everything other than phone calls, these days mainly filming and catching Pokémon.

Check out the Sugar & Vice website for the rest of the SS16 collection and all the other fantastic jewellery.

THE PURGE: TRUMPOCALYPSE

Sometimes I feel like the world seems to be going backwards and getting less progressive each day. With that in mind here's a trailer I edited for a film based on an alternative reality America, one that, scarily, doesn't seem too far-fetched. I didn't have to do much editing to make Trump say these things.
I present, The Purge: Trumpocalypse.

UNTO DEATH - LOBBY CARDS

I'm still in post production on my latest short film, Unto Death. It's going well and coming together a treat, but in the meantime I made some lobby cards. I've always been a fan of lobby cards as unlike a poster they show you actual images from the film instead of posed for publicity shots. I made a whole bunch of them (not sure what the collective noun is for lobby cards) and you can see a select few below. Hope you enjoy the retro vibes.

SUGAR & VICE - ALADDIN SANE

Below is the latest promo I made for Sugar & Vice. This one is a behind the scenes look at how much effort goes into creating a piece of jewellery, from setting up the various pieces on a computer, to the laser cutting and then assembling. Sarah and Matt at Sugar & Vice put loads of effort into ensuring each piece of jewellery is great quality. Check out the website for all their fantastic jewellery.

UNTO DEATH - TEASER POSTER

As with all my films I tend to make a teaser poster and then a final poster, and my latest film is no different. Below is the teaser poster for my latest short film, Unto Death. The photograph was taken by Samuel Dore on something you might remember called 35mm film. If you have a spare 32 seconds can also watch the trailer.
Have a great weekend!

UNTO DEATH - TRAILER 1

"In the beginning was the word, and the word was made flesh."
www.imdb.com/title/tt5587564

I'm pleased to announce the first trailer for my latest short film, Unto Death. Big thanks to my amazing cast and crew, Tim Blackwell, Nathan Dean Williams, Gabriella Montrose, Helen Miles, Frances Darvell White, Leon Ancliffe and Samuel Dore.

For any camera/tech people, I shot on the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera. The footage in the trailer was shot with a Angenieux 12-120mm, which was made in the early 60s and has the best lens flare.

Check out the trailer below, I hope you enjoy it. (WARNING - Contains flashing images).

PTA: LIVIN' THING

Paul Thomas Anderson is one of my favourite filmmaker's. Boogie Nights and Magnolia are two of my favourite films, and he made the only film starring Adam Sandler I can bear to watch. The below video essays, by Cameron Beyl, are part of a wonderful collection of videos called The Director Series, which explore the work and careers of contemporary and classic film directors. The PTA videos cover his early work, including The Dirk Diggler Story, through to the virtuoso Magnolia. I highly recommend watching them.

On the same topic, check out this oral history of Boogie Nights on Grantland called Livin' Thing. It's a fascinating read about a wonderful film from everyone involved in making it. "Come on, you puppies!"

NAUGHTY NAUGHTY POSTER (ANOTHER ONE)

I'm proud to present the final Naughty Naughty poster by amazing artist Brian Canio. I discovered Brian's work on Instagram a few years ago and he's been illustrating posters for my films ever since. Check out Brian's work and follow him on Instagram.

ST MONICA TRUST

Last year I spent two days filming at a retirement village in Somerset for St Monica Trust. Contrary to what you might think it was massive amounts of fun, we could all learn a thing or two from 90 year olds, they had more energy than me.

One of the highlights of the shoot was driving through Cheddar Gorge at 1am, and before you ask, yes it was amazingly creepy. Check out all the lovely residents below.

 

CLOGAU - HISTORIC ROYAL PALACES

In August 2015 I filmed at some amazing locations for the latest Clogau campaign. Over five days I filmed at Tower of London, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court Palace, Westminster Abbey and Pembroke Castle. It was quite an experience to be the only people at these amazing locations that are steeped in so much history.

I particularly enjoyed being at Hampton Court Palace as it has so many different areas to explore. Pembroke Castle was also incredible as it's over 900 years old and I got to direct my first aerial drone shoot there.
Check out the videos below.

   CLOGAU COMPOSE

   CLOGAU - GOLD OF ROYALTY

   CLOGAU - BEHIND THE SCENES

DJI OSMO TEST

Happy 2016!

Over the holidays I hired a DJI Osmo to play around with, so here's a few quick thoughts on it. Essentially it was a lot of fun to use, I loved being able to get extremely low or high angle shots with absolute ease. The gimbal itself works amazingly well, responding to movement quickly and accurately. I only had to calibrate it a couple of times which you can do at the press of a button, and calibration only takes around 30 seconds.

The downside is the camera, the Osmo comes with the Zenmuse X3 camera which has a 1/2.3 sensor. After trying the various resolutions and frame rates I can say that 4K (UHD 3840x2160) is the best. I tried shooting 120fps in HD but the quality is terrible, basically unusable, 50fps is ok but still not great. Due to the size of the sensor it's not that good in low light, so I'd recommend only using it in very well lit situations, mainly outside on sunny days. However the dynamic range is not great and quite often I found the sky to be completely overexposed. I will admit I had everything on auto and didn't delve into the manual settings at all so that might help. You can use the newer Zenmuse X5 cameras with the Osmo handle, they give you a 4/3 sensor for better dynamic range and a M43 mount so you can use different lenses, but with a hefty price bump.

The best thing about the Osmo is how easy and intuitive it is to use. Relatively complicated camera moves can be accomplished on the fly without practice. You can also use the thumb-stick to manually move the camera but I never found it necessary. The front trigger is very useful, with a quick double-tap the camera resets itself to a forward facing position.

I don't think the Osmo will find it's way onto any film sets any time soon, it's not a patch on a decent camera with a steadicam or big gimbal, but obviously it's not meant to compete with them. It's definitely useful if you're a self-shooter working within corporate, or a no/low budget filmmaker looking to get the odd cool shot here and there.

Below is a variety of footage I shot over Christmas whilst on dog walks with my family. As such most of the footage is 'following shots', which personally I love but some might find boring. Either way it should give you an idea of what the Osmo can do during impromptu situations. Put simply it's a lot of fun to use.

(Yes I added a 2.35:1 crop to try and make it more cinematic, that silly old trick).

DJI Osmo Test from Jamie Hooper on Vimeo.