What's he up to, eh?
So… Final Cut Pro X, eh? Lot of chatter about it. Lot of controversy.
I bought it the day it came out expecting to jump in and find an editing Nirvana. Instead I found something that made my head hurt. I believe this reaction was not unique. Being slightly busy, I resolved to keep an open mind and give it a proper go when I had the time. Turns out that time is now: six months later! Continued…
Categories: editing, Personal, Recommendation, Work.
© 2012 The New York Times Company
The New York Times magazine has this excellent article by Bryan Curtis on George Lucas. I’ve long been an apologist for fan of the Star Wars prequels, and I remember taking a sceptical friend to the world’s first six-movie marathon in Leicester Square the day Revenge of the Sith had its London premier. Upon emerging for our 15 minute break after The Phantom Menace, I tried to find consensus midway between our opinions (he was no convert) by opining that, “Obviously no Hollywood studio committee got anywhere near that.” Continued…
Categories: complaint.
I was alerted to the fact that this is St. Andrew’s day by the fact that people kept commenting on a video I posted years ago of some Scottish celebrities (such as they are) talking about it. It’s a fun we film, and I’m glad it’s turning out to be perennial. It’s also a rare chance to see Scottish hermit, Leon Jackson, so I humbly present it here:
Categories: Personal, Recommendation.
Ruth Fremson/The New York Times
Nina Burleigh has a great article in the New York Times in which she tours Italy, seeking out the locations of gothic English and American novels.
The original gothic writers were much inspired by the duality in the bel paese. Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Horace Walpole, Ann Radcliffe and other masters of the romantic and horror genres set some of their most famous works in Italy.
“Italy was the Gothic writers’ favorite background,” wrote Massimiliano Demata, a professor at the University of Bari, who has made a study of the form. The country’s baroque portas, ruined castles, eerie reliquaries and catacombs were a gateway to the uncanny, possessing, as he put it, “a labyrinthine and claustrophobic architecture that was the novels’ perfect physical and psychological setting.” Today, these same books can serve as unconventional guidebooks for tourists who tire of the sun and want to explore the country’s macabre past.
Categories: Recommendation.
Dannsa hits Episode the Third with a trip to Taynuilt, near Oban. Well, relatively “near”: Taynuilt isn’t near anywhere, which is sort if the point of Ballet West. In idyllic surrounds, the ballet degree students have few distractions, other than the odd stag sticking his majestic head through the studio window to enjoy a rehearsal.
Categories: confession, editing, Personal, Recommendation, tv, Work.
Following on from last week’s blog, here’s what I have to say for myself regarding the music choices in Dannsa, episode 2, which is on tonight at 10pm, BBC Alba.
This week, we concentrate on the Fusion dance group in Aberdeen, with a brief sojourn with Livingston’s b-boyz (and girl), the Heavy Smokers, kicking off with… Continued…
Categories: confession, editing, Personal, Recommendation, tv, Work.
A new show TV started last Monday, 10pm on BBC Alba. It’s called Dannsa[1] and you’ll all be able to get it, because BBC Alba has just become available to anyone with Freeview. That’s you[2]. I recommend the show to you, because it’s rather good. I know this because I worked on it, along with a string of extraordinarily talented people.[3] And frankly, we all worked damned hard. I don’t want to give too much away, but one aspect of the post-production that I feel I can discuss in some detail is the choice of music. Obviously, the dancers featured dance to something, so music choice was a primary concern.
The show follows six dance groups from all over Scotland with wildly varying ages and dance styles, from classical ballet to contemporary, an over-60s group to a breakdance crew. There’s something for everyone, and it was a joy spending time with them all, particularly when they start coming together later in the series. Episode One introduces us to them all, whereas subsequent editions focus on one group at a time. So this introduction to them all is, itself, a kind of compilation album, a mix tape, a playlist. So the music better be good.
Categories: confession, editing, Personal, Recommendation, tv, Work.
Here are the Amazon DVD reviews of one Mr. M. E. B. Woods “markbernard1981″ (Bristol, UK). There are three of them and they warmed my cockles.
Some choice observations (apply a sic to everything):
From Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot: “Stalone thinks he’s hard cos he plays a cop who doesn’t play by the rules. Big deal. Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson didn’t played even less by the rules better.”
From Shallow Hal: “Someone told me that Steven Siegal was in this movie as a cameo, I watched it three times and there wasn’t a single reference to him.”
From My Giant: “A lot of the times Billy Crystal has more lines than my giant which is ludacris.”
I assume that Mr. M. E. B. Woods “markbernard1981″ (Bristol, UK) is perfectly sane, lucid and just having a wee laugh, but they tickled me.
Categories: Recommendation.
Just watched the political discussion show, Empire, on Aljazeera. Jolly good. I’m quite enjoying switching to the Doha-based network whenever BBC News starts wittering about cricket and there’s nothing good on Parliament. They had, among others, Carl Bernstein of All the President’s Men fame going on about Wikileaks, cyber activism and national security.
The whole thing got me thinking, though, how much of my morality is framed in the context of Star Wars. No, really.
Categories: confession, Personal, politics, tv.
There’s a truism in the world of copyright and media piracy: you can’t compete with free. Thing is, though, you can.
Categories: complaint, confession, DRM, idea, Personal.