on a break

I'm taking a little break from Ribbon Willow. Life has got very busy at the moment and I've found that I've been unable to post blogs regularly. I've still been doing creative bits and pieces, including making a documentary video and teaching myself to felt(!) so I will be back to tell you all about what I've been up to once things have calmed down a bit and start having free evenings in again.

So goodbye for now. Thank you so much for reading and I hope to be back in a few weeks/ months x

the June Project report video: a creative collaboration

A couple of months I was asked if I was interested in getting involved in making the June Project report video 2011. (If you don't know what the June Project is then check out the Kings Church Durham website.) Chris, who oversees art and media at the church, had seen the video I made for Durham University a little while back and wanted me on board. So of course I said yes!

Getting behind the camera. A first for me but so much fun!

Early morning filming. Free coffee for commuters.

I worked with another guy (confusingly also named Chris!) on this project and it was really fun to bounce different creative ideas off each other. I came up with the idea of using a map that we'd pan over during the video so that people could see where events were going on and Chris then suggested dropping polaroids onto the map that videos could spring up out of.

Original hand drawn map of Durham

We did the majority of the filming between the two of us although we did rope in some helpers when our timetable got too crammed! And we edited the footage together along with the very talented Andy Dykes who did all the effects on the map. 

As the June Project ran until Saturday and we needed the video to show in church on the Sunday morning, we had to do an all-nighter, working from about 11pm until 8am but it was worth it and we were very happy with the end result.

You can also see it on YouTube which may be a bit better quality.

Hope you like it. I'll keep you posted on the next Kings Church Durham video project: the June Project documentary!

My First Video!

A friend of mine works for Durham University and asked me to make a video about looking after your Mental Wealth. I've been on quite a few filming shoots before and worked as a production assistant but this is the first time I was in charge of a project from start to finish. Having told my friend that I've never really done this before he said not to worry- just be creative! I had pretty much a free rein, although the video had to show that mental welfare is something we all need to be aware of.

The quality is very reduced here- I wouldn't recommend enlarging it! But a higher quality version should be on Durham University's welfare website shortly...

If I was being fussy, there are loads of things I'd want to adjust- not least the sound quality of some of the vox-pops! Unfortunately we didn't have a directional microphone when we were filming so we picked up a lot of background noise and the very cheap software I was editing with wasn't advanced enough to do much about this. I could also go on editing, adjusting little details that annoy me, but I have already made the 'absolutely final version' about ten times already and had to call it a day at some point.

However, as a learning experience it has been fantastic and I'm quite proud of the finished product. I like the flickering shadows and the home-made feel and I've always wanted to use Scrabble letters for a creative project. I've also learnt lots about filming and editing and although there are many things that I'll do differently next time, this hasn't put me off making videos and I would definitely try it again.