Today we decided to get out our skateboards and see what skillz we could bust after 4/5 years without skating – following being modded by a horde of kids we took the longboards to Sandbanks Beach in Poole for a cruise along the promenade.
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June 29th, 2010
Vice Magazine & Kobbarberg Klash Film Competition – One of the ten Finalist’s
I cant really find a word to describe the excitement after receiving an email this morning from Nicole Kai, part of the team at Vice Magazine and Kobbarberg Cider. I dont think i’ve been this excited since the time I found out I was getting a Playsation one for Christmas those many years ago. The email stated that my short film ‘balloon girl’ has been chosen as on of the ten finalist’s in the film section of their Kobbarberg Klash competition. It continued to say “Well done on impressing our judges, you are now one step closer to winning £1,000, exposure in Vice magazine and a sweet internship opportunity at VBS.TV. What’s more, all the finalists get to participate in Kopparberg Klash events.”
“On Wednesday July 7th we will be holding our first Kopparberg Klash party at The Old Blue Last, to celebrate you and the other 9 Film finalists. Your films will be screened on both floors of the venue and everyone will be able to raise a toast with some complimentary Kopparberg cider.”
“Entry is first come first served, but all the finalists will be on a special guest list with a +1 to ensure they get in.”
Hoorah!
Let me just explain about the origin of the film in short – I run a small personal website and blog, ManyChefsBroth.co.uk, alongside everything else I do here as production manager at eBusiness Media. The aim of ManyChefsBroth.co.uk is to create a space for like minded artists interested in New Media. An output for artists producing creative work outside of their everyday jobs. As well as running the site I’ve been producing documentaries and short films for around 3 years.
Back in may my Girlfriend Amy Ginty and I took the Camera kit out to shoot a new short film for the website, I decided we would shoot ad lib, on the fly with a very simple concept and only one prop – a blue balloon tied to a ribbon.
I wanted to create a stark contrast between the bright, free, blue balloon and its surroundings, being a dark grimey alleyway. I wanted the balloon to be constrained and lead by Amy using the blue ribbon.
The idea would be that this Lonely girl would come across said blue balloon in the grimey alley and it would be her jovial companion.
With this simple idea we set about shooting, first of all with my Digital SLR (Nikon D50, full kit spec below). I utilized the idea of using my Digital SLR to capture frames just like a camcorder would, but at a much lower frame rate, something I had been experimenting with for the last 2 months. This would have two effects, first of all and most noticeable being the stutter and uncomfortable feeling of low frame rates. Second of all the fantastic sharpness, quality and shallow depth of field from the SLR’s large sensor size and long lens.
I also used my Video Camera and Depth of Field Adapter to shoot parts of the film. Using the single light of the alley and controlling shutter speed and aperture I created a powerful, contrasting image while giving perfect focus on Amy and the Balloon.
Combining the two different types of footage presented two different feelings to the audience, I’ll let you watch the video for yourself to decide how you feel when watching the differently samples footage. Leave your feelings about the video in the comments section below.
I originally entered the film competition after stumbling across the advertisement for the Kobbarberg Klash Film competition while reading an article on Vice Magazine’s website.
In all honesty my initial idea was purely to get more exposure for ManyChefsBroth and to encourage more visitors to view the site as my video would be hosted on Kobbarberg’s website. I had forgotten all about the competition until the email this morning, RESULT!
Next step is to drum up some online support, through facebook, twitter and both this blog and blog.manychefsbroth.co.uk.
“The finalists’ videos will also be posted on the Facebook event wall on July 2nd, where you will be urged to have your friends vote for your entry by clicking “Like” underneath, in order to help us decide a winner which will be announced at the final Kopparberg Klash event on September 1st, 2010.”
So, I urge you to pop on over to the facebook page on July the 2nd and click ‘Like’ on my video! It’s entitled ‘Balloon Girl’. Thanks!
Heres the Facebook page
Kit Spec:
Nikon D50 D SLR
Sigma 70-300mm Lens
Pansonic HDC SD100
JAG35PRO DOF adapter
SIGMA 50mm lens
Sony Vegas Editing suit
http://www.viceland.com/wp/2010/06/suffer-for-your-art-this-weekend/
http://www.blog.manychefsbroth.co.uk
http://www.findkopparberg.com/
http://www.vbs.tv/
Heres the Video selected by the Judges
Summer Stop Motion #2 – Balloon Girl from James Williams on Vimeo.
May 21st, 2010
Stop Motion Summer #2 – Balloon Girl
The second of four Stop Motion short films I’ll be making throughout the summer. For this feature myself and my Girlfriend Amy Ginty came up with a loose concept & prop and she ad-lib’ed the rest.
‘Balloon Girl’ was shot with a JAG35PRO Depth of Field adapter attached to my HD-Cam and a D-SLR +70-300mm lens for the stop motion sections. Leave your comments and any ideas you might have about what the next Stop Motion feature will be in the comments section below.
Directed & Shot by James Williams
Balloon Girl: Amy Ginty
Music: John Foxx – Smokescreen from Tiny Colour Movies
Location: Bournemouth, UK
Kit: Panasonic HDC-SD100, JAG35PRO DOF Adapater, NIKON D50 DSLR, 70-300mm.
Stills:
May 7th, 2010
Stop Motion Summer #1
This summer will see a influx of content for Many Chefs Broth and also some very exciting news – which unfortunately cant go into just yet.
Any how – do you ever get an idea that makes you think “That might just work?” and feel the urge to try it there and then? On the walk home from work I was thinking about shooting with DOF adapters and the many frustrating little issues with doing so – like the Horizontal and Vertical flip expected though the optics, the tricky cumbersome payload without propper rail/rod support system’s, the lack of Auto Focus (although not a big problem for many, as this allows for much greater creative control) and issues with vibrating /rotating focusing screens. Shooting with DOF adapters is not the answer to achieving ‘great looking cinematic shots’ but what it does do is open up plenty of creative possibilities.
With this in mind i was deterred from going out and shooting with my Camera and DOF adapter, with the very limited time i had before i ran out of light i needed to shoot what i had in mind in super time. I would also require to have full and speedy control over aperture, ISO and shutter speed. Of course, my film camera has these controllable options but not quite like a DSLR.
This lead me to the possibility of stop motion, it would allow shallow DOF (the kind of stylisation I had in mind) and I would be able to set up quickly and shoot instantly. The main issues being 1.My D50 is limited to shooting at about 4 frames per second in JPEG mode, this is a country mile away from the standardised 25 fps usually used in film and 2. Camera motion is exaggerated when using the 70-300mm lens. You’ll notice (2) in the first jerky shot of the glass of Orange juice.
This is a first attempt at stop motion in an outside environment. This summer i’ll be making 4 stop motion shorts. This being the first, which is purely for experience and experimenting.
Check out the video below, dont forget to watch it in HD!
Camera/Editing: James Williams
Music: Ryuichi Sakamoto – Playing the Piano
April 18th, 2010
Flashmob – Bournemouth Square 17th April 2010
Saturday 17th April 2010 was the second Flashmob event to hit Bournemouth Square – This time around it was for Slinky’s Mad Hatters event (and another secret production – details to be revealed later).
I grabbed my film kit and ran down to capture the awesomeness!
The turn out wasn’t as fantastic as I had hoped but it worked out well for the organiser(s)
Now for the exciting news: I’ll be producing the video for a company I currently cannot disclose and hopefully I’ll get the video uploaded by the end of the month and I’ll disclose all the juicy details then!
Stay Tuned
December 12th, 2009
I ♥ The New Forest
27th of December we attempt to scale Mt Snowdon, Wales. With this in mind me and my friend Matt needed to get back in walking shape. We travelled out to the New Forest in Hampshire for a Mini-Hike.
I love the New Forest’s diverse natural beauty, its fantastic for day’s out and little adventures and im fortunate to live so close to it. Check out The New Forest’s Official Vistors Website for more information on where to visit and what to do http://www.thenewforest.co.uk/
July 23rd, 2009
‘Bikini Black Special’ – A Test Film
Bikini Black Special was a very short ‘short’ I wrote with some friends as a way to get out there and test ourselves and the kit. We’d recently invested in a Shotgun Mic (Condenser), Boom Pole, Panasonic HDC-SD100, JAG35PRO DOF 35MM adapter and a portable LCD monitor from http://www.lcd4video.com/.
Check out the video below -
May 9th, 2009
>M4A1 Rifle + Prototype
>
Here’s a Tiny clip of a panning shot of an M4A1 Rifle (Extreme Close up). Shot using the DIY Prototype 35mm adapter (static). This was shot using a 70-300mm Sigma Lens at F4.0
Shows quite nicely the shallow Depth of Field due to the large Aperture.
Added ‘Glow’ effect in Sony Vegas
M4 Rifle Prototype DIY 35mm Adapter from James Williams on Vimeo.
February 21st, 2009
Tea
Boiling the kettle i was searching for inspiration, i needed something short to shoot in order to experiement with camera angles and sound. And it hit me, I’ll use the tea making process itself!
This one is mainly about how I’ve used the sound from the different sources. Rather than keeping the microphone close the camera i extended my condenser mic out and placed it close enough to get the full frequency range and detail of the object making any noise in that scene.
It may not be apparent at first (thats a good thing, it shows i’ve made it sound natural 
) but listen carefully and you’ll be able to hear a huge amount of the intended sound of that item/object in that scene.
This was great fun to shoot and was pleased my dearest Mum was happy to be in it to slurp the tea!