One Week To Go!

Today marks one week until the opening night of Devious Theatre’s production of Dario Fo’s ‘Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay!’.

Make sure and keep an eye on DeviousTheatre.com for all sorts of behind the scenes bloggery, news and updates.

A Painting by Julie Moorhouse

Two years ago I got an email from artist Julie Moorhouse, asking me if I would pose for a painting for an upcoming exhibition ‘Ecce Homo’.

I’d never done anything like it before so couldn’t resist giving it a try. I met with Julie one afternoon, we had a great chat then she took some photos and sketches. Unfortunately I never made it to see the exhibition when it ran in the South Tipperary Arts Centre and so never saw the painting, until now.

Last week I got the above photo and despite being slightly weirded out every time I look at it, I think the painting is pretty awesome. Thanks Julie!

Funded By The Local Arts Office

Back in November, I was delighted to receive financial assistance from the local Arts Office in the form of partial funding towards the purchase of equipment as part of the Arts Act Grant 2009.

The partial funding has helped me make my recent purchases; a Nikon Speedlight Sb-900 flash unit and an Epson Stylus Photo R2880 printer.

The Nikon Speedlight Sb-900, my second flash, will help me to develop my skills using the strobist style of photography. Using both my flashes through wireless remote triggers will give me a sort of mobile studio set-up.

Whilst I still need to get some softboxes and stands, I can’t wait to spend the next few months experimenting with double flash set-ups and coming to grips with the ridiculous amounts of settings possible between my Sb-800 and Sb-900. I really think it’s going to have an amazing affect on my photography.

Getting the Epson Stylus Photo R2880 photo printer means that for the first time ever I can offer printing services to anybody I shoot with, able to provide prints as large as A3 size. It also means I will finally be able to exhibit my work in print form. I’m currently working on a plan for my first ever exhibition, which will hopefully take place later in the year.

I began doing print tests during the week, I’m still trying to tweak variances between colour settings on my monitor and the printer, but it’s really awesome to see my shots in large print form for the first time.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be making some adjustments to the website to allow for print purchasing. Details on the exhibition will be announced in due time and hopefully the results of my new flash set-up will start appearing online soon.

All that’s left for me to say is thanks very much to all the staff in the local Arts Office and the independent members of the panel who approved my application, the support is very much appreciated and will be put to good use in the coming months.

Evolution Of A Dream – Photo Sequence

I’m pretty much addicted to sequences lately, trying to put together still images more like a scene than just a photo, if that makes sense!?

The other night I had one of those awesome flying dreams and it gave me the idea for the above sequence. Now, anybody who knows me, knows for sure that I can’t fly… so the sequence was more a nightmare for my legs than it was from the technical side (which was also a bit of a nightmare!).

Shot in the HotShotz Photography Studio in Callan (thanks Benny) using my 50mm on auto-focus, four-point wireless lighting, with my D80 set on delayed-timer triggered using remote.

The main problem was being in the air at the right time, whilst staying in the frame and then trying to make the movement of the jump progress. I didn’t have a tripod so I had to rest my camera on a large stool and prop it up with a blanket.

I had to try frame my shot on an empty white backdrop, move into where I thought I should be, trigger the delayed-timer then count not three seconds… not four seconds… but three and a half seconds before jumping into the air just as the lights and camera triggered.

I repeated the process while adjusting my movements in the air to get the progression. Afterwards I added the film strip, did a bit of playing around with colour and varied the opacity through the jumps to make it look like a sequence you’d see in a skate magazine.

The result is an image sequence I’m really happy with, some very sore leg muscles that I never knew I had and the firm belief that jumping is over-rated (Martin Bridgeman agrees)!

You can check out a larger version of the image here along with a link to an alternate sequence. As always comments or feedback are appreciated.

The Beauty Queen Of Leenane – Behind the Scenes Photos

The past few weeks have been pretty overwhelming, it’s taken me quite a while to put it all in perspective and even now I’m not sure I can sum it all up.

In such a short amount of time, so many things in my life have changed. It seemed fitting that in the midst of moving house after six long years and with so many things changing around me, that I would be involved in a production that was completely different to anything I’ve ever done before, an experience I will never forget for so many reasons.

After Devious Theatre’s production of Trainspotting, Watergate manager Ger Cody asked me if I would read a script; Martin McDonagh’s iconic ‘The Beauty Queen Of Leenane’. I had heard a little about the play but was really unfamiliar with it. I read it and loved it, I knew it was something I had to be involved in; the great script, it would be a great part to play and it was a rare chance to work with Kilkenny’s oldest theatrical institution, Watergate Productions.

Unfortunately, due to issues with getting the rights for the play, the production went on hold. Months passed by and sadly I began to think it was never going to happen. Until I got a call from Ger, the rights had been secured and the play would run in November. That’s when I first felt a bit nervous. The first script reading took place on the Watergate stage a few weeks later, with the cast assembled for the first time, sitting in a circle on the stage reading together. Myself and Clare Henriques were welcomed into the group for our debut production and from the initial reading the play began to take shape.

Weeks of rehearsals passed by, moving between the Watergate stage (when it was available) and a large room in the Heritage Council building. Slowly but surely, the scenes and movements were blocked out, lines were learned and characters began to appear. Anticipation seemed to be growing for the production, people were approaching me in the street, constantly asking about the play.

Rehearsals grew from working on single scenes to running several scenes together. Having full cast rehearsals was an amazing experience, getting to work with actors I’ve admired for years was more than a little intimidating. Going from being the eldest in a troupe to being the youngest was a strange transition to make, but the constant warmth and encouragement from Ger, Brendan, Mary and Clare throughout the rehearsals made me feel truly welcome.

The week before the show came, we made the move to night-time rehearsals on the Watergate stage, as the set began to appear around us. Each night the progress was clearly visible as props, costumes and lights were added to the mix. Scenes were run countless times, constantly tweaking and changing things. The Friday before the show opened I moved house, it was an exhausting experience in itself, and not something I’d recommend the weekend before a play opens. That night we had the tech rehearsal and on the Sunday morning we had our full dress and tech rehearsal complete with rain and fire on the stage. All we needed now was an audience.

Monday came and I was overwhelmed by “good luck” phone calls, emails, text messages and comments. I was more than a little nervous as I walked the new route to the Watergate, arriving to discover good luck cards and that the opening night was sold out!? I don’t think I can describe accurately how I felt; the Monday to Saturday run was the longest production I’ve ever done and to open to a full house on a Monday night was a truly awesome and terrifying experience at the same time. At the end, as we walked out for the curtain call that first night, the audience rose to their feet. It was an amazing feeling and every night that followed we were treated to the same reaction from the audience.

The response and feedback to the play has been so overwhelming, two weeks on and people are still approaching me every day to talk about it. It’s been great to hear the different thoughts and feelings we provoked in people and their theories on what happened in the end.

It’s been a month of changes for me, in every aspect of my life and I’ve learned so much about myself. Getting to play such a great character in such a great play, working with an awesome cast and director on a truly awesome set. I really can’t accurately describe how I feel about the whole thing but I’m very proud and grateful to have been a part of it.

I have to say a huge thanks to director Ger Cody for giving me the opportunity, for his constant patience when I wouldn’t slow down and his encouragement throughout. Having known Ger for years I always thought he was legend. I now feel like I know him a lot better and I realise that he’s even more of a legend than I first thought. He told me so many hilarious stories and I’ve learned so much from his direction.

I also have to thank my fellow cast; for so many awesome memories, for making me feel so welcome and for so many moments shared with each of them. From the whole cast referring to my piercings as “facial crockery” to the whole cast on their hands and knees searching for pieces of that crockery, that would end up dropped each night. I’m also pretty certain that the audience were quite unaware each night as they took their seats, that backstage the cast were dancing to the jigs & reels being played in the auditorium, quite a funny sight to behold with everyone in full costume & makeup. The quote of the week had to be “Up your oul hole Missus”, a phrase the cast would shout at each other regularly and after the curtain call each night we shared a group-hug.

Trying to keep a straight face on stage opposite Mary Cradock as Mag was no easy thing and every night there were moments in the final scene where myself and Claire could never make eye contact for fear of exploding into laughter. Although I didn’t get to share a scene with Brendan, we did share a dressing room and each night we had so many wonderful conversations; the man has too many funny stories and theories to sum up. I feel privileged that he shared them with me and helped me to develop my character as well as showing me how to do my own makeup for the first time.

I have to thank the Watergate Staff and the crew for their amazing work and encouragement; thanks to Pat, Maurice, Donal, Andrew, Colette and Aidan for adding the magic touches. Finally, thanks to anybody who came to see the play, the response has been truly inspiring.

Over the course of the production I took hundreds of photographs; after spending the past few days sorting and organising them I have narrowed it down to a collection of 39 photographs that capture the production from my point of view.

Taken over a 7-week period, the collection of shots ranges in style; from black & white shots from the early days of rehearsals on the Watergate stage under the dim house-lights to colourful rehearsals in the Heritage building, right up to the week of the play with full set, costumes, make-up and lighting.

Although I didn’t manage to take a photo of myself in character as Ray Dooley, I spent some time working with wireless flash triggers to produce some promo shots based on Ray’s beloved swingball set and his favoured Kimberley biscuits.

You’ll find my favourite shots from the collection on the Oss237.com homepage and you’ll see the complete collection of 39 images here on my Flickr account.

As always any feedback, comments or criticism are welcome. I’d love to hear what people think. I hope to spend the next few weeks clearing a huge build-up of photographs from the past year and moving house has presented me with a host of new locations and light sources to experiment with so I have plenty of new shots on the way.

For now please check out my brand new behind the scenes shots from the Watergate Productions ‘The Beauty Queen Of Leenane‘.

Mac User’s; I NEED YOUR HELP!

Last night myself and AlanSla attempted to bring some life back to my slowly dying 15″ PowerBook G4. I bought it over four years ago, when I was starting college and it has served me well over the last few years despite a few knocks and spills.

I think my three-year commute to college was the first thing to take it’s toll; during third year and throughout my thesis I was using the PowerBook so much that the charger quite literally melted on itself. I replaced it with a Macally charger (I couldn’t wait) which broke a year later only to be replaced by the current Macally charger (which appears to be nearly dead already too). Due to my nasty habit of always plugging in my PowerBook; the battery became very unreliable and wouldn’t last long.

Despite the power issue, I’ve had no other major problems until about a year ago; when the PowerBook started going to sleep at random while in use. The first few times it would be easy to wake it up again by simply pressing Enter, but over time it began to go to sleep more often and it became harder and harder to wake it up. The worst case left the Powerbook asleep for nearly a week until it eventually shut down with no power. I charged it, turned it on and then it seemed fine for a couple of months until it started happening again.

When I bought my iMac; the intention was to clear everything off the PowerBook and reinstall OS X, which I was hoping would sort out this problem. I was transferring and doing backups of anything on the PowerBook I needed when I knocked it off the corner of the desk. The above image shows the nasty dent caused by the fall; but apart from just visible damage, my problems got a lot worse. Ever since the drop, the disc drive on the PowerBook doesn’t work; if I insert a disc it makes some horrible scratching noises and won’t read anything. It can also be very difficult to get it to eject a disc. And it fails to attach to our wi-fi network in the house (I’m told this may not be related).

Without being able to insert discs, I wasn’t sure how to reinstall OS X, until last night when we used the iMac connected to the PowerBook. We set the iMac in Target Disk Mode and used it to install OS X on the PowerBook. The first disc was fine, it took over an hour but it seemed to be working. We moved on to the second install disc and then the PowerBook went to sleep again, it happened a couple of times but would wake up and there seemed to be no problem with the install. Half way through the second install disc it went asleep and would not wake up.

It had to be something to do with the Power (didn’t it?)! After much deliberation as to what to do; we removed the battery. Nothing happened. So we pulled the power and of course it died. We then plugged it in again and turned it on without the battery, it seemed to be working fine and prompted to install the second disc so we did. It took about 45 minutes and then everything appeared to be fine, the PowerBook started from scratch and even managed to find the network. So I did a series of updates for the next few hours and still everything appeared to be okay. And then with no warning; the PowerBook died and can not be restarted.

I’m not much of a techie when it comes to computers (which is probably very obvious from this post) and at this stage I’m well and truly in over my head so if there’s any Mac users out there (or indeed anybody) who has any idea what the problem is here or have had similar problems then please let me know.

At this stage I’m not sure whether this is the end of my PowerBook or not!? Is it a power problem? Should I buy a new battery and yet another charger or is this just a waste of money? Would it be more expensive to repair the dent in the PowerBook (and the drive) than it would be to buy a new one?

Any advice or help would be very much appreciated!

Links and things (12th February 2009)

We’ve just finished a morning shoot and have the afternoon off before shooting again tonight, just enough time to write a post with some links to check out;

1. Following on from an intense weekend of shooting, we’ve called a “Vultures series 1 wrap” on Peter McGann, aka V.P.I’s skirt-chasing, boozehound, lawyer Matt McLoughlin. You can read a lovely little post from him here on his blog:

What I am about to write is more than likely going to be seen as a shameless exercise in promoting a series I have a recurring role on, but I can assure you that I am writing this as an independent observer. I do the series for the love of it, and because I want my name to be associated with something of this quality, not because I have aspirations to be the new Simon Pegg… READ MORE

2. Following on from Darragh Doyle’s questionably pro-Pinkertons video a few weeks back, he’s now promoting self-proclaimed “urban street preacher” Jack Street.  Darragh’s recent post highlights Jack Street’s website as “highly professional” and poses the question “Is this the best designed website in Kilkenny?“. He also takes a cheap potshot at Darren Byrne calling him a “cheap sell-out” for “pimping out” the services of Vultures Private Investigations.

3. As if it wasn’t bad enough that Jack Street has discovered the internet, Darragh’s not the only one helping to promote his “services”. Anthony McGuinness is also helping Jack to spread his advert for the television by posting it on his blog. So far, Anthony has not got involved in the dispute between Byrne and Doyle.

4. Most recently, in response to Darragh’s potshot, Darren Byrne has hit back by launching a website that  might just be as stylish as Street’s but of course, without the panache, www.darraghdoylehasnopanache.com.

5. Jack Street has yet to make any official comments about this ongoing feud, this is more than likely due to his email account being under investigation for several different cases of fraud. If I hear anything from the dirty rat I’ll let you know.

Vegetarian Kilkenny – ‘No Meat & Greet’

The first monthly Vegetarian Kilkenny ‘No Meat & Greet’ will take place on Saturday 24th January at 6.30pm in the Cartoon Saloon, the Maltings, James Street.

I can’t seem to find any kind of online activity for Vegetarian Kilkenny, a flyer for the event was passed along to me yesterday, but I have to admit I’m very excited about meeting more veggies from Kilkenny.

I’ve been a vegetarian for about 12 years now but I’ve never really had much contact with other vegetarians. I know lots of other veggies but I can’t say I’ve ever really been in a situation where the focus of the meeting was being a veggie or a vegan.

The flyer says; “Get to know other vegetarians/vegans in your area. Bring a favourite veggie dish to share if you can. Omnivores welcome but no meat please!”

Can anybody else point me towards some online presence for Vegetarian Kilkenny? Has anybody attended a meeting like this before? Is anybody interested in heading along to this one?

Vegetarian Kilkenny, 1st Monthly ‘No Meat & Greet’, Saturday 24th January, 6.30pm at the Cartoon Saloon, the Maltings, James Street, Kilkenny.

Vultures – The beginning of the end…

As of yesterday morning, filming has begun on the final installments of the Vultures series, with episodes 5 & 6 being filmed back-to-back throughout January and February.

This is our biggest undertaking so far, but one I’m more than confident we can achieve, as we take things up a notch in 2009. In between filming, we’ll also be in the edit suite working on episode 4 ‘The Case Of The Poisoned Dates‘ which is due to premiere later this month.

I have to admit the most frustrating thing about being involved in the production is having to hold back on information and photos until it’s appropriate to reveal them. I can say that I’ll be resuming my role as director for the remaining episodes and that we’ve got more crew members than ever before. We’ve also got a whole host of brand new characters that will continue to bring new craziness to the series. The plot is about to thicken, the shit is about to hit the fan and we’ve got so much awesome content coming at you.

The wheels are now in motion, it’s hard to believe we’ve come this far and that the end is in sight but I’m quite confident that 2009 will be the year of the Vultures. Stay tuned.

Highlights of 2008

And so 2008 comes to a close, it was a year that was a truly awesome year for me, one that was completely jam-packed with adventures and projects, a year of constantly learning by doing. My portfolio of work continued to grow, and aside from a variety of photography and film making experience I have so many great memories and proud moments, but here’s my highlights of 2008 (in chronological order);

1. Finishing College
After 3 long years commuting back and forth to Carlow I.T, endless hours in the library, a thesis and some very epic celebrations, I walked out into the “real world” with a First Class Honours Degree.

2. Devious Theatre’s ‘Trainspotting’
Straight out of college exams I plunged into an intense six week process of learning monologues, researching drug-use and mastering a Scottish accent. It was our biggest production to date, my biggest role to date and as I’ve said several times, “easily one of the greatest weeks of my life“. The response to Trainspotting was nothing short of overwhelming, firmly injecting the name Devious Theatre into the veins of Kilkenny theatre goers. We received rave reviews, standing ovations, I still get people coming up to me in the street to talk about the show and my performance attracted quite a bit of interest and future roles to play.

3. The Clive Barnes & Jeff Lang Tour
With no time for the scag to even leave our systems, myself and Ken embarked on our first venture into national tour promotion, getting to work on the road with two internationally acclaimed musicians, Clive Barnes (Legend!) and Jeff Lang (Legend!). The tour was a great success, but for me the highlight was getting to hang out with the lads on the road and after the gig in Sligo as Clive, Jeff and Grant(Jeff’s bassist, also Legend!) provided countless hilarious stories from years on the road, in between songs that left me in awe of their musical abilities.

4. Holiday in Crete
It had been a long time since I took a holiday, but my trip to Crete was easily a highlight of the year. A well needed adventure full of sun, sea and lots of drink. Hanging out in the sun with Daw and getting to know my Dad a little better.

5. Devious Theatre’s ‘Smitten’
Straight off the plane and into rehearsals for Devious Theatre’s second production in 6 weeks, ‘Smitten‘. People though we were crazy, near the end, so did we!? But much to our surprise ‘Smitten’ enjoyed a sold out run with many people left trying to beg, borrow or steal a ticket for a brand new play that nobody had heard of 6 weeks previously. Wrapping up the truly epic summer with more rave reviews and a truly epic aftershow party.

6. Studio Training & Experience
Since September I’ve been gaining invaluable studio training and hands-on experience thanks to Benny in Hot Shotz Photography. The past few months I’ve been able to learn about all aspects of studio photography from the business side to lighting and framing. Unfortunately the studio is relocating to Callan in the new year but I’m more than eager to begin putting what I’ve learning into practice in 2009.

7. Cartoon Saloon’s ‘BlueBeard’
My recent adventure working on Cartoon Saloon’s ‘BlueBeard‘ was easily one of the greatest experiences of the year, working with a professional steadicam team, shooting in huge Castles or on huge green-screens. Pro actors, awesome make-up and special fx, from start to finish it was a one of the biggest highlights of the year.

8. Vultures
A week before Christmas 2007, we began shooting Mycrofilms’ flagship production ‘Vultures‘. The pilot episode went online Christmas Eve and since then ‘Vultures’ has slowly but surely began to take over my life (in a good way!). The past year has been a real learning experience for everyone involved as we continued to shoot the web-based sitcom and the whole process has been a highlight of 2008. With my directorial debut due to premiere in early 2009, whilst we’re already in the middle of shooting episodes 5 & 6, it looks set that Vultures will continue to be a highlight well into next year.

I have plenty more highlights from 2008 but I’m afraid there’s far too many to list, so many great adventures and projects, too many people to name and thank. The year has gone by so quickly but 2008 has been so full of great moments and achievements. I’m not big on making new years resolutions, I can only hope 2009 is as big a success as this past year. The wheels of several new projects are already in motion and life shows absolutely no sign of slowing down, I’m looking forward to the new year and everything it brings with it.

For now, I just have to say thanks to all of you who have checked out my work, thanks especially to those who have provided any comments or feedback. I hope you continue to do so in 2009 and i hope this year has been as good to you as it was to me. Happy New Year…there’s plenty more to come!

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