VIDEOS
Toploader
A BALANCE TO ALL THINGS
These fellas like their long titles, don't they? It's gone and ruined my lovely naming convention. Ach well. We shot this 'un in a studio with some wires, spent 10 years painting them out and adding bum loads of lens flares. The result is what you see here. We had all sorts of nonsense planned for this vid, but as always, money got the upper hand. Or lower hand. Either way, there wasn't much of it, but we're happy with the way it turned out.
The Agitator - Say No!
TO RICH PEOPLE AND STUFF
The Agitator is Derek Meins, and he's a top bloke. Oh wait, I should say he's all angsty and protesty all the time, right? I don't think that's true. This was a great video to work on - even if it was an After Effects marathon - for some unknown reason they went for our idea, and it came out pretty much exactly the same as the treatment. Can't argue with that, eh skipper?
Toploader
NEVER STOP WONDERING
Toploader return from their extended holidays with this track and video, which Rich & I directed over two manic days in Brighton and London. Sorry, no goss here. They were a lovely bunch. As are the girls (and guys) at Underdogs, who managerised the whole affair. Fun fact: Witness nepotism in action - my sister Libby did the makeup. Shameless, I know.
What's Your English?
FEAT. BABA BRINKMAN & PROF. ELEMENTAL
The wordy, and worldly (don't quote me on this) people at Macmillan Dictionary asked Baba and the Prof. to make a tune comparing North American English with the real McCoy (i.e. British English). No predjudice here. Jamie Simmonds did the muzak, and Baba asked me to animate, which I did. I look forward to a day when I can direct many minions to animate things for me, but until then I have to do it myself.
The Good Agent
WEBSITE EXPLANATION ANIMATION
I knocked up a video for the guys at TheGoodAgent, an online estate agency in Ireland. We went through a few different ideas for the designs of the characters, and ended up with these eggheads. I was pushing for the nasty estate agent man to have a cigar, but apparently that was pushing it too far. Note: I just did the animation, not the sound. I'm not judging.
Young O - Never Back Down
UNLESS THEY LOOK REALLY VIOLENT
Rich and I got the chance to direct a video through Shimmer Films, which was very nice of them. We ended up using freerunners instead of nekkid ladies, which, whilst not my choice, turned out pretty well. There's a kid called Daniel who pops up halfway though and does some mental Superman parkour stuff. I was afraid for his wrists. Oh, I did the graphics on it too.
BT Summer Deals
MY FIRST EVER COMMERCIAL - AUGUST 2010
Loose Moose got in touch, saying they had a wee job that might interest me, the only caveat being that it was due in a week. So I put my life on hold, and made this sucker. It was an interesting experience - put it this way, there were loads of iterations before we hit on a formula that everyone liked. It certainly showed me that a laptop isn't the tool of choice for broadcast output.
UBA - Body Pop (Tick Tock)
URBAN POP NONSENSE
Rich Wilson and I have teamed up to become the next great directing duo. The Coen Brothers better watch out. We haven't got name yet, but rest assured, it's on the way. This is the first fruit of our labours. A one day shoot in a warehouse in Arsenal, full of anarchists and a smelly cat. Thanks to everyone who played their part - credits are on the Vimeo page.
Darth Bale Mashup
DARTH VADER V CHRISTIAN BALE'S RANT
I kind of had an epiphany in the night, realising that these two would go really well together. Shame it was about a year too late. I was mainly inspired by Snatch Wars, and make no apologies for it. Personally I think my sound work is a bit better though. I did Vader's footsteps and everything. Well, I think it's funny, so stuff that up your stuffhole.
Off That (Rationalist Anthem)
MUSIC VIDEO FOR BABA BRINKMAN
Baba Brinkman is a Canadian rapper with a difference. He don't rap about bitches, ho's and rims, oh no, he raps about Darwin, Dawkins and DNA. I made this for the release of the tune in conjunction with the Geek Pop Festival 2010. I'm always criticising my own work; I wish I'd had more time to spend on it. After Effects is a cruel mistress. On the plus side, this sucker is HD to the max, so click the HD button and see what you can see...
Feel Good Drinks - 'Gnomes'
BEHIND THE SCENES ON FGD'S RECENT ADVERT
The lovely guys at Loose Moose asked me if I wanted to do a 'Making of' video for their recent project, 'Gnomes' - a traditional stop motion piece, animated by Will Becher (Pronounced "Beecher", not "Besher", you stinking francophile) for Feel Good Drinks. The advert isn't running any more, but it lives on indefinitely here, in the bowels of the internet.
Triptych Fanzine 7
TRIPTYCH MUSIC FESTIVAL COMPETITION WINNER
The Triptych Music Festival (used to) run for five days at the end of April, in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Each year there was a competition to make a film documenting the festival, and I won it with this entry. It's a combo of live action Super8 & HD footage, with motion graphics using After Effects & Apple Motion. Artists featured: CSS, Cat Power, Marley Marl, Tom Brosseau and The Great Ezcape.
Outpost
BEHIND THE MAKEUP
Made for Channel 4's 4talent Website, this short doc went behind the scenes on Scottish feature film 'Outpost'. We braved Nazi zombies to show what makeup artist Niamh Morrison gets up to. I watched Batman Begins yesterday, and one of the guys from this was in it. He was also in 'Munich', and 'Doom'. I know, you're thinking, "wow". Me too guys, me too.
Clyde 24hr Cycle
LIKE THE TOUR DE FRANCE, BUT HARDER
A mate dreamt up the frankly silly idea of cycling the 300 miles from Glasgow to John O'Groats in 24 hours. Some other mates made the even sillier decision to actually do it, under the guise of a charity event. I filmed a bit, drove a van for a bit, and cycled a bit too. We raised over £5000. Hooray for us, right?
After The News
A ONE MAN BAND, SORT OF
This was another one I made for 4talent, but the subject matter was foisted upon me. Lucky that Neil is such a nice guy. He runs a small, nay, tiny, design studio in an alley close to a tasty cafe in Glasgow. Given the potentially dry subject matter, I decided to record an audio interview and animate to it, hopefully making the whole thing interesting. You be the judge.
Got Carter
SEE WHAT I DID THERE?
The first ever film I made for 4talent. Ah, the memories. Carter is a Scottish fight director, stunt man, actor and general king of everything. I spent a day with him, gracing the sets of 'Taggart' and 'River City', and also observing him take a class at the Citizen's Theatre in Glasgow, showing young people how to (not) hit each other.
Kelvingrove C.O.N.E.
FOR THE KIDS, MAN
Sir Tom Hunter's 'Hunter Foundation' gives wads of cash to the Kelvingrove Museum, helping to educate Scottish kids through an innovative new attraction in the museum's Campbell Hunter Education Wing. This video was the introduction to the promotional CD-Rom. Bear in mind that it was all shot in the daytime. Clever. The Music's by Philip Curran.
Celtic Media Festival
OUCH, IT STINGS
My first efforts at animation, and to an extremely tight deadline. The Celtic Media Festival had rebranded, and needed a set of stings for their annual awards ceremony. Set to a track by the highland's own musical soup-du-jour, Mylo, these wee things helped move proceedings along, whilst injecting a bit of humour. Maybe.
Sonorous Forms @ Threshold
HIPPY STUFF
Catherine-Anne Lee makes trippy art that is shown on Perth Concert Hall's multi-screen art installation 'Threshold', by recording sound that's passed through a box of water with food colouring in it. Oh, just watch the video. It explains everything. But not why her wedding invitations were made of elephant dung.
Puppet Snippets
UM, IT'S ABOUT PUPPETS
The two different sides of sticking your hand up a stuffed toy's bottom. Shot a long time ago in Glasgow and Edinburgh, before I knew better. Seriously though, I met a Norwegian girl on the Trans-Mongolian railway who wanted to study at a special puppet university somewhere in Europe. Her name was Helga Øvsthus Tønder, I think. I should look her up.