THE FUTURA GOLD now on FaceBook too!

The Futura Gold now has an Official Face Book Page. This is very early days yet, but there'll be plenty to like here soon... http://www.facebook.com/TheFuturaGold

FUTURA GOLD on Creative Review Feed

Just a note to say that my new short animated film THE FUTURA GOLD : episode 01 has been selected for the prestigious Creative Review Feed page.

THE FUTURA GOLD : episode 01

Okay, here it is, my first new animated film in a while. This is the first episode of what may become a new epic series. The Futura Gold develops the ideas and techniques of my short film TXT ISLAND a little further, but this one has an open-ended storyline which I hope to add to if there is sufficient interest in this.

New Animated Film (Coming Soon)

For anyone still waiting for a follow-up to my 2009 short film TXT ISLAND something animated is coming soon just for you... The new release wont be a new short film; rather a pilot episode for a new series of shorts!*

The tantalizing two minute first episode of The Futura Gold is pretty much ready apart from a few sound tweaks, so should be coming soon to an online video platform near you...

Oh alright then, here are a few stills from the new work...

* Potentially.

3D Printing The Future...

3D printing seems to big news at the moment. 'One day...' they say, 'we'll all be downloading our shoes from the internet.' The idea of little domestic robots manufacturing stuff for us is certainly intriguing, so yesterday I made a trip to the London 3D Print Show to find out more...

 

Makerbot were promoting the UK launch of the Makerbot Replicator 2, and had four of the machines in action. This device (like most of the entry level 3D printers) uses extruded molten plastic to 'draw' the image layer by layer. The Makerbot 2 uses PLA plastic which has a lower melting temperature than other plastics, PLA is sourced from corn and is claimed to be biodegradable too.

The UK price of the Makerbot 2 will be £1800. Makerbot seem to be the most-established of the pro-sumer level 3D printer firms, and this could be the release which begins to capture wider public awareness of 3D printing. 

Around the halls, there were many other 3D printers on show of course, and there are many smaller operators in this field hawking their contaptions too. It'll be interesting to see if the larger printer manufacturers (HP, Epson, Canon etc.) ever decide to bring this technology to the mass market, or if it remains something of a niche technology served by smaller specialist suppliers.


Many exhibitors had 3D printed samples on display and in some cases it was great to be able to pick up and handle the objects.

 Most of the exhibitors were showing plastic objects, but certain machines offer the possibility of working with resin materials with ceramic or metallic finishes too. 3D printed models can also be used as moulds, so even bronze sculptures can ultimately be cast from your 3D data.

For those looking to get something printed but not ready to buy into the hardware, there are many online service facilities available, and these were represented at the show too. Companies such as  Sculpteo will take your 3D .stl files, print them on their machines and send you back your model through the post. You can even create your 3D model using simplified online software like Tinkercad and Sketchup.

As well as 3D printing, some vendors were showing 3D scanning technology; the ability to scan people or objects and instantly create detailed CGI models from the captured data. Europac 3D had a scanning tent which included four DSLR cameras for capturing human subjects from every angle simultaneously.

Another impressive scanning system comprised of a laser scanner mounted on a jointed robotic arm which could capture 3D data and instantaneously add this to a CG model in real time; great for scanning hands and car tyres :)

Combining the 3D scanner and 3D printing technologies obviously leads us to the 3D copier; a device for replicating things...














3D printing is already proven as an invaluable prototyping tool for product developers, architects and model-makers, but will this ever become a consumer-level technology?

I got the impression that this is an industry on the cusp; offering interesting creative possibilities to design professionals, whilst not quite ready for mainstream use just yet.



Like personal jet-packs and moon holidays we could be waiting a while longer for the promise of 'home manufacturing' to fully materialize... But I can't help thinking there is potentially something in this for some of my projects.

Modelling The Old Cinema

Here's the old cinema building again; but this time a CGI model of the façade I've built in Maya.

For reference I used the architectural plans I found in the CTA archive and some photos I took on-site. This is early work really, and the model certainly isn't as accurate or detailed as it could be.

I've not got into any materials or texturing yet either, but next I'd like to try projecting some photographs of the real building onto this model.

DVD 'Extras' for Simon's Cat Ltd.

As of today, YouTube phenomenon Simon's Cat is now available for the first time for purchase as a DVD release. The DVD Das Beste von Simon's Cat has received its first distribution in Germany and is available from Amazon.de as well as other good retailers of course.

Simon's Cat is the creation of Simon Tofield, the UK-based animator whom I've had the pleasure of working with for several years now. The DVD includes all 23 of the Simon's Cat animated short films and inevitably quite a bit of 'DVD Extra' content.

I am proud to say that I've Directed/Edited the extra video content on this DVD release, that's 12 episodes (12x3:00) of Simon's drawing tutorials Simon Draws, the 5 minute documentary Simon Talks and a charming 2 minute photo montage Simon's Real Cats. Much of this video content is exclusive to the DVD release and not available on the web, so order your copy now!

My First Muller Scans: Super 8 Looking Great!

It's always an exciting day getting super8 footage back through the post, and today is one such day... I've had another reel of cine film processed and then telecined for my ongoing Enfield: My Kinda Town project.

 

I sent this roll to a different transfer facility this time, I wanted to try out the Muller HM73  film-scanner, so sent this film (and a 16GB USB stick) over to 18frames in Bielefeld, Germany.

The service was very fast, they turned this around within a day, it's just the UK/Germany postage that takes time (around 4-5 days each way). They put a 15GB avi file onto my memory stick, a lovely 1440x1080 sized image with the correct 1.333 pixel aspect ratio for my anamorphic footage. So I effectively get back my super 8 reel and a 1920x1080 16x9 file to work with. Kudos to Frank for getting these settings right, because anamorphic super8 footage is a fairly unusual format to be dealing with.

I have to say I am hugely impressed by the quality of the work, especially as this is a reasonably priced service. I'll definitely be sending a few more films this way in the future; maybe even getting a few re-scans of earlier films by way of comparison.

I've been sending my last few films off to Sweden to Uppsala Bildteknik for scanning on the FlashScan HD machine, from that system I was getting a 1024x720 4x3 scan, pillarboxed within a 1280x720 image size.

The new scans from the Muller machine are obviously clearer and higher resolution; the files seem  to be hardly compressed too. When ordering the telecine from 18Frames, I opted for their '2k look'; quite a heavily post-processed image which is highly-stabilized and sharpened to look more like larger film formats. For this project, I'm not looking for a wobbly grainy 'home movie' image, I'm trying to make my images look like a glossy cinema travel documentary or a commercial from the 1970s, and these would typically have been shot on 35mm film.

The thing is... the first couple of reels I had scanned for this project now have a very different quality to this new one, leading to the costly possibility of getting a couple of those earlier reels scanned again.

I'm not showing any moving footage from this project just yet, but here are a few stills (from the new Muller-scanned footage) just to give an idea of the new look.

Cinema Theatre Archive

Last week I made a special visit to the Cinema Theatre Association archive in Walthamstow. The CTA is dedicated to preserving and documenting Britain's Cinema architecture.

I've specifically been researching the old 1930 Carlton Cinema building in Islington; a huge 2400 seater with a very impressive Egyptian style façade. The archive certainly didn't disappoint, with folder upon folder of photographs, clippings, documents and posters etc. relating to this grand old picture house.

The archive holds an impressive (if slightly chaotic) photographic record of the cinema from its opening in the early 30's through to the Bingo Hall era of the 70s and 80's,

Amazingly, there's a plan chest containing the original architects plans of the building from the architecture office of George Coles. There were about 8 sheets, each around A0 in size showing plans, elevations and cross-sections of the building.

As part of my ongoing project, I'm considering making a 3D model of the cinema's façade: I can see these scale drawings being a pretty useful thing to have access to.


















As for the archive itself, it's a truly unique and fascinating resource,  the CTA is run on donations and entirely staffed by volunteers. The collection is housed on an industrial estate in unspectacular surroundings, and visits are by arrangement only.

  This place is fair-crammed to the rafters with bulging box files and cinema ephemera.

I'd especially like to thank CTA members Richard Gray and Rachael Marks who have both helped me a lot with my enquiries so far.

Lana Del Rey and my home movies (again)

Lana Del Rey has licenced some of my Super 8 film footage again.

Back in 2008 I shot this short film whilst on a family trip to California...

Then last year, some fragments of my footage appeared in the official promotional video for Lana Del Rey's breakthrough track Video Games. As it turned out, this song became a huge hit with millions of viewers worldwide.

I am pleased to say that the makers of the video did make contact with me and we came to an amicable agreement for this usage. I can add that Lana and the folks at Polydor have just re-licenced the footage for use in a live concert recently held (Sept 26th 2012) at the London roundhouse as part of the iTunes festival.

Who'd have known that the first test footage I shot with my Nizo S800 cine camera 4 years ago would make the big time?

Lo-Fi Photography

A couple of weeks ago I was out for a family day out to the seaside at West Mersea, and decided to try out the Lomo Diana F+ camera I've had since Christmas.

So in went the 120 roll film (200ASA slide film), and joy of joys NO BATTERIES! I shot my 12 pictures at the large size and was then ready to hunt on-line for processing services.

I chose thephotoshoponline.co.uk to process my film. It turns out that slide film is more pricey than negative film would have been: for processing and scanning I ended up paying £12.95 + 1st class postage £2.70. I got back my 120 slide film as strips and a CD with the scanned images as 5MB .jpg files. The results are technically horrible in many ways, yet I quite like them too. Here are a few of the better ones...

The harbour at West Mersea.

Crab botherers on the quayside.

Local lads diving in the harbour.

Whoops, accidental double exposure!

Reflection in the sail-makers workshop.

So it's an expensive way to get some dark and grubby images, but I think I'll be having another go at this soon. Whatever the results, the process is lots of fun; very few controls on the camera, random results, delayed gratification and (did I say this already?) ... NO BATTERIES.

I've got some more rolls of the slide film to get through, then I might buy some negative film and shoot the smaller images (16 per roll) to get slightly better value. (Negative film at the lab I used is quicker and cheaper than slide film, 1-day processing is quoted at £7.95+postage for the process & scan) I'm also toying with the idea of dusting off my 35mm SLR too just for more analogue kicks...

TXT ISLAND Plays Bristol on Tuesday

Just a note to say that my 2009 short film TXT ISLAND is getting another screening this Tuesday (25th September), this time in Bristol where it will be screened as part of the CineMe Award Winning Shorts event. Although I can't make it, I wish everyone attending a fine evening and would like to thank Matthew Freeth and the event's co-ordinators for choosing to show my film.

Old Cinema

I'm also dabbling in 'analogue' stills photography now. Here's a still from the first roll of 120 film I've got back from the lab (Lomography Diana camera). It's the old cinema building on Essex Road Islington, just round the corner from the TANDEM studio.

Although it's seen better days, this is a huge 1930 cinema designed by George Coles with a very impressive Egyptian-themed tiled façade. The building was a cinema up until the 70s, then became a Mecca Bingo Hall up until 2007. Though the building has been derelict since, it is owned by an evangelical church group who are trying to get planning approval and finances together to do something with it.

Here's a hastily put-together panoramic ' showing the whole of the façade and a bit more of its setting in Essex Road (digital photos from my Canon 600d camera)...

I've become particularly intrigued by the story of this building, and am in the process of finding out all I can about it.

The Myth of Public Domain Films

Well, I'm currently researching a documentary film project about an old cinema (more of this to follow no doubt) and interested in finding some clips from feature films made between 1930 and 1970. Of course, I'm making this film off my own meagre dollar and looking for clips that I can use legally in my production for very few £££s.

My internet research dallied for a while in the realm of 'Public Domain' footage. Here's a Wikipedia page all about it including a list of films claimed to be in the Public Domain and supposedly not covered by copyright. One can even download most of these films and many others besides at the Internet Archive site.

It seems that the films on these 'Public Domain' lists are mostly ones in which the copyright wasn't renewed by the producers 28 years after the release dates of the films. For a while under US law, it seems that the non-renewal of copyright meant the films would fall into Public Domain use. Even under UK law, as recently as the 1988 Copyright Act, it seems that copyright on films had a 50 year expiry after the release date of the film.

For my project, this seemed ideal; Hollywood films from bygone days that I could cut up and integrate into my project... until I dug a little deeper....

Here's the catch... seems that UK law is quite different from US law on this subject and has changed very much for the worse. Nowadays, UK-based film-makers wont be able to source any film material this way at all, thanks to the 1996 Harmonisation of Copyright amendment to the 1988 Copyright Act. It seems that copyright of old films doesn't just fall away after fifty years of the film's release any more, oh no...

If you want to use old films, you now need to wait 70 years (until the end of the year) the director, producer AND writer of the film have all died! Effectively this legislation prohibits use of any extant old film footage in modern productions for way into the future. Not only that, but our film-making descendants will have a hell of a job working out the copyright status of any given film without finding the death dates of all the writers, directors, producers involved... Frequently, this will require extensive research into a huge list of hard-to track down characters. In short, the time period is too long to be of any creative use, and the multiple death-date system sets up a whole heap of trouble for the future. If a law was ever an ass, here it is.

By 1996 when this amendment to UK law came in, many old films had already out-lived the 50 year copyright period. Any film released prior to 1946 would have been available, plus all of those exceptional cases on the US lists too. The 1996 amendment has retrospectively over-ridden all of this; snatching back what was already out and kicking the rest into the very long grass.

More Fun in 8mm

The last couple of weekends I've been taking out the Nizo Super 8 camera again. I hope to finally get my little Enfield project together soon (more about that later no doubt, but scroll down the 8mm page for a few stills).

This photo of my Nizo 156XL camera shows the fruits of some of my DIY metalwork... I've fashioned a baseplate of sorts that now lets me mount the Panasonic LA7200 anamorphic lens adaptor to the front of the cine camera; holding it level when I turn the focus ring. This is a huge improvement and makes use of the anamorphic lens much less cumbersome. It used to be a a real pain having the anamorphic adaptor spinning around when focussing: any kind of focus pulling was a total no-goer too.

I've also put a Manfrotto QR (Quick Release) plate on this, so it's easy to snap the rig (camera and anamorphic lens) on and off a tripod or monopod (as seen here). The monopod seems to be a portable and less intrusive option, so I used this rig to get a few shots at last week's Enfield Autumn show, this weekend's Mayor's Fun Run and the Bandstand Marathon event over at HillyFields.

Not exactly Woodstock maybe, but I'm trying to make the best of what's around...

Simon Draws: Toads & Frogs

Here's the eighth webisode in the Simon Draws series I record and edit for Simon's Cat Ltd. These 3 minute films get published from time to time over on the Simon's Cat Extra YouTube channel.

In this show, the totally-talented Simon Tofield draws some toads and frogs for us. I changed the recording setup a bit for this one; still using the Rode VideoMic Pro, but both the screen and audio recording is done straight into an iMac instead of using my separate Tascam audio recorder.

Who knew that Quicktime X would actually be useful for something?

Making GREY AREA 'Animation Tests'

Here's the fourth webisode of the Making Grey Area series of short documentaries I've been shooting/editing/directing for TANDEM Films. In this clip we see animator Steve Edge shooting some of the first stop-motion animation tests for Daniel Greaves' new film.

Piano: 'Csikós Post'

This last couple of months in my piano lessons I've mostly been playing Csikós Post by Hermann Necke. This really is the best recording I can get for now...

Making GREY AREA 'Mime Artist Shoot'

Here's the third webisode in the Making Grey Area series I'm making for TANDEM films. In this episode mime artist Stuart Luis came into the TANDEM studio; the footage recorded in this session will provide valuable reference material for director Dan Greaves and his animation team.

Making GREY AREA 'Model Making'

Here's the second webisode in the Making Grey Area series I'm making for TANDEM films. In this episode we see animator Steve Edge creating a puppet to be used for stop-frame animation.

I shot this on my Canon 600D camera and edited it on an iMac using Adobe CS6 (Premiere and After Effects). The last shot of the model features a rather pleasing circular camera track; this was shot using a DIY tabletop camera dolly I made last weekend.