Young Irish Film Makers: Attic

Attic, a short film written by David Galster and directed by Peter O’Connor of the Young Irish Film Makers.

After weeks of wondering how this was going to turn out, I have to say I really enjoyed watching it. Congratulations to the all of the lads involved for doing a great job. I’m looking forward to seeing more in the future.

In case you missed it, you can check out all our adventures and misadventures Behind the Scenes on Attic here on a previous post. For now, I’m heading off to do a photoshoot for the afternoon.

Devious Theatre’s Trainspotting: “Kicking the habit”

The Devious Theatre Company have just released the fifth video clip from our production of Irvine Welsh’s ‘Trainspotting‘ in the Watergate Theatre last June.

Check out the above clip featuring myself as Mark Renton and Stephen “Pip” Colfer as…well? Everybody else! This scene was easily my favourite scene to perform in the show, it was so much fun despite having to put my hands down the worst toilet in Scotland.

Pip (who was already playing Spud) took on multiple characters in this scene, just the night before, when Mick Murphy broke his ankle in what will forever be known as “The Batman Trailer Tragedy”. It’s a total credit to Pip for doing an awesome job, but it’s strange that when I watch the video of this scene, I don’t remember it, everything happened so quickly, after months of rehearsing this scene with Mick, the show went by so quick that I only remember doing this scene the first night with Mick!?

You can read all about my experiences during Trainspotting here on a previous blog post. And don’t forget to subscribe to the Devious Theatre Youtube for plenty more video clips to come.

Mata Hari – Behind The Scenes (Video & Photos)

Another behind the scenes video and a whole bunch of new photos from last weekends photoshoot with Mata Hari.

The classic rock trio were shooting their first music video ‘Fast Way’ with student film maker Ivars Burtnieks, and they asked me to come along and do a promo shoot. I have to admit that I was quite surprised by the preparation gone into the music video shoot and I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Shooting in a freight container in the Hebron industrial estate, the lads were fully prepared for a whole day of shooting; the container had been decorated days before the shoot, the equipment & gear was set up, the container beside was stocked with beers and food to ensure it was a enjoyable shoot for everyone.

I have to highlight that the track used on the above video is only a demo recording!!! Mata Hari are hitting the studio in the coming weeks to record the proper track, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity of some shooting/editing practice from my first band promo shoot of 2009.

You can check out all my shots from behind the scenes of the ‘Fast Way’ music video and promo shots of Mata Hari here on flickr.

Busker 2009

KilkennyMusic.com in association with the Kilkenny 400 celebrations are hosting the Kilkenny Busking Competition from April until September.

The aim of the competition is to find the best of Irish Buskers and as an official sponsor; Oss237.com will provide photography coverage and prizes to the competition.

The collaboration between the Kilkenny 400 organisers and KilkennyMusic.com will bring 72 buskers to six locations on the streets of Kilkenny. Each fortnight of the competition, we’ll record one song from each act and upload it to KKM, where visitors can vote in an online poll. If you can’t catch the music on the streets then you can just visit KilkennyMusic.com to cast your votes on videos of your favourite act.

One act each fortnight will win €200 as a cash prize, with the best of the acts in the competition invited back to Kilkenny at the end of September to compete for a top prize of €1,000. Those acts will be chosen by the public through the online vote.

To be in with a chance of winning, you must be registered to compete before the competition starts on April 18th. All genres and styles are welcome, there are certain restrictions in that acts must be able to perform unplugged, and of course they have to be able to make it to Kilkenny on their chosen date.

Anyone interested should visit www.kilkennymusic.com/busker2009 for information on dates, prizes, how to register and how to vote.

The Secret Of Kells – Kilkenny Premiere (Video)

Last week I had the great pleasure of attending the Kilkenny premiere of Cartoon Saloon’s ‘The Secret Of Kells‘. It’s in cinemas now and if you haven’t seen it then you’re really missing out! GO SEE IT!

The Kilkenny premiere was held as a fundraiser for the Young Irish Film Makers and the above video contains an introduction to ‘The Secret Of Kells’ by Ross Murray from the Cartoon Saloon, Mike Kelly (Artistic Director of YIFM) talks about the early days of Cartoon Saloon and Tomm Moore (Director), Ross Stewart (Art Director), Paul Young (Producer) & Fabian Erlinghauser (Animation Supervisor) talk briefly about how ‘The Secret Of Kells’ came to be.

I have to say that it was a great honour for our mixed gang of Devious Theatre & Vultures‘ crew to be invited to the premiere, and then to receive such awesome words of encouragement on the night.

Seeing something like this come out of Kilkenny is truly inspiring. ‘The Secret Of Kells’ is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before and I found myself sitting wide-eyed with my jaw hanging open throughout.

‘The Secret Of Kells’ is in cinemas now, GO SEE IT!!!

The Lions Mane: ‘Smegma’ Music Video Update

Back in September I mentioned that I had begun work on a music video for progressive grunge rockers The Lions Mane.

The ‘Smegma’ music video was shot in the Mill Studio as The Lions Mane recorded the track for debut offering ‘Strands’, which was due out in December. The CD “did not come into fruition, due to close scrutiny in the mixing stages”, you can read more about it here on the latest update on The Lions Mane MySpace Blog.

Rest assured that ‘Strands’ is on the way and before the Summer will be released online to download with the option of CD or mp3 quality(artwork also included). The actual physical CD will be released closer to the Summer to coincide with live performances. Two additional tracks will accompany this version. You’ll also find the updated track-listing in the latest update.

In addition to the update, The Lions Mane have just released a new track titled ‘Dna 4′, which has now been added to the Myspace Profile and is also available for download!! CHECK IT OUT!

Over the past few months I’ve had a lot of people asking me when they would see the ‘Smegma’ video and although I still can’t give an exact answer to that question, I can say that because of several reasons the editing process was delayed. I’m new to the whole editing game and the purpose of the video was to learn by doing; whilst I’ve shot music videos before this is very different than any of them, simply because of the amount of footage shot.

I’ve got about 9 set-ups covering the drums alone; the footage was shot during the recording process and some things were tweaked during the recording so I’ve got to sync all of it together, along with footage for vocals, bass & two guitars. It’s going to take some time but it’s something I’m looking forward to working on.

I’ll have more updates as the work begins. For now check out ‘Pull It Out’, ‘Leaf’, ‘Buddha’, ‘The Dragon’s Breath’ and brand new track ‘Dna 4′ by The Lions Mane.

New Photos: The Can Can Casino

Just a quick blog post to say I’ve uploaded my shots from the Can Can Casino in Kyteler’s Inn last weekend, featuring performances from; The Swingin’ Blue Cats, Mr Moneypenny, Dotty Potts, The Singing Grandads and Bella A Go Go.

Filming Vultures means it’s suddenly March and I haven’t shot any bands or done any gig shoots in months, so what better way to get myself back in the game than a night of Burlesque theatre, Cabaret & Vaudeville!? After months of snapping the various scruffy (& often hairy) cast of Vultures, I thought it would be nice to shoot something else, in this case women dancing in fancy underwear!?

Unfortunately, the lighting was more than tricky in Kyteler’s. It’s not the worst in town but with the various acts moving between the stage and the dance floor it’s hard to keep tones and colours consistent, especially with the harsh white spotlight.

I spent the night playing with slow shutter speeds against multiple flash bursts and opposite presets to get a mix of colours from the different lights around the room. With the slow speeds and the acts moving quickly it’s pretty hard to get focus with a 50mm, I tried my zoom but everything was too dark.

You can check out my shots from the Can Can Casino here on my Flickr. I’ve got a couple of shoots over the weekend; so there’s plenty of new band & musician promos on the way along with more Vultures photos and videoblogs too.

And to finish on an entirely different note; if you haven’t gone to see the Secret of Kells then please do! It’s in cinemas now and is a truly beautiful movie produced by the awesome people at the Cartoon Saloon, here in Kilkenny!!! And it’s way better than the utterly disappointing Watchmen! Meh…

Vultures: “That’s a wrap!”

As of yesterday evening, that’s a wrap on Vultures series 1. After 39 days of shooting, we walk away with 39 hours of footage for episodes 5 & 6.

It still hasn’t really sunk in that we’re finished shooting, the past 10 weeks leave me with such a mixture of emotions and memories that right now it’s hard to explain my feelings. Two years ago, when Sla, John and Paddy told me they were making a sitcom, I knew it was something I had to be a part of, in any way I could. Since December 2007, I’ve had the great pleasure of working with some of the most talented people you’re ever likely to meet. Nobody involved had ever done anything like this before and it was such an amazing learning by doing experience for everyone. Nobody got paid, we just did it. Even when “they” said “it couldn’t be done!”.

I have so many awesome memories because of Vultures, so many stories to tell and thoughts that will always make me smile. Getting to work with such a varied and talented bunch of people has taught me so much. And I have to thank Alan Slattery, John Morton & Paddy Dunne for it. There’s an endless list of people I need to thank for an endless list of things; the awesome cast & crew and all those people that helped us out but Sla, John & Paddy are the reason for all of it; they had the dream and they shared it with all of us.

I have to thank them for letting me be involved, for giving me the opportunity to work on something so special. As a photographer I’ve learned so much from working on Vultures and I walk away with hundreds of photographs I’m so proud of. As an actor I also have to thank them for giving me a character that invokes such a mixed reaction in people I meet; I love how annoying he is and how he makes some people cringe every time he appears. I love how every time I meet somebody who hates Jack Street, I meet somebody else who loves him!?

Finally I have to thank Sla, John & Paddy for giving me the opportunity to do something I’ve always wanted to do; be a director. A dream I gave up when I didn’t get to study film in college, I got rejected twice. A dream the lads made a reality with Vultures episode 4 and then again for episodes 5 & 6.

I am confident in the fact that after the past 10 weeks we’re walking away with some of the best content we’ve shot so far. We continued to learn and improve, shooting some of our most ambitious material so far. After the past year and a half, I’m confident in the fact that working on Vultures has changed so many peoples lives and I for one am a better person. Thanks lads.

Whilst another chapter in the Vultures story has come to an end, rest assured there is so much still to come with the final episodes hitting the cyberweb over the next few months along with so much extra content. But for now, I’m going to sit here and figure out what I did with my Sundays before Vultures.