3D Aurora Spectacular

I'm holding a still warm from the printing press miniature masterpiece, in the form of the new Aurora Orchestra 2014 season brochure.  What a mouthful!  And what an epic journey we've had, from dawn shoots at Tower Bridge to jitterbug dance halls, not to mention the Nevada desert (well a posh car showroom in Chiswick).

The 3D printing specialists at Levavo did an incredible job creating perhaps the most detailed miniature printed 3D figures that have ever been born.  There's even a scaled Steinway Grand piano, for crying out loud!

A massive round of applause should go to @johnreidpiano, Aurora's principle pianist for not only squeezing into a undersized wetsuit but also for his superhuman strength, grit and determination (see photo) and I should also mention @ThomasGouldVLN, for his unique shape-shifting dance moves, (those lessons certainly paid off)!

Also - well done Paul Goodwin for making my photos look good. x

Things that go bump....!

Had a spooktacular (sorry) evening last week at Asda's Hallowe'en merchandise launch event.  Journalists were treated to a tour of the eery London Dungeon and then onto a pub where all of Asda's trick or treatin' goodies were laid out for all to see.

Jim really embraced the event and came dressed to kill...

Jim did an excellent job of grabbing shots of ghoulish costumes and devilishly tasty sweets and cakes...whilst Paul and I interviewed journalists to gauge their reactions to the fiendish fare on display.

I have to say, the journalists all seemed to really enjoy themselves - if blood-curdling screaming is any gauge of having a good time, then I would say the event was fright-fully (sorry) successful.

By the time the event was over - Paul was exhausted.

Leiths' Wrap

Over the last few weeks we've been filming all manner of gastronomic delights at the world famous @Leithscookery school in London.  We owe a big thank you to all the students, teachers and staff for putting up with the cameras and generally being good eggs.  The promo is set to launch on the Leiths website at the end of the summer.

Why we love what we do...

Just finished work on a showreel for Stanton Media.  Nice little exercise in condensing 13 years of projects into 60 seconds!  Also really cool to look back at the huge variety of work we've done over the years - places we've been, people we've met and some of the amazing things we've been lucky enough to see...

When in Rome...

Paul and I have just returned from a great little shoot in "The Eternal City".  Striking French Air Traffic Controllers threatened to derail the whole thing initially - but despite a small delay, we got there in the end.

I had never been to Rome before and was totally unprepared for the scale and magnificence of the place.  I kinda fell in love with it immediately - and made a mental "note to self" to return again when there was a bit more time to explore...pretty much only got to see the sites from the back of a cab to/from the airport!

As the guys we were filming had very limited time to spend with us - so no opportunity to rehearse their lines...we opted to use a neat bit of iPad teleprompting kit, and  it worked very well.  Turns out that filming CEO's, unrehearsed in Rome with an hours shoot time including set-up is do-able...there is indeed "an APP for that".

...and the Winner is.....

...us!

A few weeks back I mentioned we were in the running for a prize for our "How To" film Jim and I shot in Ethiopia for the LSHTM.  Well, we won!

Very pleased that all the effort that went into producing the film was recognised by the judging team - not only the effort we put in as the film-makers of course but really for the guys who are doing the actual sight-saving work out in Ethiopia.  A job well done all round.

Again - NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH!

Trichiasis surgery training - Chapter 2 - Overview from LSHTM on Vimeo.

Sparks flew!

One of the main things I love about doing this job is that we get to go "behind-the-scenes" at various places that ordinary mortals would not be allowed to go...

And yesterday was one of those days - Jim and I visited a high(ish) rise building site in Holborn to interview a building apprentice who was extolling the virtues of a career in the construction industry.

In fact he was actually promoting a new scheme to get people to visit building sites with a view to inspiring them to join the industry itself...kinda a "behind-the-scenes" day on site if you will...

Despite the grey skies - it was a fun little shoot - although it was difficult to wear headphones and a hard hat...

Something about getting dolled up in PPE equipment always makes me feel like I'm doing a proper job(!)

Indie BBQ

Chuffed to see our Asda Memphis BBQ Championships film and photography in today's @Independent. Cheers to @SAMuston and @asda.

Why? And what for?

Just uploaded the latest @auroraorchestra Trailer:

Tickets are on sale now for Sunday 9th June.

Goin' to Graceland, Graceland...

During our recent trip to Memphis - Paul and I paid a (very) brief visit to Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley.  Although we only had time to check out the house from the outside and the signage, it was amazing to see how many people, quite literally, pilgrimage there.  Paul and I paid our respects in our own unique way.

"thangyouvermuch"

We also paid a little visit to Sun Records, where Paul got sing on the actual mic that "The King" himself used to record numerous Rock and Roll classics...

"Yoo-aint-a-nuthin-but-a-hound-dog..."

The purpose of the trip was to actually capture the sights and sounds of the Memphis World Barbecue Championships - for both ASDA and for a couple of journalists who were also along for the ride.  Alice-Azania Jarvis from the Daily Mail has already posted her report and I'm pleased to say that she used quite a few of our shots.

There is going to be an additional piece by Sam Muston at the Independent - which will also hopefully include the film we shot, which Paul is currently putting together now...

Quite a trip.

Finger Lickin' Good

On Monday Nick & I returned from Memphis, Tennessee, home of the World BBQ Championships.

The meat buying team from Asda have been running inspiration trips there for a couple of years now, investigating local BBQ techniques and flavours, sauces and ingredients to help inspire their own product ranges.  They were the only team from the UK (in fact one of the only teams from outside the US) represented at the Championships, and entered the Brisket (beef) and Pork Ribs categories in the competition.

They kindly took us with them this year to document their experience, the sights & smells of the festival, the highs and lows of the competition along with the flavour of Memphis itself.  Personal highlights included standing on the very spot Johnny Cash recorded so many hits at Sun Studio, and spending a quiet moment at the Lorraine Motel, the site of Martin Luther King's assassination.  Also enjoyed eating fried chicken from Gus's, drinking at Ernestine & Hazel's, and being allowed to sample so much wonderfully cooked meat as we roamed the festival interviewing random Good Ol' Boys.

Unfortunately the Asda team didn't rank in the top 10, but it was all about taking part in the experience.  Thanks to everyone who looked after us (Jimmy the bellhop, Ryan the alcoholic Commodities Trader and 'Mike' the cabbie), and here's to the world famous Southern hospitality!

A few iphone memories...

A massive BBQ'ed pig's head on a spike, smoking a fag

Ran into Adam Richman from Man Vs Food.  COYS!!!

Famous...

Soul burger!

Maximum beef

  

Heh, funny selfie opportunities no.122

Ol man river

Award Nomination! (not for the squeamish)

Jim and I are feeling rather pleased with ourselves today.  A film we shot in Ethiopia a while back, for The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has been nominated for an award.  The ceremony where they announce the winner is being held next month, so I'll report back and let you know how we got on...fingers crossed.

Seriously - if you're not a big fan of medical / surgical footage DO NOT WATCH THE CLIP...

you have been warned.

Trichiasis surgery training - Chapter 1 - Welcome from LSHTM on Vimeo.

FUTURE SHOCK! 2000AD Documentary Announced

IGN Exclusive http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/04/03/2000ad-documentary-announced

Kind Words...

Here's a nice 'review' of the Aurora Orchestra Insomnia film we shot last week, from our new friend John Terauds at musicaltoronto.org   Chuffed with that :)

And this is what he's talking about..

New Animation Online

Agnitio have just launched their smart new site, that includes an animation we have been working on with them for the last few weeks.  Link is at the top of their page...

Sleepwalking

Filming around Waterloo the other evening in ARCTIC conditions.  Well, I was suffering from a savage man-flu strain so that's what it felt like...

We are putting a promo together for Aurora Orchestra's upcoming event, Insomnia, on 23rd March at St. Luke's.  We followed tenor Allan Clayton around in a dream-like semi-waking state, attempting to convey the strangeness that comes with a lack of sleep.  It was a good opportunity to grab some dreamy images and generally do some farting around with the camera in the shadows.

Allan was lovely, and extremely brave to enter a particularly scary underpass from which some unearthly animal-like noises were emanating...!  It was a really fun shoot.

Abrir la mente!

Here are some images from our trip to Costa Rica with Cafédirect last week, we brought home 1637 shots and nearly 400GB of footage from 4 days :)  We had a fantastic time and, naturally are completely in love with the country and people.  

The food was delicious, the vistas were hermosa and I would dearly like to return one day.  Many thanks to everyone who looked after us, helping us get some of the best coffee footage & photos we have ever shot.

Personal highlight: catching & eating my own dinner (a fish), been wanting to do that for a very long time.

Thanks to Jorge for the sound advice: Abrir la mente! 

     

 

Happy Birthday to us

Woohoo :) We celebrated our 13th year of business on Tuesday.  Here are some random pics of us doing our thang over the last few years...

Wine & Dine

Filming at Claridges for Santa Rita Estates this week.  Executive Chef Martyn Nail gave us a quick demonstration of his menu for the evening.  

The guests in attendance were experts from the wine press, including Peter McCombie, Brian Croser, Peter Richards, Tim Atkin, Jancis Robinson and Oz Clarke.  They were invited to experience some great wines from Chile & Argentina and were then treated to a fantastic 3-course meal.  According to Martyn, the ingredients were chosen from local produce, but with a South American 'flavour'.

Thanks to Caroline for the pic of us!